Online marketing between graphics and design

The minimum goal of any website and the collateral activities that promote it is to present information, services and products to Net users, clearly communicating the distinctive qualities and characteristics of its offerings.

In most cases, companies and professionals rightly expect their websites to be more than just a showcase but to produce leads, new customers and, in the e-commerce sector, online sales. It is clear that the creation of a site is from the very beginning a web marketing activity that goes beyond formal aesthetic aspects.

Focusing on graphics in terms of simply making a visual impact on visitors is a frequent mistake found when looking at the corporate websites of many companies.

immagine della caffettiera del masochista come simbolo di cattivo design e progettazione sbagliata
From the book "The design of everyday things" by Donald A. Norman

The graphic appearance of sites is, in fact, only one of the elements that affect the final result. To give online activities effectiveness for the purpose of achieving business objectives, it is more correct to use the concept of design, which allows us to embrace values of functionality, usability, ergonomics, communication and psychology-all aspects that make a difference when it comes to incentivizing the user to act in the way we hope.

So, converting visitors into customers and active users who generate value is a challenge that requires the investment of different skills in a project where marketing strategy and web design almost coincide.

To avoid thwartingSEO optimization or PPC advertising campaigns, the design of a website should be thought out by integrating the following dimensions as best as possible:

  • technology and development (choosing servers, platforms and languages, writing code, etc.);
  • graphics (colors, typography, images, distribution of information elements, etc.);
  • accessibility and usability (functionality, ease of use and navigation, access to information, page load times, content architecture and organization, etc.);
  • texts and copywriting (quality of content and writing, clarity of exposition, etc.)
  • SEO (web marketing activity aimed at optimizing a site to improve indexing and search engine ranking).

As communication products and online marketing tools, websites should therefore be regarded as complex works whose aesthetic value is only one of the aspects that matter.

Among the five areas identified above, design includes: graphics and accessibility/usability.

For acompany to think and design a website according to the principles of design in the broadest sense means expressing a sophisticated approach that projects web design onto the horizon of online marketing.

Design, in the broadest sense, is the facilitator of the digital age-it is a process that creates order out of chaos-that makes technology useful for doing business. Design means being good, not merely looking good.

– Clement Mok

Developers, graphic designers, editors and web marketing experts are therefore called upon to make a collaborative effort to achieve a successfully designed product. The task of the online marketing consultant is to offer an overall perspective by helping the project manager, and the other professionals involved, piece together the different moments of planning and cooperative effort.

The prospects for success depend greatly on how this process is managed.