What Web Designers Should Know Before Taking a B2B Web Design Project?

What Web Designers Should Know Before Taking a B2B Web Design Project?

B2B Web Design Projects, or any web project for that matter, can be daunting and intimidating if you don't know what you're getting yourself into.

You see, many different types of businesses and marketing needs are out there. From small startups to huge established companies, each has its own unique strategy and branding guidelines they use to market themselves.

This often opens up the door for opportunities and discounts when it comes to choosing your B2B Web Design firm.

The most important web design factor for B2B that differentiates it from your average e-commerce website is the effort and skill required by the designer. These people have to have an intimate knowledge of marketing, sales, and customer relationship management, and more than that they need to understand the business and product they are creating a website for.

Having said that, there are quite a few good reasons why an in-house team can do a better job at this than a freelancer. This article will go over all the specifics that are required by businesses in order to make sure they keep their current business, or try a new one, on their site without having to spend a dime on design costs.

Gather as Much Information as You Can
Develop a Clear Plan
Understand the Goals and Objectives of the Business
Talk About What the Competition Is Doing
Discussing Content Management System Preferences
Identify Target Markets and Personas
Start with a Master Design Template
Planning Out the User Experience
Ensure There's Feedback Built In For Future
Set Up Clear Expectations With Your Client Early

Gather as Much Information as You Can

You've got a client. They're happy and they want you to design a website. But what happens when the project is over and you're no longer responsible for their website?

It's time to move on! But how do you do that without leaving them high and dry? You need to be prepared.

Before accepting your next B2B web design project, take some time to gather as much information as possible while keeping your client in the loop. This way, you'll have all the information you need in order to make decisions about what will work best for them, how long it might take, and whether or not doing it at all is even worth it for your company.

You should also ask questions about things like:

  • What are their goals for this project?
  • What kind of website did they have before?
  • How long has it been since they updated their site?
  • What kind of content does the target audience see on their current site?
  • Do they have any specific ideas about how they'd like their new site to look or function?

Develop a Clear Plan

The next step in any project is setting clear goals for yourself and your client.

Why? Because without them, your job is much harder than it needs to be. You'll want to know what kind of website you want to develop for your client so that you can make sure that it will meet their needs (and not just look pretty).

You'll also want to make sure that the website makes sense from an SEO perspective—which means getting involved early on in the process so that you can work together with the team at your company on how best to optimize SEO-friendly content.

And last but not least, you'll want to make sure that your client has a good idea of what they want their site's design styles and layouts to look like so that they can communicate those ideas clearly during the development.

Understand the Goals and Objectives of the Business

When it comes to B2B web design projects, understanding the goals and objectives of the business will help you determine if it's a good fit for your skills and experience level.

For example, if a company is looking for an experienced developer who specializes in eCommerce sites, but you haven't done much with eCommerce sites before—it might not be worth your time to take on this project. However, if they're looking for someone who has experience working with eCommerce platforms like Shopify or WooCommerce, then it might be worth your time to give that company a call.

In addition to understanding the specific needs of your client, you'll want to consider their overall strategy for growing their business. Are they looking to build new customers? Are they focused on existing customers? Or do they just want an updated site?

Each approach requires different considerations when designing a website, so it's important that you understand how your potential clients think about growth before starting work on your project.

Talk About What the Competition Is Doing

We are all familiar with the idea that if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. But what if you could? What if there was a way to win your customers over by being different?

In our experience, this is not just possible but likely. By understanding what your competitors are doing and how they are doing it, you can find opportunities to differentiate yourself in ways that your competitors simply cannot match.

For example, if one of your competitors has a beautiful website with a premium look and feel, but its content is basic and not engaging, then there is an opportunity for you to provide something better.

If another competitor has a beautiful website with a premium look and feel but its content is not engaging or doesn’t provide enough value for its audience, then there might be an opportunity for you to upsell them or offer them some additional services.

Most Common Web Design Mistakes
Most Common Web Design Mistakes

Discussing Content Management System Preferences

Content management systems (CMS) are tools that allow you to manage the content on your website, blog, or app. They allow you to manage the look of your site and apply specific styles across your site as needed.

There are many different types of CMS available, but when it comes to B2B web design projects, a Content Management System is the best option for most businesses.

The main reason for this is that most B2B websites rely on content management systems for their design and functionality. So if you're considering a B2B website project now, but don't know which CMS would be best for you and your business, here are some things to consider:

How much does your business currently use WordPress? If so, WordPress is likely your best option for a content management system (CMS). However, if it's not an option at all then take into consideration what kind of changes will need to be made so that WordPress can work alongside another software program.

What kind of changes do you want to be made? Is there something specific that needs to be done like adding an online store or creating a mobile app?

