While it is true that you can drive a lot of traffic to a poorly designed website it is also true that the user interface has a lot to do with conversions. Consumers make a judgment decision about your website within seconds of landing on the homepage and follow their previous experiences regarding what they expect to find on your site. If your site is designed in such a way that turns consumers off, all the traffic in the world will not help you grow your business.
Instead of scratching your head trying to figure out where all your leads are going, double check your website and determine if it has the below design factors that help it convert.
Above-the-Fold Design
Back in the days when people used to read the news in newspapers, there was a technique that publishers used when they wanted to push the most exciting stories to the place where they would get the most visibility. This area of the newspaper is called “above-the-fold,” describing the section of the newspaper that has the most attention grabbing information. Websites don’t fold, but they do scroll. On your website, is your most telling information above or below this scroll point?
If your visitors have to scroll down “below-the-fold” to find your call-to-actions then you are making it harder on them than need be. Don’t make your visitors have to search for your call-to-actions below the fold. The more searching they have to do the less likely they are to stay on your website.
Sales Funnels
The purpose of most websites is to get their visitors to do something such as buy a product, make a phone call, signup for a form, request information via email, or download a pdf. Take a look at your website, how many steps does it take to get from the homepage (or landing page) to the page where the sales funnel will be complete?
Your sales funnel should be as short and simple as possible allowing your consumer to get to the final page as quickly and seamlessly as possible. For example, let’s say that you are using paid advertising to drive consumers to a landing page promoting a vacuum cleaner. Here is how that sales funnels could work from beginning to end:
- Search for “Hoover vacuum cleaner” on Google
- Visits “Hoover vacuum cleaner” page on website
- Adds vacuum to cart
- Checks out
You have probably been on a lot of sites that have additional pages after step two. For example, some websites make the common mistake of having customers register before they make the checkout so that they can capture their contact information. This creates an additional step that can discourage a ‘ready to buy’ customer from completing the transaction. A more effective use of the registration step would to allow the customer to do it after the sale as to not distract the user from making the purchase that they are already set out on completing.
Content Designed for Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is advertising that draws customers into your website via interesting content. Interesting content on one website might be completely different on another website. This is why it is important to know things about your customers that help them to feel comfortable making purchases on your website. Here are some ways to improve your content so that it results in sales and not bounces:
- Landing page headlines and topics match the search results that brought users there in the first place.
- Build trust signals that identify with your consumers.
- Testimonials
- Logos of former clients
- 3rd party trust signals (Better Business Bureau, Safe Shopping Guarantee, etc)
- Media mentions
- Images that help to strengthen your message
- Most important aspects “above-the-fold”
Redesign Your Website for More Conversions
To make the most out of your website traffic address the call-to-actions above-the-fold, the sales funnels and the appropriateness of your inbound marketing content. These simple changes can make the difference between a much higher bounce rate and significant increases in conversions. Keep in mind that all the changes you make can and should be tested for effectiveness. One website design may work better than another so be aware of the possibilities and explore different approaches one at a time.
If you need help designing a website with a conversion oriented user experience built in, contact Success Agency today.
-Avin Kline
