Take a look at your web design – how is it working for you and are you missing any key opportunities?
Statistically, the majority of people who will visit your website won’t be looking to make a sale, but of course your objective is to convert that interest into a sale. There are many factors which might ultimately create that conversion; it could be the timing of a social media post, connecting via a blog article or a landing page which grabs attention. It might simply be the appeal of your product or service or a special offer you are providing on that particular day. It could also be a combination of these things.
People do underestimate the importance of website design in influencing the conversion rate, however. Web design is not just about making a website attractive, there are key tactics and features you can include which are proven to increase conversion rates. And essentially, whatever brings people to your page, it is crucial that you then make it easy to convert that interest into a sale or a sales lead. Making a connection is vital, and you definitely don’t want to make it difficult for a web visitor to do that, so here we will look at the key things you need to think about and incorporate in your website design, to make a conversion and close a sale.
Creating traffic to the website
In order to increase your conversion rate, of course you first need to attract people to your site and keep them there. In terms of website design there are various SEO techniques which will bring more traffic by increasing your visibility and position your site higher up the search engine rankings. You can include links to your site in social media posts also, but in terms of retaining visitors on the site, web design has a crucial role to play. You typically have less than ten seconds to fully engage a visitor to your site, so:
– Make sure pages and photos load quickly
– Avoid errors and bugs which make the layout clunky or hard to read, make sure it is a good user experience
– Make the site engaging with good headlines, visuals or landing pages
– Don’t make it too content-heavy, use links to direct people to more content instead
– Be consistent with colours and branding to make the pages attractive
Make the web design a good representation of your business
This is your one, and possibly only, chance to sell your product/service/business, so make the most of it. Use your web design to showcase your business in the best possible way:
Have strong branding which connects with your target audience
Make it obvious what your product/service is and how it will benefit the site visitor. Show the USP and why the visitor should do business with you. This can be a simple image or one line of text.
Make sure you stand out from the competition
Ensure a good user experience by making sure content and images are up-to-date, appealing, useful to the customer, easy to understand and not a chore to read or navigate
Make sure the site is responsive to different devices, ie. mobile, tablet, laptop, so however a visitor finds your site, they get the same information and experience
How to close a sale or pursue a lead
So far we have looked at how your website design can give you the best chance of attracting traffic and keeping visitors on your site and interested. Now we need to go for the kill and make it easy for the visitor to pursue their interest and take the vital final step to closing a sale.
Call-to-action (CTA) – these are a really effective way to nudge someone towards taking the next step in making an enquiry or, even better, a sale. In simple terms, people respond to an invite because it makes them feel welcome and included, and we all need a little gentle encouragement from time to time. So a simple CTA within the text or as a stand-alone box/button on landing pages and in blog posts can be strong, simple and clear. These can encourage people to buy, chat, get more information, get a quote or set-up a meeting.
Enquiry forms – similar to a CTA, these are a static and permanent feature and an easy way for people to contact you and leave details.
Contact details – don’t hide away and be anonymous, make yourself human, contactable and accessible and people will respond. Give people various ways to contact you and they will choose the one which suits them best, just make sure you reply.
Don’t bury information – in other words, why make it hard for people? Make yourself contactable and make the key information easy to see and understand. People want someone they can connect with, so make it easy for them. In addition to the features mentioned above you could consider a ‘Chat Now’ facility. Sometimes people want more information there and then. You can also include discount info or loyalty schemes, they will sound attractive and might just tip the balance, so don’t hide that info in the small print or only reveal it when someone enquires.
Exploiting a conversion opportunity
The key to converting traffic into sales is to strike a balance between too much or too little information. You want to give people a choice and some options, because if they spend a little time browsing your site they are more likely to become engaged. But then if there is too much information you could swamp them, confuse them and lose them. Also, avoid making people download or wait for information, unless it is essential to the product or service.
Most people spend the first few seconds on a website skim-reading it, so give people an easy and accessible way to get the key information fast, and you are a long way towards closing a sale and making the most of a conversion opportunity, so if you need any further advice or specialist guidance on web design, SEO and conversion techniques, then contact Rebus today.