Identify Target Markets and Personas

The next step to creating a great B2B website is understanding who your target market and persona are.

Personas are the people you want to reach, and they represent real people with real needs. You can use your persona's characteristics to help you make decisions about how to create content and design a site that will resonate with them.

Identifying a target market can be challenging because there is no one-size-fits-all solution for every company. Your best bet is to start by asking yourself questions like:

  • "How do I describe this person?"
  • "What do they care about?"
  • "What do they fear?"

Once you have identified your target audience, it will be easier for you to understand what kind of content will resonate with them and how best to present it on your website.

Start with a Master Design Template

Furthermore, let's talk about what kind of design project you're looking to do.

B2B web design projects can be tricky because they're usually more complex than B2C projects. The features are different: there are more pages, more people involved in the process, and a lot more data that needs to be collected.

That being said, there are some common issues that need to be addressed when working with B2B clients.

First, you need to start with a master design template for your client. This will help you understand how their site looks and where they want it to go from there. You can start by using this template as a basis for everything else on their site—you can create versions that fit their expectations or customize them based on the needs of your client's audience.

Planning Out the User Experience

If you want to make sure that your B2B website is a success, you need to think about the user experience.

The user experience is the sum total of how a person interacts with your site and what they get out of it. It's the sum total of everything they see, hear, feel, touch, and do—and it's what makes them stay or leave.

A good user experience is like driving down a highway at night: You know there are other cars on the road ahead of you, but most of those cars aren't flashing their headlights or honking their horns at each other. They're just going about their business—and so are you.

So when you're planning out your B2B website, think about how your users will feel when they're on your site. Who is it for? What are they looking for? How do they want to be treated? What should be included in a navigation bar? How many different types of information should be available at any given time? And how can all this be done quickly and easily?

Ensure There's Feedback Built In For Future

If you’re looking for feedback on a web design project, or if you're just getting started with B2B web design and want to know what to expect from your clients, there are a few things you can do to make sure you get the most out of your experience.

Make It Easy For Them To Provide Feedback:

It can be hard for a client to give feedback about their site if they don't feel like it's necessary. So make it easy for them. Give them a place where they can leave comments or submit ideas directly through the website. If you have an internal tool that allows users to submit feedback, be sure to include that as well.

Make It Easy For Them To Try Out Their Ideas:

If you ask your client to change something on the site, they'll probably need some kind of trial period where they can test out their ideas without having to worry about losing access or anything like that—and if they can't try out all their ideas during this time period, then it might not be worth doing at all. Make sure you offer plenty of time for testing so that people aren't hesitant about trying new things out before committing or

Set Up Clear Expectations With Your Client Early

When you're working with a B2B client, it's important to set up clear expectations from the get-go. It may seem like a small thing, but it will help you to avoid the potential pitfalls down the road.

For example, when you ask your client what they want in a design, they might say "I want something that is clean and minimal." This sounds great on paper! However, as soon as they see your designs and get excited about them, they'll realize that their vision was too narrow—and then they'll start to nitpick every little detail. So if your client says "I want this," don't take it literally—you have to understand what they mean by that first.

In order to avoid this kind of problem in the first place, make sure that you ask open-ended questions at the beginning of the project instead of ones that require a yes or no answer."

These are the things you should think about before taking any B2B Web Design Project. Not only this there are also 3 important points which you also have to consider.

Do your research

If you're going to be paid for your work, it's important that you do your homework and know what to expect. You need to know the client's industry and business goals, so you can build a site that will help them reach their objectives.

Don't overlook the small details

You don't want to spend all of your time on the big stuff—you should also think about the little things that make a website great, like user experience, responsiveness, and even branding (if it's appropriate).

Be willing to compromise

Sometimes clients need something that isn't quite right for their needs or budget—so don't expect them to accept some changes instead of none at all. Instead, let them know what would make sense for them and why it would be beneficial for both of you as a team—and then find a way for them to give in without losing face or getting angry at each other over Skype calls all night long on holidays like Christmas Eve/Christmas Day/New Year's Eve/etcetera.

Conclusion

I hope you've enjoyed this article, and that it's been helpful to you. If you're a designer working on B2B websites, especially of the landing page persuasion, keep these tips in mind when designing your future landing pages for clients. By doing so, your clients will likely grow more excited about the experience!

FAQs

What do web designers need to know to design websites?

You should have a complete understanding of UI and UX. Web designers should also have basic knowledge of coding languages.

What do you need for a B2B website?

You need to have clear messaging, high-quality content, include a call to action, and a website should have a modern design.

How do you design for B2B?

Identify the user perspective, differentiate yourself from your competitors, take the help of your sales and marketing team, gather feedback, and come up with a buyer persona.

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