Is your website designed with conversion in mind or is it designed just for the purpose of traffic? Getting traffic to your website is a great start but not so great if it doesn’t convert into customers or clients. Optimizing the design of your website can have a huge impact on how much traffic converts into business and an overall positive user experience.
When designing your website for conversion, you should always keep your customers and target audience in mind. The purpose of websites is to help you sell a product or service and connect with your customers but if your website visitors don’t have a good experience, they’re most likely going to leave the website and not make a purchase or inquiry. You need to be clear on who your target audience is, what the most important elements are on each page of your website and how you can make the website experience better for your visitors. When you’re clear on those things, you can get into how your website should function, how it will be used and how it should be designed to maximize your results.
KEY ELEMENTS YOU NEED TO DESIGN A WEBSITE THAT CONVERTS:
DESIGN AND FUNCTION: Most people start designing a website based on how they want it to look first but you need to think about how your website will be used, then how it will look. An aesthetically pleasing website is important but having a well-functioning and easy to use website is also a big factor in whether someone stays on your page or leaves to go to a competitor’s website. Your website should be clear, easy to navigate and have obvious call to actions so your website visitors know what the next step is.
MOBILE RESPONSIVE: Design your website with responsive design so it adapts to whatever device a visitor uses and is mobile friendly. When you have a responsive design, your website supports mobile users and provides a better experience for them. It’s important that you make sure the fonts you use are large enough to read on mobile, the buttons are big enough to click with a thumb and that you have links on phone numbers and email addresses so if someone clicks them, it takes them directly to phoning or emailing you.
SIMPLE NAVIGATION: When someone can’t find information quickly, they get frustrated and are less likely to stay on your website. If your navigation is hard to use or hard to find, it could be the cause of your website’s low conversion rate. Focus on designing simple, organized navigation so your website visitors can clearly see where everything is located without having to search for it.
CALL TO ACTIONS (CTA): These are to guide your website visitors so they know what to do next. Whether that is “buy now” or “sign up here”, your visitors need and want to know what the next step is. Make the CTA buttons pop on your website so they are easy to see with a colour or style that stands out from the rest of your website.
CONTENT: The information you put on your website plays a huge role in the type of traffic that goes to your website and whether or not it converts to an inquiry or purchase. It needs to be written for your target audience so it draws the real customers in and educates them about what you offer. Your content needs to have relevant information to what you are offering to build brand awareness, keep their interest and make them want to take action to make a purchase/inquiry or become a client. It’s vital that you do keyword research and make sure you have the proper heading tags on the keywords you use on your website so that Google and other search engines can find it. Make sure the title tags, descriptions and images’ alt texts describe your services or products for those search engines.
CLEAR STEPS: Include a section on your website that identifies what the steps are to hiring you or buying your product. This can be short and sweet but identifying your process is a great way to get clear with your website visitors and make sure they know how your process works and what they can expect.
EASY CONTACT FORMS: Ensure that your contact form is easy to find and not complicated. A contact footer at the bottom of every page with a navigation link directed there is a great way to do that. Another option is to have a contact page if your form requires more information than the basics. Always include your email address and business phone number near your contact form so your website visitors have options of how to contact you.
When all of the elements above are done properly with your target audience in mind, your website will work for you by drawing quality traffic in and converting them into buyers or clients.