You have eight seconds or less to impress a website visitor.
Think about your own interactions. Meeting someone new, going on a job interview, watching a YouTube video. How long does it take until you click away? What captures your eye? What makes you convert? When you call on the assistance of a professional to build out your web design, these are questions they take into consideration! The answers to those questions are what helps them design a site that converts.
If you’re looking to turn clicks into clients, here’s what you need to know:
Purposeful Web Design
An aesthetically pleasing web design is the first step to building a high-converting website. Just think – The first steps in the buyer journey are awareness and interest. Get where we’re going with this?
Easy-to-Follow Navigation
Your navigation bar is toward the top of your design and houses a menu of page options for visitors to click on. In order convert users, you have to show them you offer what they’re looking for. An easy-to-follow navigation organizes information from general to more specific with no confusion on the user’s end.
Effective Calls-to-Action
As they say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease. You want to be obvious about the actions websites visitors should be taking. But too many calls-to-action means no calls-to-action. If you’re too forward with your visitors, you’re going to scare them off. How would you feel if you see a “Call Now!” then “Subscribe to Our Emails” followed by “Contact Us!”
An effective call-to-action is placed strategically throughout a webpage. You’ll want one by the nav bar, maybe on the header image, below contact forms, and definitely in your footer.
Original Content
The content you place on your website is absolutely key. Not only for your visitors but for your search engine optimization strategy. First, you need original content because plagiarizing is going to get your site docked and you’ll never stand a chance in search rankings.
Plus, your website should act as the hub for your entire business. Potential business will land on your site looking for expert information. Whichever page they may visit should serve a specific purpose and offer value, as well as point them in the right direction to get even more info!
High-Quality Visuals
The future is visual. Just think of websites you use on an everyday basis! They’re (hopefully) chalk full of videos, images, animations, and infographics. Why are they like this? The truth is most people don’t have the attention span to read an entire page nowadays. That’s especially true as longform written content becomes the SEO standard.
So, a high-converting web design will have balance between multimedia elements. This can improve conversions because you’re putting out content that resonates with different audiences. The older generations may want it all written out, while younger ones are looking for a quick, 30-second explainer. Not to mention, high-quality visuals show that you’re professional and worthy of a visitor’s business.
Optimized Functionality
The second half of running a high-converting website is its functionality. Neither web design nor development is more important than the other. You truly need both aspects to be on par in order for your website to do its job.
Responsiveness
If you don’t currently have a responsive website, you’re pretty much living in the horse-and-buggy era of the internet. A responsive website is a site that can adapt to multiple devices. Most online browsing is done on a mobile device. So, the look and function of your website needs to work no matter what device your intended audience is using!
It’s also worth mentioning that Google favors mobile sites. Yup. If you don’t have a responsive website, you’re majorly hurting your SEO because mobile-first indexing is a thing.
Page Speed
Like we said before, you have eight seconds or less to make a good impression on a potential customer. That includes your page loading speed. Ideally, a webpage will come up for a visitor in five seconds or less. Some people will even say three seconds or less!
This goes back to the fact that people do not have patience. We live in a generation that thrives on instant gratification. With everyone on the move, your site needs to respond quickly or you’re going to lose out on a lot of business!
Multiple Forms of Contact
Make things convenient for your website visitors. In terms of contacting a business with questions, email is the new snail mail. People aren’t so keen on talking on the phone anymore, especially if you’re going to put them on hold. And if you think people are going to use your business address for any other purpose than coming to your brick-and-mortar location, then welcome to the World Wide Web – you’re going to learn a lot!
Now, that doesn’t mean you should select all and delete that information off your site! But you should add several forms of contact. Phone number and email address are the foundation. A contact form is then the second option. And, for immediate assistance a real-time messaging system – a live chat or an automated chatbot – should be available as well! In fact, 79% of users say they prefer to communicate via live chat because it’s so quick. And 63% of those people are more likely to return to a site because of live chat.
Third Party Integrations
If you’re using any plugins or analytics to assist with functionality or to grab data from users, make sure they’re actually working! You’re going to use that data in the future to make sure your website continues to run how it should.
Is it Time to Update Your Web Design?
Chances are if you’re asking yourself that question, it’s time. Google algorithms are constantly evolving and so is how people shop online! In this blog, we only touched on the high-level elements of a high-converting website. So, whether you have someone in-house or are needing a digital marketing agency, know that investing in your website is investing in the future of your company!
