Having a website designed might seem like a business necessity, a box to tick before moving on to the next task. However a well built website should be an asset, generating leads or sales for years to come.
In order to maximise the value generated, and ultimately earn more income for your business, steps can be taken to encourage users to take pre-determined actions when visiting your site.
These actions include but are not limited to; filling out a contact form, making a phone call, purchasing a product, subscribing to a newsletter or downloading promotional material.
When a visitor takes such an action, it's referred to as a Conversion. As such, the effectiveness of a website can be measured by its Conversion Rate, the percentage of visitors completing the desired action when visiting the site.
The following article contains seven key insights which, when implemented correctly, will help increase your conversion rate, generating more value and ultimately boosting sales for your business.
Seven Key Insights to help Generate More Value from your Website:
1. People Hate Waiting
Modern humans are busy people and the patience of visitors is worn thin by websites that take several seconds to load. As a result, faster websites have higher conversion rates than slow ones. In fact, this study by Google shows that even a tiny increase in page load speed can increase conversion rates by a significant margin.
0.1-Second Improvement of Mobile Site Speed Increases Conversion Rates by:
2. The Mobile is King
With over 58% of internet traffic coming from mobile devices, it’s never been more important for your website to be mobile friendly. This Google study found that:
67% of mobile users say that when they visit a mobile-friendly site, they're more likely to buy a site's product or service.
3. Visual Design Matters
With visitors making snap judgements based on the layout and colour scheme of a website, it’s crucial that your site appeals to your target audience. Hubspot reports that:
38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content/layout is unattractive.
That’s a high number of visitors refusing to engage with your business simply because they don’t like the way your website looks.
4. Clear Messaging is Essential
When a visitor arrives at your site it’s essential that they can quickly and easily understand exactly what your business is offering them. A clear succinct title, alongside an eye-catching image, is the best way to let a visitor know that they are in the right place as soon as they arrive at your site.
Visitors who can’t find the information they need quickly and easily may simply leave the site and move forward with a competitor instead.
5. User Action can be Swayed
Call to Action Buttons, as depicted below, are an excellent way to capture conversions. Whether the button leads to a contact form, or enters your number into the visitor's phone app, they provide a quick and easy way for a user to complete an action.
ContactIn order to be effective, Call to Action Buttons should have eye-catching colours, be placed in prominent positions and use compelling language. Animations can also be introduced, if desired, to further increase the likelihood of catching a user's attention.
6. The Hero Section is Crucial
Your website’s hero section (the area immediately visible when a user arrives at the site) is the only part of your website that will be seen by every single visitor to that page. This study by the Nielsen Norman Group shows that 57% of users total viewing time is spent in the hero section. As such it’s essential that this area is used to maximum effect.
By placing your website title and your primary call to action in this area you can ensure that visitors know exactly what your business offers and how they can take action, from the first second they arrive at your site. The hero section is also a great location for an eye catching image which can help the user visualise your product or service in action.
7. Social Proof Builds Trust
Social proof such as online reviews and user testimonials have a significant impact on conversion rates. A recent Brightlocal survey shows that:
98% of people read online reviews for local businesses and 49% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
These statistics make a clear case for including social proof on your website.
Bringing it all Together
The following example illustrates perfectly how a website can be designed with all seven of these insights in mind.
When visiting you’ll notice that it:
Looks Great on Mobile
As well as any other screen size and any type of phone or computer.
✔ ✔ ✔
Is Visually Interesting
With a bold colour scheme and great use of contrast.
✔ ✔ ✔
Has Clear Messaging
Throughout the site, from the initial header onwards.
✔ ✔ ✔
Has Prominent Call to Action Buttons
With an engaging animation when the user hovers over them.
✔ ✔ ✔
Makes Great Use of the Hero Section
With a clear title, a call to action and an eye-catching image.
✔ ✔ ✔
Uses Social Proof to Build Trust
Via multiple customer testimonials in an animated slider.
✔ ✔ ✔
Final Thoughts
This article introduced the concept of Conversions, detailed actions you might want your website visitors to take and explained why a high conversion rate could be beneficial to your bottom line.
After that, we outlined seven key insights which, when implemented correctly, will boost your conversion rate ultimately bringing more leads or sales to your business.
Finally we took a look at a site built with these seven key insights in mind. That’s it for today but if you’d like help putting these insights into action on your own website then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Got any questions about the concepts explored in this article?
Get in touch! I’ll be more than happy to talk you through it.
Contact