If you’re searching for B2C website design tips, you’re probably inundated with results about e-commerce. But what if your business provides services instead? An accounting firm or a doctor’s office probably won’t find tips about how to set up your online store very helpful. The purpose of your business should shape the purpose of your website design. You need advice on designing a website that provides information about your services in an interesting and informative way with a tone appropriate to your industry and intended audience.
As a full-service digital marketing agency, we’ve built and revamped websites for various businesses, so we have a good handle on the particularities of B2C website design for service businesses, and we love to help. Since we know your time is valuable, here is your guide to designing a great website for customers who need your services!
How B2C Website Design Differs from B2B Website Design
It may seem obvious, but B2C, or business-to-customer businesses, need to design their websites to cater to the customer. The users of a B2B website are likely paid procurement managers or similar employees, diligently researching the best possible service for the best price and wanting to understand all the details before making a decision.
However, customers of a B2C website may stop by on a whim to check out your site. They won’t stick around long if they don’t see something that speaks to them. On the other hand, some goods and services attract more serious purchasers, who will want to dive deeply into the substantive information on your website before determining whether to buy.
This means that when you create a B2C website, you have to cater to a wide variety of customer intents and levels of the sales funnel. Your website must be engaging enough to draw users in but substantive enough to provide the information they need to become your customers.
How Service Business Websites are Different from Goods Business Websites
When a retail business sets out to sell its goods via a website, the ideal visuals flow naturally from the nature of the business: product images. By contrast, service businesses may find that they have more of an uphill battle to clearly communicate in a primarily visual format.
How can service businesses overcome this problem? Illustrations, graphics, videos, and animation! When photos alone can’t simply convey what you do, illustrations and animation serve as a visual language that quickly shows your customers how your service works. In particular, animation can help people learn and retain information, meaning that it can help your customers understand and remember the features of your service offering.
How to Get Started Building a Great B2C Website for Your Service Business
The first step to building a website that works for your customers is to know your customers! Create personas based on your target customers and imagine how they would use a website. Your B2B website design should be guided by user paths and the needs of those personas.
The second step that proceeds from knowing your customers is talking to them. In other words, create content that speaks to their needs and communicate using an appropriate tone. Potential customers of a funeral home are in a different headspace than potential customers of a wedding planner. Take this into account and allow it to shape not only the literal language used on your site but also the color scheme, the graphics, and the layout of your site.
Once you land on a basic design that works, stick to it! You should keep the design of your website consistent across pages to keep it simple for your customers to find what they need. For example, if you have a “Get your free trial!” button in orange, make sure it’s orange on every page on which it appears. That way, when someone wants to sign up, they won’t get discouraged when they can’t find the orange button and cause you to miss out on capturing potential customer information.
It might go without saying, but keeping your branding consistent across pages is also essential. Although variety is the spice of life, that doesn’t mean you should use a wide variety of fonts, colors, and styles for every different page of your website. Potential customers may find this overwhelming. Instead, any website page should have a visual language that clearly shows it belongs to your business and makes it easy to understand at a quick glance what services you are offering.
What to Watch Out for in B2C Website Design for Service Businesses
One major pitfall to avoid when creating your site is not prioritizing accessibility. If you fail to make your website accessible for persons with disabilities you will miss out on large swathes of potential customers. Make sure to familiarize yourself with ADA Digital Accessibility Standards and how they apply to your industry. It’s not just the right thing to do; it’s also a practical matter as you aim to use your website to grow your business.
Another serious concern is neglecting mobile-friendliness. Over 90 percent of users worldwide use a phone to access the internet, so if your website doesn’t look right on a phone, your customers will swipe left and move on. Familiarize yourself with responsive design principles and create a much more customer-friendly experience for your mobile users.
Need Help with B2C Website Design?
Designing the perfect website to showcase your services to potential customers can feel overwhelming, particularly when you also have a business to run. Online Optimism’s web design and development team has many years of experience working with B2B and B2C businesses, as well as those focused on goods and services, like these recent examples. In addition, we provide custom website design services in New Orleans, Atlanta, DC, and beyond!
We look forward to working with you to design the ideal website to show your customers why your business provides the best services in your field, so contact us today!
