In our all-digital reality, a corporate website has become a must-have item in your business stack. It serves as your online storefront, helping visitors learn about your products and services and become paying customers.
But how do you make a corporate website that not only looks great but also builds trust with your customers? It's much easier than you thought. Today, we will go over 7 core design principles that will help you achieve this.
What are corporate websites and how do they differ from the rest?
The main goal of all kinds of websites is to convey information that the owner wants to disseminate among their target audience. Another goal is to help the audience perform specific actions such as signing up for a consultation or buying goods.
However, the kind of information you share and the actions you want your users to take differ between corporate websites and the rest (e.g., personal websites).
Corporate websites are essentially the digital storefront or office of the company. They let potential clients learn about the business and its services or goods. Corporate websites aim to spark visitors' interest in the company and convert them into paying customers.
Here's what a typical corporate website will look like:
We're looking at the homepage of an architectural studio based in Australia. By examining the screenshot above, we can notice the following:
- Presenting services and specialization: Decor Systems shows images of musical and cinema halls that they have designed and tells website visitors that their studio has extensive experience working with acoustic architecture.
- List of past projects: The studio has a section in the navigation bar that will take visitors to their portfolio, where they showcase the various architectural projects that they have completed - further developing trust among their audience in their expertise.
- Contact information: The navigation bar also has a link that takes visitors to the contact page of the company, where they can find their address, email, and phone number, as well as directly contact the company via an online form.
- Call to action: At the bottom of the page, there are "Chat online" and "Request a quote." These two encourage visitors to contact the company and inquire about their services and prices.
As we can see, Decor Systems' website clearly aims to showcase its services to potential clients, gain their trust by sharing past projects, and help them become paid customers by requesting a quote for their own projects.
There's a reason I have mentioned the past projects of this website. One of the primary goals of corporate websites is to develop trust and credibility among their audience. But why do they focus so much on that? Let's find out.
Why focus on trust and credibility
While many of our younger readers may not feel it in full, as a millennial, I have seen the dawn of the internet when everyone got the opportunity to share their content with the world for free and without limitations. That's the beauty of the internet. However, this complete freedom has its downside too.
Considering the many thousands of websites offering corporate services (and some of them not keeping their promises), it has become increasingly hard to find a company that will satisfy your needs without any issues.
Thus, brand recognition and people's trust in it have become increasingly important. You don't just hire a random company off the internet to fulfill your needs. Nor do you purchase products or online services from any random place. Instead, you're first taking a close look at the company, its reputation, past projects, and customer reviews.
Only after examining all of them and understanding that the website is trustworthy, you become their customer.
In fact, trust in the brand has now become one of the key factors behind people's buying decisions. A 2021 study by Adobe validates this claim. According to this paper, 71% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand they trust compared to other brands in the market.
Therefore, one of the key design considerations that you need to have when building your corporate website is trust.
Now, let's look at some design ideas and best practices that will help you achieve that goal.
Website design ideas helping you gain trust
The area of design in corporate websites is wide and diverse. There are so many ways you can make your website stand out from the crowd with beautiful elements and engaging content.
Today, however, I want us to focus on trust-building practices when it comes to corporate website design and share the 7 most prominent ones with you.
Minimalism in design & use of whitespace
Minimalistic design is relatively new. If you remember the older versions of the iPhone's OS, Yahoo's website, and even web browsers, they were full of rich colors and small details.
This design language was called skeuomorphic and its goal was to help people associate certain features of the website or OS with everyday objects. Just look at the old version of the iPhone's calculator.
As it looked like a physical calculator, it was easy for users to understand how it worked.
But, as time progressed and users were quite savvy with website and app user interfaces, the Minimalist design emerged. Its goal was to remove all of the excessive colors and details and make the interface easy to scan and use.
What does it have to do with trust? Well, there are several ways corporate websites with a minimalist design look more professional and trustworthy:
- It’s the current trend. By using this type of design, you show your audience that you are modern and follow the latest trends.
- Clutter is associated with scamminess. Scammy websites have a tendency to clutter their interface with flashy buttons that trick users into clicking them. Clean design, on the other hand, looks more trustworthy.
- Minimalist design is visually comfortable. By using very few design elements and keeping the interface clean, you are making sure that your readers don’t get visual fatigue by consuming content on your site. Hence, you’re creating a feeling of comfort in them.
Let’s look at the example of a well-designed minimalist corporate website.
Looks gorgeous, doesn’t it? The home page of this ramen restaurant in New York only consists of 4 navigation buttons to take you where you want to go as well as a large photo of an appetizing ramen plate.
Analytics & data-driven design
The second important factor that I want to mention is providing your website visitors with a pleasant user experience with the help of data-driven design.
My point here is that even the best designers in the world will not be able to predict how exactly the users will navigate through your corporate website and consume your content. So, a seemingly perfect design might end up having problems and confusing your users.
An easy solution to this is to integrate a data analytics tool into your website and track the behavior of your users. For instance, you can look at the conversion flow of your e-commerce website and see that lots of users drop on the step when they need to add their credit card info.
