A highly converting website is one that performs its needed actions quickly, efficiently, and repeatedly. Of course, high website conversion is the goal of all marketers and businesses. You want a website that performs as an asset and growth partner, not a website that eats time, attention, and funds just to exist.
The higher the conversion rate of your website, the more your business can grow. Here is a look at what constitutes a highly converting website along with a website design best practice or two to help your business get ahead.
High Conversion Rates Start with Web Design
A whole host of considerations and optimizations go into creating websites that convert at high rates. However, it’s safe to say that if you’re aiming for the best possible ability for your website to drive sales, boost your reputation, or find prospects, then you must start with excellent conversion web design.
Your website forms the backbone of your efforts. A poorly designed, unappealing, or badly focused web design will kill a call to action before someone even reaches it to make a decision. Bounce rates will skyrocket. Even people who seek your business out specifically may turn away immediately if your website isn’t modern, navigable, or capable of holding their attention.
A good conversion web design starts with a good website design best practice or two. Here are a few things to consider at the very start.
Do Your Research
Look at the website designs of the people or organizations in your niche that aren’t having any trouble finding prospects. Visit your competitor’s website and see what they’re doing right. Pay attention to the experience and take notes.
Research also means taking a moment to read information about current best practices and changes in website design. You can’t figure out the best approach for your needs if you’re unaware of the basics.
For example, a great website on the desktop doesn’t automatically translate to a great mobile viewing experience. And, frankly, these days, mobile should probably receive greater attention if you want your website to convert spectacularly.
A responsive website design that utilizes modern website scripting and technology will typically work smoothly on any screen. More people use smartphones and tablets to go online now than ever, so catering to the online habits of your potential visitors makes an incredible amount of sense.
Ask People What They Think
Your customers or clients can help guide you toward making website design changes that can boost your conversion rates by quite a lot. Don’t hesitate to survey your visitors or allow them to express an opinion on your website in some way.
You may find that many people have the same gripes, which can help you fix things for everybody. Make sure your website has a form or other means of communication readily available for those who want to communicate with your company. Encourage that type of thing and make it easy for people to do.
Clean Up the Clutter
A busy website can drive people away fast. Websites that convert tend to pare things down to the essentials. A clean, navigable interface works best. A lack of clutter or obstacles will allow someone to get to the information you need them to get to.
Always keep in mind that your website serves a purpose, and the more you tune it to that core purpose, the better. In fact, you should have that purpose front and center on your website. Are you seeking:
- Email addresses?
- Signups for an online seminar?
- Buyers of a particular product or service?
- People to download your app?
Make sure that you have the relevant information for that activity large and unambiguous. A conversion occurs when someone follows through, so give them very easy paths to do so.
A website that takes away from the core goal of the business will only cost the business in the end. You can have other things on your website, but make sure that landing page or other part of your site does exactly and specifically what you need it to do. A highly focused website is a highly converting website.
Think of Your Own Online Experiences
Do you spend a lot of time on the internet? Odds are you do. What do you like about some of the websites you visit? What do you hate about them? What elements of the site or message move you to click through?
Put yourself in the position of someone who visits a site for the first time seeking information or following a prompt. Would a site like yours help or hinder that process?
High Conversions Rates Require a Plan
Your website represents a fundamental part of your overall plan. You do have an overall plan, right? Website conversion doesn’t just happen on its own. Of course, this would sit squarely within your marketing plan or sales funnel steps.
The buyer’s journey requires guidance and figuring your ideal prospect requires you to have a goal-oriented plan. How do you want to attract prospects to your website? The site can’t convert if no one is visiting.
Did you set a specific number of conversions as an initial goal? If you haven’t, you need to do that right now. Even if you only want to start with a handful, you can use that number to optimize your website and efforts toward achieving that goal of a handful.
Do you know where your traffic will most likely come from? If so, then make sure your web design takes that into account. If you don’t know, then figuring it out should become another part of your plan.
Goals and plans can change, and should change, as you move forward. However, you need a plan to start with. Going in haphazardly certainly won’t give you good conversion rates.
High Conversion Rates Require Continuing Efforts
Things change, sometimes quickly. Today’s website design best practice could become tomorrow’s thing you should absolutely not do. You must stay on top of trends, especially when it comes to SEO and website optimization.
Never stop improving on your website, marketing, and goals. This means you may have to go through a bit of trial and error. A lot of trial and error. This is a necessary and good thing though:
- Test out different headlines
- Implement different features
- Run promotions
- Switch up your ads or social media messaging
- Engage in some A/B testing
- Use analytics and metrics to figure out the next move
- Use analytics and metrics to figure out what isn’t working
This all sounds like a lot, but you can do a lot with the free and low-cost tools available online along with the absolute glut of information out there. When you’re ready to go bigger, do more, or higher professional services, then you can work that in as well.
Remember the part about goals changing as you go along. It’s possible your ideal prospect isn’t the one that’s showing up and heeding your call to action. Maybe it’s a wholly different demographic.
Are you going to keep to that original goal and keep trying to attract those people who aren’t interested? No, you’re going to switch gears and see what this new ideal prospect is all about.
That switch may mean you need to overhaul a lot of things. That’s okay, as long as you keep to the principles that make high conversion web design work for you.
Work With Professionals When You’re Ready
You don’t have to shoulder all this activity on your own. Professional services exist that can help you with every aspect of your website design and website conversion efforts. At some point, maybe even from the very beginning, you should give some thought to speaking with a reputable digital marketing and website design group.
In this way, you can have the current best practices and digital marketing techniques on your side and ready to build you the highly converting website design you need to stay competitive.