19 Psychological Principles That’ll Improve Your Homepage Conversion Rate

Psychology is the magic bullet of conversion optimization.

Well, maybe that’s a tad bit idealistic.

But psychology is arguably the most important weapon you can have in your arsenal.

That’s why I write about psychology all the time.

Understanding the underlying thought processes of consumers is your ticket to grabbing their attention, eliminating any friction that may be hindering them from buying, and breaking through both conscious and subconscious barriers.

The thing that I personally love about marketing psychology is its universality.

Even though consumers come from all walks of life, their minds all work in a similar, predictable way.

Of course, there are a variety of demographics out there, but at the end of the day, we’re all wired virtually the same.

In fact, the National Human Genome Research Institute reports, “All human beings are 99.9 percent identical in their genetic makeup.”

Understanding the habits, tendencies, preferences, etc. of your audience and what makes them tick can be incredibly advantageous.

And if you construct your homepage with psychology in mind, it’s going to have a positive impact on your conversion rate.

Let’s discuss what I think are 19 of the most effective psychological principles that will take your homepage conversion rate to the next level.

Here we go.

1. Visual salience

Let’s start with the absolute basics.

Visual salience is defined as “The distinct subjective perceptual quality which makes some items in the world stand out from their neighbors and immediately grab our attention.”

Here’s an example.

Even though there are several dots in this image, our eyes are naturally attracted to the single red dot.

This principle is interesting because it’s incredibly primitive.

Back in the day when humans were far less evolved as a species, it was extremely important for our ancestors to spot contrasts in their environment.

This was useful for both identifying predators and for hunting game.

Without visual salience, we might not have survived and evolved into who we are today.

But how does this relate to designing a homepage?

It’s simple.

You want the most important elements of your homepage to stand out from everything else (e.g. your CTA).

One way to boost conversions is to experiment with different colors and formatting options via A/B testing.

For instance, many marketers find that visitors respond more positively to a red CTA rather than a green one.

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