With the rise of the digital transformation era, business transactions are happening online now more than ever, heightening the impact of a business’s website in the conversion process. Consequently, web design is one of the most crucial aspects that contributes to conversion optimization. Marketers have known this for ages, but not everyone has fully grasped the ins and outs of how to strategically create a website that draws in potential customers and leads them to convert.
According to a Stanford study, 75% of Internet users have accredited their judgment of a website’s credibility to its aesthetic design. What should this statistic tell you? Visuals and designs matter when it comes to earning the trust of your visitors and optimizing your conversion rate.
If you’re wondering what you can do to curate your website and boost your conversion rates, look no further.
We’ve put together 7 best practices that will help you tailor your web pages and design in order to maximize your conversion opportunities.
1) Less is more. As a business, you have exciting and clear value propositions that set you apart in your market. Because you’re proud of these elements of your business, you want to share them with your visitors, right? However, a website with chunky paragraphs of information or 10+ options on a navigation bar can be overwhelming for visitors and make it easy for them to get lost in all the commotion, meaning you’ve lost your opportunity to make a sale. It seems like a silly example, but simplifying your website’s layout design can greatly benefit you.
2) Include engaging but not overstimulating images. Images play an important role on website pages as they break up text, provide relevant context, and engage your reader by providing visuals. But using an overly complex graphic design might be too over-the-top for visitors who found you through a google search or are just wanting to know more about your services or product. Use images that are high-quality, authentic (avoid using standard stock images), and relevant to what your web page is talking about.
3) Place need-to-know information and other important elements in the center of your web page to make it easy for your visitors to find what you want them to know. Being strategic with your page layouts applies to landing pages as well. Additionally, ensure that your call to action (CTA) is loud, clear, and visible to prevent confusion and outline how to take next steps with your business.
Studies have found that Internet users tend to read web pages from left to right in an “F” shape formation, starting by looking at more of the page on the top left than on the bottom or right side of the page. Because of this, you want to make sure to add action buttons or CTAs on either the center or left-hand side of your page.
4) Add interactive elements such as video or audio clips. Research shows that as the digital age continues to evolve, users tend to engage more with web pages that include video and audio content. Since videos can quite literally bring a web page to life, visitors are more likely to interact and stay involved with a web page that has an embedded link. Additionally, video and audio clips can serve as a refreshing break from traditional web pages or blog posts that provide paragraphs of information, and instead serve as a different way for people to consume your important information.
5) Pick your color, any color. Seriously. Okay maybe not any color. But when it comes to your company’s website design, color really matters. You want to make sure the color scheme of your website’s design is aligned with that of your marketing and branding materials in order to create consistency across the board. Incorporating the right colors to your page not only helps your message get read more easily, but it also communicates the message of your brand through design.
6) Make it mobile friendly! It seems as though everyone has a smartphone these days, meaning that a majority of the Internet searches they make will be from their mobile devices. Businesses that have not yet tailored their websites to be mobile friendly lose out on the customers who may leave when the site won’t work properly on their phones. Making your website mobile friendly will set you apart from your competitors and keep you at the top of your game.
7) Last but not least, use whitespace to your advantage. What is whitespace, you ask? Well, to put it simply, it’s quite literally…white space. When you’re looking at a well designed web page, you’ll notice that the white space between and around important information makes it pop more, and cleans the page up as well. Additionally, it spaces text out in a way that makes all the information you see digestible and compact, even if there’s a lot of it.
This strategy is one that most people forget about, simply because it comes down to something you don’t notice all that much until you do – space. However, when it comes to thinking strategically about how you’ll design your site, this one is a big one to consider!
Whether you’re a seasoned web designer or a rookie business user, you’re now best equipped to create the website that will launch your conversion rates through the roof! Optimizing your website is one of many practices that will help you turn potential leads into loyal customers.
Need help knowing how to tackle your site’s web design? At Lift Digital Marketing, we offer web design services built specifically for conversion rate optimization to get started.
