B2B Website Design for Dummies

5 min read

Created: 16th November 2018Updated: 4th August 2023

Driving inbound leads through effective B2B website design can seem like a daunting task to an MD or Sales Director whose comfort zone is on the road closing a deal. But if your website fails to generate interest in your product or service, then it is time to act!

B2B sites that gather dust month after month are probably suffering from a lack of specificity to the needs of their target audience. In the B2B arena there is less room for making purchases based on gut-feel. Multiple stakeholders often need to be convinced that your solution is the right one. So how can B2B websites be tailored to meet the needs of this demanding audience?

What the Best B2B Websites Do Well

Whether it’s B2B or B2C, every company is trying to influence individual’s behaviours online. The primary difference is that our emotions are swayed by different factors in B2B, and the good news is that it’s not rocket science to get to grips with these.

Any website – business focussed or otherwise – needs to be clear, concise, easy to navigate and aesthetically pleasing. However, B2B sites should strike a healthy balance between attracting new prospects on first visit and catering to those further into the buying cycle seeking our more detailed information about a product or service.

Superior B2B website experiences are born from a combination of design factors

If you had to boil down B2B website design to its bare bones, we’d suggest that there are 5 things you must get right from the outset:

Minimalise your web design
Less is more – when it comes to website design at least. You must allow users the opportunity to digest the information presented in front of them. As disheartening as it may be, chances are that people will only skim-read your page, so design with this in mind, allowing plenty of space for copy and imagery to ‘breathe’.
Be up front about your value proposition
How does what you’re offering solve a users’ problem? And what makes your product or service unique. Answer these questions from the outset, positioning your explanation at the top of the page. Be sure that this can be read and understood in a few seconds and don’t assume that readers will scroll down the page to seek out more detail as they may not. Keep your value proposition ‘above the fold’ and allow users to make next steps in their journey without having to fumble around at the bottom of the page.
Craft superior B2B content
Content marketing serves two purposes in the B2B world. Firstly, it will help you to drive traffic to your website, through social media posts, links on other sites or search engine optimised content. Secondly it will help to convert those website visitors into warm prospects and ultimately into clients. But this will only be the case if the content you produce is engaging, thought-provoking and, most importantly, highly relevant to your target audience.
Build authority and trust
Instilling trust in the reader is essential. To purchase your product or service, prospects must first trust that you know what you’re talking about, have experience in relevant areas to the individual and that you can help solve their issue.In an ideal world you will capitalise on brand advocacy to drive business, with leads flooding through the door from recommendations passed between colleagues. Reality check!
Create clear calls to action
Provide soft calls to action by steering readers towards your latest case study, whitepaper or guide. Encourage them to watch an explainer video, follow you on social media or sign up to a webinar. Then focus on harder calls to action by giving people an easy way to talk to you for further detail. Try to remove all obstacles to you contacting a prospect by catering to the differing preferences of users and offering a multitude of communication methods. Display phone numbers clearly on every page. Ideally embed contact forms on every page as well, but a big, bold ‘contact us’ button will also do the trick. And if you can, utilise live chat to capture individuals at the point they are on your site. Use proactive pop ups to ask if you can help at all, rather than hoping that the user will pick up the phone.

Allow for a Longer Purchasing Process

B2B buyers rarely make an impulsive purchase. This is because consumer needs and business needs are different. There are all manner of additional influencing factors pulling against B2B buyers when compared to their B2C counterparts:

B2C versus B2B

B2C purchasers seek immediate gratification. They often want to make a transaction there and then.

B2B purchasers often put off deciding when it affects a team or company. They are more risk averse than your typical consumer.

When it comes to decision making, B2C sales are one-to-one. The consumer is ultimately the decision maker.

With B2B, there is often a team of people behind the decision-making process. Buyers may have to follow certain procedures when authorising a purchase, thereby adding complication to the purchase process.

B2C purchases tend to be emotionally based and therefore building brand empathy is key.

B2B purchases are more methodical, with users less influenced by emotion.

Consumers seek out a smooth and convenient buying process, but this is often a one-time transaction.

Businesses want a strong ongoing relationship. They want to know your team and how you can add value.

When dealing with consumers, pricing is often fixed.

This isn’t always the case with B2B purchases. Pricing can often vary based upon several factors.

There is No Easy Option

B2B website design is an ever-evolving field and assuming that once your website is built that the job is done (until the next time it needs an overhaul) is a cardinal sin committed by many businesses. This is a labour-intensive area and if you are starting from scratch it will take months, if not years for you to perfect. But once you do, you’ll reap the fruits of your labour for years to come.

Once your website is up and running, you should:

Continue to build landing pages that cater to the needs of differing audience personas.
Use Google Analytics data to gauge the appeal of your content and monitor the ease of navigating your site.
Perform split tests to determine how well the presentation of your messaging is being received.
Consider alternative methods of communicating – replacing three paragraphs of text with a 60 second explainer video, for example.

So, the launch of your new website is only just the beginning of a long journey towards the lead-generative site that you desire.

Awesome B2B Web Design Comes from Knowing Your Audience Really Well!

Any prospect must completely trust your business before they will make a purchase, and your website will be a strong influencing factor in that decision.

Therefore, any B2B site needs to be clean, clear and tailored to your target demographic. The content that supports it should be informative, educational and address audience pain points. Remember to cater to repeat visits from prospects and encourage an open dialogue between the individual and an expert in your team.

Increasingly agencies, software companies and other service providers are recognising the nuances of B2B website design. Is it time you followed suit?

About the author

Joanna Tracey BeeBrilliant! Marketing Joanna Tracey is a partner here at BeeBrilliant! Marketing and seasoned marketer. Joanna is our resident web design expert, technical geek and an all round digital marketing pro. She has many years experience in delivering effective digital marketing projects for agencies, telecommunications firms and service providers alike.