This question is so straightforward that it often gets overlooked in the website design process.

When someone arrives on your website, what do you want them to do?  What action do you want them to take?

Asking and answering this question is vital because the content and design you develop must serve this objective.

Your content should funnel people towards this action.  It should be highlighted above the fold on your homepage, and/or be in the header so it appears on every page.

Yet somehow in the website design and creation process, this gets lost.  With all the images, content, colors, navigation, and other layout issues, a site gets completed and there’s no objective – no clear call to action.

Since this action is also the conversion you’re using to get the lead or sale, not making it clear is more than an oversight.  It’s a catastrophe.

Website Example – What Do You Want Me to Do? 

I recently came across a website with the issue we’re describing.  Here is the area above the fold.

It’s difficult to understand what value they are offering at all, much less what action a visitor should take.

Believe it or not, the objective of this page is to get visitors to buy a book.  But there isn’t even anything indicating that a book is available, much less a call to action to buy it.

When you scroll down you finally see the book, with a call to action to “learn more about the book”.  Then you must navigate to another page where there is a long explanation of its content.

Finally, under all that text, we get a call to action to buy the book.

It’s almost as if they’re going out of their way to hide the main objective of the website.  Worse, after all the work involved in finding it, the call to action is the flat, unmotivating “add to cart”.  Who wants to do that?

Website Design With a Purpose

Before you add an image, write a word of copy, or develop a line of code, you should know what the objective of your website is.

For the majority of SMB websites, their goal is to get a conversion.  They want visitors to take a tangible action while visiting the site.  The objective is to get a sale (for eCommerce sites) or capture lead information (for lead generation sites).

These sites will use conversion-based design to achieve their goals.  This means that your call to action must be visible, enticing, and easy to complete.

Here is an example from our UXI® designs from a NYC painter that clearly has an objective for the homepage:

The purpose of this website is to get leads to contact them for an estimate or a free color consultation.  They have seven different ways for visitors to complete this objective on the homepage alone.

The design and content serve the objective.  This is the difference between a website that converts and one that doesn’t.

Conclusions

Before you start a website design, outline the objective.  Know what reaction and action you want to get from your visitors.

If you have a website design where the designers missed those considerations, get a redesign.  It’s a big part of the reason your conversion rates are low.

Not all websites are conversion-based.  You may use your website more for information and branding, without a single strong call to action.  If your objective is to get people to consume certain pieces of content, then design around that objective.

If your offering is more complex and requires some education for people to understand its value, be careful about asking for a commitment too soon.  In this case, your objective is to get the visitor to take a series of steps so they consume information that educates them on the value you offer.  When they complete those steps you ask for contact info or a purchase.

If you don’t know what the objective of your website is, then you’re not ready to design a website.  Work on your market research so you have a better understanding of your target audience.

In the end, your website is not for you or about you.  It’s for your audience – it fulfills their need.

When their need matches your business goal, you’ll have an objective for your design that will convert well.

*Results are based on past client performance. Individual account performance may vary. Results are not guaranteed.