The Key to a High-Converting Website (And How to Unlock It)

At one of the first agencies I worked at, the websites we built could go one of two ways.

Conversions and revenue could go up or they could go down. It was unpredictable.

And if they went down, we’d be all hands on deck in the days after the site had launched. Frantically trying to figure out why this drop had occurred.

Back then, early in my career and on the SEO team, I used to look over at the panicking project managers thinking…

“Damn, website redesigns are tough and unpredictable!”

I didn’t see it then, but I can see it more clearly now.

They designed the websites based on assumptions and what the design team thought looked good. Delivering some aesthetically pleasing websites - work which stakeholders loved.

But the sites often didn’t resonate with the most important person… the user!

So, what’s the key to a high-converting B2B website?

For me, the most important factor is user research which can uncover insights to help improve user experience. By improving user experience, you can increase conversions.

Not only is user research important, so is the company's mindset.

Before we dive in, this post is relevant to any B2B company with a website. You don’t have to be redesigning your site. A website that’s been live for years will still benefit.

So let’s get going…

User research

A website’s user experience can only improve so much without doing user research.

You can get to a good point by implementing best practices and making changes based on assumptions.

But to truly improve the experience a user has whilst on your website, you need to research those users.

I know, I know… “speak to your customers” …the one bit of advice every single B2B marketing activity says to do!

And I understand why companies neglect this type of research for their website.

It’s not cheap! It’s time-consuming and there’s a learning curve.

But it's key to a high-converting B2B website.

To help, I'll run through our three-step approach to user research:

1. Uncover
2. Explore
3. Experiment

First up, set an objective

Before you dive into this process, you want to have a clear objective in mind for the research project.

What problem are you trying to solve??

For most B2B websites, this may be wanting to improve user experience, increase conversions and increase revenue.

If you already know of a few issues, it can help to break it down further into specific areas or focus on certain pages.

For example, are you:

• Launching a new product that requires a new page?
• Looking to improve conversions on blog posts?
• Reviewing and updating your pricing page?
• Trying to reduce customer service calls?

It’s important to have an objective for what you’re trying to solve, so then you can keep your research on track. Each of the above examples would require a very different type of approach in the next 3 steps.

(1) Uncover

The most traditional research step of the three. The aim here is to uncover pain points and gain insights.

Insights that we can then explore further (step 2) and develop into experiments (step 3).

We want to uncover what we currently don’t know about our page or website. To do this we can carry out:

• User surveys and interviews: Hear the issues straight from the horse's mouth.
• Stakeholder interviews: Key people connected to your company may have valuable insights.
• Session recordings: Take a look at how users navigate your website.
• Analytics: Diving into Google Analytics can help uncover some sticking points.
• Site speed tests

If you’re short on time and money, analytics and session recordings are quick and easy. Tools like HotJar and Crazy Egg have free trials.

The only downside is you don’t know what the user is truly thinking. So try to couple it with user interviews or surveys where possible to get qualitative data.

(2) Explore

Next, we want to explore and better understand the problems found in step (1). How can we address the pain point or need of the user?

To do this we can carry out:

• Persona creation: A detailed overview to better understand the person using the site.
• Map user journeys: Understand how different users flow through your site. Signalling common pain points.
• Design review: Check the site adheres to best practices with no obvious flaws.
• Competitor analysis: Compare your site to the competition’s site.
• Prototype testing: To see if users react to your prototype as expected.

As an example, if a user said your pricing page was unclear, you could review the design of your own page and compare it to the competition’s.?Then mock up a new page in a design tool based on this, before showing that updated prototype to a user again.

(3) Test

You’ve uncovered an issue (step 1) and explored it further (step 2), now it’s time to test if your solution works in the wild.

To do this step, you can just follow the same methods you used in step 1 such as user interviews or session recordings.

You just want to validate and make sure your change has worked. You can follow the traditional A/B testing method here, seeing which page performs better out of the two.

Now, the fourth and final point isn’t really a step. It ideally needs to be present throughout the whole user research process. And it is a mindset the company has to have.

The right mindset

This quote by Jeff Cardello sums up how I feel about user research.?

It shouldn’t be seen as a laborious task - or one that is done and forgotten about - user research should always be on. Helping to uncover valuable insights to make your user experience better.

Without getting too grandiose, you’re making your user’s day easier. And, in turn, this is going to have a positive impact on your company by improving conversions.

Your organisation needs to be geared towards uncovering insights and problems that you can fix. To do this, as well as the steps outlined above, you can:

• Have regular conversations with customers
• Regularly monitor your analytics
• Review your Google Search Console queries
• Check your website’s search bar data
• Make it easy for customers to submit comments and bugs
• Get all stakeholders at your company to note down questions and concerns from their team and the customers they speak to.

All of this will turn your company into a user insights machine! Which can then be tested out on your website.

In summary

The key to a high-converting B2B website for me is user research. To do this, you can:

1. Uncover
2. Explore
3. Test

And with a shift in mindset, there is an abundance of places where your company can uncover insights and research your user.

I believe any B2B website can improve user experience and become high-converting by listening to their users and taking on board their recommendations.

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Want to learn more?

For those of you that don't know me, I'm Steve and I run a B2B web agency, in the UK.

Our mission is to help marketing teams generate more revenue and get key stakeholders on board in the process.

If that sounds like something you want, here are two ways I can help you:

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Connect with me on LinkedIn, where I post daily tips for B2B marketing teams. And you can subscribe to this newsletter where I go in-depth on a different topic every two weeks.

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Looking to move faster? You can book a B2B Growth Audit with me using the link below. It's quick, free, and I'll help you figure out what's restricting your team from generating more revenue and show you what's possible.

You can book that here:?https://spaced.digital/b2b-growth-audit/

And finally, if you have any questions for me, please send me a DM and I'll get back to you asap.

Thanks for being part of the journey!

Steve