Getting the word out about your business requires some savvy techniques, especially in an increasingly competitive digital environment. Even more challenging, is the need to address the mobile audience with your Internet marketing. In 2014, a number of experts predicted that mobile Internet usage would surpass desktop usage — and they were right. According to ComScore, mobile usage as a whole accounted for more than 60% of time spent online in 2014, in comparison to desktop-based digital media consumption, which only accounts for 40%. Those figures are edging upwards, making mobile the single more significant access platform and be consequence making it impossible for businesses to ignore.

More than 80% of those surveyed in a recent study conducted by Lab42, a market research company, said that Facebook is a good platform for interacting with brands. Peer influence can also play a role in there impact a brand has on social media. Almost 70% of respondents indicated that they had “liked” a brand on Facebook because they had seen that one of their friends had also “liked” that brand. Internet marketing needs to embrace a number of digital forms of communication, from paid and search advertising to social media, email marketing, and web design. Internet marketing firms can help you find the right online mix for your customers and drive traffic to your site.

While having a good Internet marketing strategy that includes social media is vital, good web design is still an important part of any business’ online presence. Once you grab an audience’s attention through a social media post or interaction, it is vital that you have a well-designed site that can further the relationship, provide additional information and reinforce your brand identity, as well as potential offering a purchase platform. The art of small business web design lies in thinking like the consumer, creating a user-friendly, sleek and clean design that offers customers everything they are looking for.

The idea of usability and user-friendliness is core to good web design. In fact, a number of Web studies showed that most users are looking for instant gratification. They scan rather than reading and if they do not find what they are looking for quickly and easily, they move o to a site that will give them that. Navigation should be intuitive and not require users to “think”, as Steve Krug’s “first law of usability” states.