March 31, 2017
There are many ways to generate sizeable traffic for your website, but getting people to visit is only half the battle.
How do you turn casual visitors into paying customers?
We’ll let you into a little secret: it all lies in the web design. If you can build a website that screams “explore me!” and offers subtle yet effective buying cues during the visitor journey, you’ll see a very positive increase in conversion rates.
Below, we’ve picked out ten simple, quick ways any business can light a fire under its web presence and turn passers-by into brand advocates.
If you want someone to contact you via your website, you need to ensure there are no barriers in their way.
If you’ve ever had the misfortune of coming across a contact form with eighteen fields that ask for everything from your date of birth to favourite crisp flavour, you’ll likely have headed immediately for the ‘back’ button.
Don’t make the same mistake with your website. Keep forms simple and ask for as little information as possible.
A great big list of features might look impressive, but the people who visit your website are far more interested in what’s in it for them.
Focus the web design of your site on extolling the benefits offered by the products and services on show.
‘Above the fold’ is a term that has made its way from print media into the digital realm. It simply refers to the upper third of a web page - i.e. the bit everyone sees first.
To increase conversion rates, it's vital that you place every conversion element above the fold. That means calls-to-action, telephone numbers and any other items with which you want people to interact quickly.
Video is an incredibly powerful medium on the web, and if your business website doesn’t feature this form of content, you’re missing out in the engagement stakes - big time.
Simple, short videos on the homepage and every landing page will increase the time visitors spend on-site and tempt more people to interact with your business.
Do you simply point every pay-per-click (PPC) advert at your website’s homepage? If so, you’re missing a trick.
Create a dedicated landing page for every advert, and you’ll end up with a buying journey that remains relevant throughout every step.
You can’t have too many landing pages, so get designing!
Have you amassed a sizeable following on Twitter? Has the number of ‘Likes’ you’ve received on Facebook broken the 100 barrier?
If so, tell everyone that visits your website by including follower and Like counts on the website’s homepage. It’ll demonstrate that you’re worth engaging with.
Great web design is next to useless if the website in question fails to include plenty of clear CTAs.
You want visitors to browse your site, but when finished, you want them to do something. And they’ll need to be told what to do, so make sure you provide clear guidance with plenty of strong CTAs.
Often referred to as the process of giving website visitors ‘tunnel vision’, a heavy reliance on white space and minimal clutter will help increase conversions considerably.
This is particularly important on landing pages. When someone reaches such a page, you want them to head to the CTA immediately, and that means embracing as much white space as possible in order to keep their attention focused on your end goal.
The best web design tells a story and does so in a way that excites the visitor.
Be bold with your choice of imagery, use text that swaps sales copy for storytelling and insert plenty of cliff-hangers to leave them begging for more.
On pain of death, don’t rely on stock imagery that has been used a hundred thousand times by others. Your website deserves better.
If you have to use stock photos, hunt out the best and most striking, but if the marketing budget can stretch a little further, building your own library of professional photography will aid the web design of your site considerably and create something truly unique and hugely engaging.
Final thoughts
Have we inspired you to create a better web presence for your business? We hope so. The ten tips above won’t result in an immediate sales boost, but over time they’ll make their presence felt considerably when you review your conversion rates.