Many people’s first engagement with a company is via its website. For a company to attract new customers and present itself as a successful and progressive organisation it needs to have a website of the highest quality, good corporate web design is money well spent.
A good corporate website acts as a magnet, helping the company to gain new customers and clients. But that isn’t its only purpose. Many other groups of people will first make contact with a company through its website, notably job seekers, potential investors, and even competitors. How the website looks, what it says, and the extent to which it is easy to use, are therefore paramount concerns.
What differentiates a corporate website from one of a smaller enterprise is the quality and consistency of its design, spanning a breadth of departments, business concerns and core competences. Even though the company may have hundreds, or thousands of employees, working for numerous different departments in various locations, and in multiple countries, it is vital that there is consistency in the look and feel of the website and the tone of its message.
A corporate website is the perfect platform to bring together these disparate elements and unify the company’s activities into a single aim. Getting the website right is central to a corporation’s success at communicating its most fundamental message. There are also advanced functionalities that are essential for a corporate website, that smaller companies may not need. What follows is an introduction to some of the key components of a good corporate website.
A corporate website has to be representative of the whole organisation, not just one of the departments. The marketing or sales divisions may be the driving forces behind the website’s launch, seeing the online platform as a key component of their new business activities, but the website must still reflect the entire organisation, and all of its staff. The front page should be attractive and informative, but not overloaded with information or sales messages. The design should be an accurate reflection of the company’s branding and not detract from any one of the department’s activities.
Corporate websites typically need to contain a large amount of information. As a result, getting the navigation right becomes central to a corporate website’s success. Presenting the pages in clearly defined groups that are easy to access from the homepage will make it easier for visitors to find their way around. A corporate website that a visitor can get lost in, or frustrated by, is failing to present the company in the best possible way.
There are kinds of information that visitors to corporate websites expect to see, and these must be included. First of these is contact information. Too often a corporate website gives lavish detail and extensive amounts of explanation on the About us page but fails to provide a clear means of contact.
FAQ pages are also an important feature of any corporate website, helping as they do to address many of the most common concerns that potential customers may have.
Recruitment is a very common reason for people to visit a corporate website. Having an informative Recruitment section in the website will make it easier for the HR team to present the company in the best possible way to future employees. There is an added bonus to doing this: a company that is seen to be recruiting new staff members is a company that gives the impression of doing well. Something that customers and investors are always pleased to see.
Increasingly, corporations are using their online presences in more interactive and enlightened ways. As more and more people access the internet via phones and tablet devices, smart companies are making sure that their websites also come in mobile-ready versions.
Social media also plays an important role in how a corporation presents itself to the public, and the website is the perfect place in which to integrate the various platforms. This in turn can help boost the website’s standing in terms of search engine optimisation, helping it to attract even more visitors.
Many large corporations use their websites to interact with their customers and allow them to engage with the company directly. Client log-in functionalities allow for certain areas of a website to be accessible only to those who are already engaged with the company in a meaningful way.
There are many agencies who specialise in producing websites that specifically meet the needs of larger companies and corporations; getting quotes from more than one agency will give your business every chance of getting the best possible web design at the right price.
