Have you ever felt ecstatic after seeing a spike in your website visit graph and immediately felt let down by looking at the sales numbers? The digital world can be tricky for the ones who just look at the big data and miss the small details.
Website conversion is like the little transition that a visitor makes from window shopping to actually inquiring, signing up and buying products from a store. But similar to a brick and mortar shop, we also need to keep in mind that the idea of conversion can differ from one business to another. While one may be looking for lead generation, others might be looking for some real off-the-shelf sales ultimately adding to business revenue.
Conversion starts from the Conversation
If your website is not communicating what it stands for, it may leave the visitor a bit puzzled. The clarity of your business proposition put forth along with direct, actionable information will define the buyer’s journey. An interface that is easy to use and navigate will further enhance the overall user experience.
Exhibit 1: Left: AirBnB puts its proposition right in front. Right: Semplice which is more B2B keeps itself focused on the needs of the professionals. The common point is despite having difference in businesses, the approach towards putting up your value proposition remains same.
Seeing is believing and believing is buying
An interface that is clean, elegant and consistent makes the website navigable and less confusing. The more time a visitor spends on a website, chances for decision-making increases and so does the probability of signing up or buying a product. The whole market is built on trust and design plays a pivotal role in establishing a website as the place one can trust.
Exhibit 2 Left: Slack is one of the prime example of using UI and UX as building Trust. Right: Note how DropBox has chosen ethical route instead of dark patterns. A simple differentiation between two buttons gives the visitor an assurance that she is not going to be fleeced.
They need to know more about you
But in fewer words. No one likes a talker. Easy to understand, no-nonsense copywriting helps your website communicate your brand proposition in an emphatic way. Headline copy is one of the persuasive and influential ways to make people curious about your products and set them towards the buyer’s journey.
Exhibit 3 Above: Lateral Inc has one of the most interesting team pages in the history of websites. It keeps the visitor entertained and engaged. Just looking at the page gives a visitor enough confidence that he has arrived at the right place.
In Life and business, it’s all about simplicity
The simple you keep it, the better it is for everyone. Good design is persuasive. London tube map tells the commuter how to travel from point A to point B while eliminating unnecessary details and making it look easy to commute while keeping the visual aesthetics and its handy nature intact. This is important because half of the people leave a website within 8 seconds. A website with ample white space and typographical hierarchy can catch visitor’s attention right away when they are about to leave.
Exhibit 4 Left: London Tube Map, 1919 ; Right: London Tube Map, 1931. Which one of these above you like? Why? Do you think simplicity in design is not just rhetoric but a necessity?
Go Mobile First, it’s SmartPhone generation
There will be 2.5 Billion Smartphones in 2019. People on the move, in a meeting, in homes, at dinner tables, in concerts; it will be a big leap for the businesses world over. It will also mean that your websites will have to be responsive and fast, real fast. The only way from here is to go for minimal but elegant designs that help websites mitigate loading time so that your buyers don’t spend their time elsewhere.
Exhibit 5 Above: Things are moving real fast in the world of smartphones. Do you think Google can go faster than this?
The right way to Call for Action
Visible, Multiple, Right There – a Call to Action button defines the objective of a website or a landing page or a social media platform. It’s the shiny red ball you throw at your audience to strike them right in the spot. The call to action button should be visible to the visitor and should let them feel its presence, not once but multiple times, without offending or annoying them. Strong, contrasting usage of colors certainly help. Copy and visual are of essence here again. A good call to action is often the summary of a valuable business proposition and can urge the passive or confused ones to get on a decisive path.
Exhibit 6: Left & Right: See the way Call to Action button are defined and placed. The color schemes of CTA button matches with the logo and relevant action button elsewhere. Rest elements are muted. The alignment of copy forces the reader to read in a certain fashion that leads him to take action.
Crafting a thoughtful, empathetic user experience helps a business to ensure that visitors on its website will have a positive journey contributing to high website conversion rates, rankings and improving the overall bottomline.