The 5 Pillars of a Highly Convertible Website
July 7, 2022
A business website with lead-generation or sales goals must be designed to convert. Calls-to-action that capture contact information or make sales are the focal point of inbound marketing. Here are five essential elements websites need to be conversion machines.
#1. Intelligent, purposeful design
Lead-generation websites are no place for filler content or design just for design’s sake. Every image, banner, word of copy and page should either help drive visitors towards converting or be cut. Keep the message benefit-focused on all pages, including your About Us and Contact Us pages. People want to know what’s in it for them. Stay on point with the benefits you deliver.
Confusion kills conversions. Make it easy for people to find essential information. For example, a local business should highlight its location, areas of service and contact information. If you want people to contact you, don’t bury your contact info on a hard-to-find back page.
On an e-commerce website, product categories should be clear and logical. Put yourself in the shopper’s shoes. If you sell men’s dress shirts, could you find them in a matter of seconds? Could a third grader? If not, your categories and navigation are too complicated.
When someone arrives on your website, you have seconds to capture their attention and convince them they’ve in the right place. If you fail, the rest of your content won’t have a chance.
#2. Simplicity and clarity
Your website visitors are task-focused and time-pressed. Attention spans are short online.
Excessive design and wordy content work against you with fast-paced web surfers. Consumers are too savvy to be wowed by an over-the-top design. Dense content gets skipped.
Simplicity and clarity, on the other hand, elevate conversion rates.
Design around conversion goals. Highlight key information, and use directional cues to funnel people towards converting.
Stay on topic. On landing pages, have a single, clear offer tied to a compelling call-to-action.
#3. Value proposition and call to action
The crux of the conversion process is your unique value proposition and call-to-action (CTA). This is where you persuade people to act.
Your unique sales proposition (USP) is a statement that does three things. A USP:
- Clarifies the specific value of your offer
- Defines how you solve your customer’s problem
- Distinguishes you from your competition
A USP is usually the headline on a webpage, sometimes with a sub-headline or bullet points for more detail. In just a few seconds, visitors should understand why you’re the best choice.
CTAs are usually short — a phrase or just a few words. Yet no other content on your website requires more testing and scrutiny. Many websites test and modify CTAs for months before they find the most effective combination of word choice and design.
A CTA is usually in the imperative (Buy Now!), and works best when it’s a natural extension of the USP.
Other considerations include:
- Competitiveness of your offer – You have to give people a reason to choose you over your competition.
- Stage in the buying process – If someone is visiting your homepage for the first time, it may not make sense to try to sell them an expensive product. Many effective CTAs just capture contact information to get leads into the sales funnel.
- Message match from ads – The call-to-action on a landing page should match the message of the ad listing that brought the visitor to the site. If an ad says you can Save 50% on an item, the landing page offer needs to be a match for that promotion.
- Value-added and loss leaders – Freebies, coupons, big discounts — there is no denying that money-saving offers convert. Look at the lifetime value of a new customer and consider loss leaders to initiate the relationship.
- Design and position – Place your CTA in multiple places on your page, and try to have it visible throughout the page. Use buttons, hyperlinks, directional cues and banners to give visitors multiple opportunities to convert.
#4. Trust and credibility
Establishing trust and making a credible first impression are critical on a business website. As much as anything else, a website creates a perception. Make it work for you.
Website design is your digital business attire. A tie and jacket make a stronger professional impression than jeans and a wrinkled shirt. A clean, modern website design that describes a clear solution converts better than one that is outdated and vague.
Closely related to this is your website’s ability to evoke trust.
Showcase positive customer reviews, industry trust badges, and online ratings. Make them visible on your homepage and part of the main navigation. Online reviews are influential and have a stronger subconscious impact than people realize. Plausible, positive comments about your services will increase conversions.
#5. Urgency
Website conversion efforts are like fishing. Much of your success depends on having the right bait.
When it comes to your value proposition and CTA, you want to make the very best offer you possibly can.
Salespeople use the term unique sales proposition. With online marketing, consider taking it to another level with an irresistible value proposition. Limited time offers are effective online, particularly with e-commerce product sales. Again, loss leaders are effective. It’s worth it to lose a small fish to catch a bigger one later.
Know what your competition is offering. Try to be better — or at least as good — or you’ll lose conversions to them.
In conjunction with urgency, do everything you can to lower the consumer’s sense of risk. Guarantees for satisfaction, reliability and punctuality do a lot to remove risk with online buying. When capturing contact information, ensure privacy.
The internet is full of window shoppers and tire kickers. The better you are at getting them to bite on a deal right away, the better your overall conversion rates will be.
Build a small business website that converts with the Marketing 360® Websites app. Learn more and see our plans and pricing.
Originally published on 10/1/14
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