2017 is almost upon us and as a business owner you’ve already started planning how you can make the next year a better one. However, as you put your team in overdrive to come up with fresh new marketing ideas, we ask you why not make digital the real focus for your business in 2017?

At 3alama Marketing & Design, we’ve come up with three main benefits to why we think you should get a new website in 2017, and why it’s the first step towards really getting serious about using binary power to grow your business.

Offer a better user experience

Mobile browsing is big. Many reports have concluded that time spent browsing on mobile devices is twice that of desktop devices. This just shows that we’re compulsively consuming websites to search for services or products.

As a business you can’t ignore this change in the way people are absorbing websites. You need to ensure that your website is well designed and offers a great user experience (UX) on mobile devices as well as desktop, otherwise you’re going to lose potential business.

Communicate the right message

Content is king, but often left as the last to-do. In fact, content is one of the most important elements of your website because well-thought words and images go a long way in converting your website visitors into customers.

A website redesign is also the perfect time to re-evaluate your key message and re-work your content to make sure it resonates with your target audience(s). Often times, the problem with content on many websites is they are not regularly updated and thus sound outdated. Make sure you consistently present your brand in a tone that speaks to your audience and their needs.

[Related: How to build a website for your business?]

Introduce video to your website

Creating value adding, useful and entertaining videos to publish front and center on your homepage is increasingly popular these days because it’s so engaging. It’s also a great way to grab attention on social media and generate traffic to your website. Video usage will only increase in years to come, so embrace video content now if you want to get serious about your online presence and inbound marketing.

At the end of it all, your digital activities are based on your company’s digital strategy and should point people back to your website, which if professionally done in its user experience and appearance, will convert visitors into customers.

Tip: A digital strategy is the process of reflecting your business’s vision, goals and activities in order to succeed online. It’s all about translating your business into the right content to be distributed on the relevant channels.

If you don’t have a strong digital strategy, then you’ll just be spending a lot of money shooting into space when you can pay a professional to aim, hit and convert to sales!

In 2009, Maya and her business partner set-up their own design studio aiming to provide international quality branding and design that is accessible to all. Today Maya runs 3alama Design Studio, on her own, getting closer to accomplishing her dream of designing to improve people’s lives.