By further analyzing their behavior, you might find out that the supported credit card types (Visa, Amex, etc.) are small on the screen and people don’t notice it. All you need to do is increase their size and your users will stop experiencing issues when checking out.
Another important area where data-driven insights can create positive experiences is your marketing campaigns. There are specialized tools for each marketing channel (e.g. for tracking ads) that let you analyze the performance of the campaign and improve its UX.
Overall, the rule of thumb is that the smoother experience people have on your website, the more professional and trustworthy you will look in their eyes.
Certifications and reviews
While the first two design ideas were building trust indirectly, this one is among the best practices that clearly impact the purchase decisions of your potential customers.
Positive reviews are a strong factor in helping people trust a company. A 2022 survey found that 94% of consumers would avoid a business if they found no positive reviews about it.
Therefore, it is a great idea to showcase several customer reviews or testimonials on your website.
Moreover, if you are operating in a market that has industry certifications available, I would also suggest you get those certificates and showcase them on your website.
This too will create a sense of trust and professionalism among your users as certificates serve as proof of your company’s skills and expertise.
Market-competitive design
There is no such thing as a universally great design. Every industry and market has its best practices and design elements that are a must for them.
If you’re an architectural studio, for instance, it is important for you to showcase the designs of your previous projects. Clinics, on the other hand, need to have a dedicated page for case studies telling about the challenging medical cases that they have successfully treated.
For creative industries like fashion or design, showcasing collaborations with relevant influencers can be a powerful trust-building tool. This can be particularly effective, for example, when combined with YouTube influencer marketing strategies. By featuring videos and testimonials from well-known influencers, you not only engage a broader audience but also enhance the perceived authenticity and value of your brand.
Therefore, it is important for you to analyze your market and understand its specifics before designing your corporate website. Thorough market research helps you identify the needs and preferences of your target audience, ensuring that your website resonates with them effectively. For this, you can either use specialized market research tools such as Similarweb or pick a market analysis template and fill it in yourself.
SEO optimization
After your website is live, your marketing team will start running a wide variety of campaigns to attract visitors using different channels such as Ads, Social Media Marketing, and more.
One of the most important channels for getting quality traffic is SEO. It is the process of optimizing the content and the structure of your website to make it more visible to people using search engines such as Google. The main goal here is to be at the top of search engine ranking reports for certain keywords.
The higher you are ranked, the more people will click on your website from their search result pages and visit you. The beauty of organic traffic is that you are obtaining high-intent visitors who are interested in your product or services and are more likely to become paid customers.
To run quality SEO campaigns and optimize your website for organic traffic, you will either need to hire a dedicated SEO team (either internally or outsource it to specialized companies) or sign up for software tools that use AI to create your SEO strategy or execute it.
Easy availability of online purchases
In case your company is selling products, you will also need to consider adding an e-commerce section to your website to make it easy for people from all around the country (or even the world) to access and purchase your products.
Building a well-designed and optimized online store is no easy feat. You will need to have a fast search, relevant product suggestions, compelling product pages, a smooth checkout process, and more.
If you have the resources, you can build it in-house. But there are also ready platforms for eCommerce sites that you can consider using too. These platforms usually have all the necessary pages for an online store with a dashboard that lets you customize the design, manage your stock, and analyze your sales results.
For companies selling services or operating as a SaaS (Software as a Service) provider, integrating a ticketing booth-like section to facilitate the purchase of your services can be equally beneficial. Service-based companies need to focus on presenting their offerings in a clear, attractive manner. This includes detailed service descriptions, customer testimonials, and easy booking or subscription options.
A critical aspect for service-based and SaaS companies is the integration of secure and efficient payment gateways. These gateways are essential for handling transactions smoothly and ensuring customer trust.
Additionally, SaaS companies should ensure their website includes a seamless onboarding process for new users. This might involve offering free trials, detailed product tours, and clear pricing information. Simplifying the user journey from trial to subscription can significantly enhance user experience and conversion rates.
Personalized user experience
Personalization is King! The more personal experiences you can provide to your users, the more likely they are to trust your website and convert to paying customers.
Personalization usually includes using users’ names, locations, and other demographic details in the content you provide to them. A more advanced type of personalization is about creating dynamic content that changes based on your users’ behavior and needs.
For instance, if you own an online store where a certain user browses snowboards, a well-personalized experience would be to suggest them relevant footwear and clothes too.
In order to achieve a decent level of personalization, you will first need to understand the behavior and needs of your users. For that, you can either conduct a series of user interviews or use ready AI solutions that analyze user experience and dynamically personalize your site’s content.
Conclusion
It is essential for your business to build trust and credibility with your target audience. This way, you are able to create long-term relationships with your customers and achieve a sustainable revenue stream for your company.
By implementing these design ideas into your corporate website, you will quickly achieve the necessary level of trust and establish your brand in the market.
Great design is only part of your journey, to learn how to manage the digital part of your business, also make sure to check out other articles in our blog.