Website visitors that don’t convert are just that: visitors.
From buying your product to signing up for your newsletter, registering for a webinar or filling out a lead form, successful conversion means that people engage in the way you need them to in order to make your business grow.
Your website can have all the hits in the world, but if visitors don’t convert into leads then your website isn’t working for you.
With smart website design – and properly implemented conversion elements – you can rest assured that your website isn’t just a mile marker on your visitor’s journey but, rather, is their finish line.
Here’s how to design a website that converts:
Immediately Define Your Unique Value Position
A clear statement that describes the benefit of your offer, how your business is the answer to prospective customer’s needs, and what distinguishes you from the competition, your unique value proposition should be very clear and prominent on your landing page.
With 0-8 seconds to catch the attention of visitors on your website, be sure your UVP stands out.
Make your unique value proposition immediately and perfectly clear.
GROW client Aegis Insurance Markets offers commercial and personal insurance products, and specializes in insurance for outdoor businesses.
Their home page displays icons that clearly show what types of coverages they offer, making it immediately obvious for website visitors the value that Aegis has to offer them. If you operate a ski and bike shop, for example, there’s no doubt in your mind that Aegis has an insurance product tailored for your business.
Include Strong Calls-to-Action
It’s not enough to hope that your website visitors will navigate through your site until they happen upon a page where they can engage.
You need to make it perfectly clear what you want prospective converts to do while making it very easy for them to do it.
It isn’t that your website visitors lack the intelligence to locate where they can engage on your website, it’s that they don’t want to spend their precious time and energy figuring out how to get what they’re after.
In today’s fast-paced digital age, people expect to be shown exactly what they need in order to get a quote from you, to contact you, or to sign up for your newsletter.
According to branding expert and author Donald Miller, within people’s brains exists a survival mechanism that works to tune out if they start feeling confused or overwhelmed by useless information.
In other words, keep it simple if you want visitors to stay tuned in.
Show them what you want them to do by prominently displaying CTAs on your homepage, landing pages, and internal product pages.
Your call-to-action (CTA) will drive potential customers to take a the action you need them to take, moving them through your conversion funnel. Commonly, this will look like an email sign up form or a BUY NOW button.
For example, if you make it very clear that your goal is for website visitors to GET A FREE QUOTE NOW then they won’t have to think twice about doing just that.
GROW client Old Town Auburn Business Association hosts events throughout the year. These events are highly anticipated and draw large crowds to the historic business district.
Rather than making web visitors dig through their site to find info on upcoming events, GROW added a clear CTA on the home page that leads directly to details about upcoming events.
Keep it Simple
If you want your website to convert, simplicity is key.
Google found that “visually complex” websites are consistently rated as less appealing than their simpler counterparts.
And that simplicity should carry over to your CTAs and forms, as well.
When asking for customer information, use as few form fields as possible. If all you need is a customer’s name, contact info, and business type or replacement cost, then ask for just that.
There is no need to further complicate the design or their user experience – don’t frighten off potential converts by using 10 field form when 3 will suffice.
GROW client The Villas at Stanford Ranch is a luxury retirement community offering individualized care and top-tier amenities for residents.
Their homepage displays a CTA to ‘Schedule a Tour’ which leads to a short form.
During the design process, GROW assured that the form contains as few fields as possible, so that the TVASR team has the information they need to get in touch with prospective residents without overwhelming them with too many unnecessary questions.
Prioritize Trust Signals
While new visitors to your website don’t know you and have no reason to trust you, there are features you can incorporate on your website to earn it.
A trust signal is a feature or quality of your website that inspires trust in your visitors, and can include:
- Testimonials
- Contact information
- Personal photo
- Security signals
- Social media
With the right trust signals in place, you can position yourself as a legitimate resource and convert visitors into business prospects.
Does Your Website Stack Up?
Do you have a clean and simple website which clearly states your UVP and displays strong calls-to-action, while incorporating trust signals that will help convert visitors into leads?
While it’s important to drive traffic to your site, it’s only the first step.
If you’ve got a website that is optimized to increase conversions, then you’ve got a site that’s hard at work helping to you build your business.
