The Do’s and Don'ts of Highly Converting Websites

Sometimes we focus so much on our social media marketing and search engine optimization that we forget a hugely important fact: is our website ready for all the traffic we are sending to it??

If you think your site is ready to convert traffic, a good test is to invite a friend or family member (or any third party person) to try to purchase a product or service on your site.?

What questions do they have? What problems do they encounter??

The fact is, you are not the best person to test your own website and create a customer journey, because you know your offers far too well.?

We have a quick guide here to help you conceptualize all the things you need to do and know about creating a highly converting website.?

DO Focus on User Experience

It is amazing to note how many websites simply fail to state the most obvious, foundational message on their homepage: We are X, and we offer Y to people looking for Z.?

It’s so simple yet, often people overthink their own messaging, and confuse the heck out of their site visitors.??

Make it easy for your visitors to go where they need to go. “Are you looking for Y? Here it is!” Simple yet, many websites offer too many options up front and not enough clarity to guide the audience.?

Don’t make users guess what your brand is, what you offer, and what sets you apart from other options in the market. Make clear, bold statements, and follow through on these claims.

DON’T Create a Cluttered Layout

Sidebars! Sliders! Pop ups! Columns of images and text! Very little negative space.

These features can be used advantageously, but not if they are combined to present a million clickable options “above the fold.”?

Many people think they need to show everything they are about right up front.?

You do not.?

You can feature something, you can give your visitor some visual “rest areas” on your homepage, and we guarantee, this will entice people to keep looking, reading, learning, and spending time on your site.?

Remember the old adage: “If you confuse, you lose.” Literally, you will lose people. Your traffic will take one look, and if they have to spend more than a couple of seconds trying to find what they need, they will click away and never return.?

Clean and contemporary should be your guiding design principles.?

If your homepage looks like a flyer, you need to be more strategic with placement and typeface usage.?

You may think you are being interactive and stimulating, but visitors can find it overwhelming and frustrating.?

DO use Catchy Headlines and Calls-To-Action (that actually match!)

Just so we are sure that you’re on the same page, a “call-to-action” is usually a button or link that goes right underneath a catchy headline.?

“Have you been in an accident, but have been turned away by other injury lawyers?” CALL US TODAY??

People often fear that if their headlines are too specific, they will lose people who don’t identify with them. However, this isn’t how it works. A good headline will invite everyone to be interested.?

In the above example, some people will have been told that they don’t have a case, perhaps, but the rest of the visitors reading that headline will think, “Gee, what would these guys say to me if that were to happen? What sets them apart?”?

A good headline will prove that you are different from the “other guys” without actually saying, “we’re not like the other guys.”

Make sure you deliver on what your call-to-actions promise.?

In our example, if your first-line responders don’t have anecdotes about how they won a court case for a client who had been previously turned away, they are not likely to come across as trustworthy in that very first phone call.?

Remember what your homepage CTAs say, and why, and when someone contacts you, find out right away how they found you so you can make good on your promise.

DON’T Stray from your Brand Colors

A brand’s palette is far more important than most people realize.?

It’s very important to choose a limited palette, and to stay true to it. Limited might be only 3 colors, but can be as many as 6.?

Use the services of a professional designer to ensure your brand colors actually align with each other to create a specific look and feel. This is known as having a complimentary palette, and it will cement your relationship with your audience.?

Perhaps all your brand colors are on the same tonal register, such as, they are all pastel tones, or they clash strategically to incite a specific feeling such as “rebellious,” or “1980s chic.”

Do some research into the psychological impact of various colors on the Western mind. There are many online resources available on this topic, and you need to understand what moods and feelings you actually have in your paintbox.

Remember, brand consistency (even if it’s just color consistency) breeds comfortability, and comfortability leads to conversions.

DO Set Up Effective Navigation

Organize your content into categories that users can browse if they wish.?

Visitors to your website are more likely to actually pull the trigger on a sale if they find what they need early in the user journey through your website.?

Easy navigation gives the impression that you know what you’re doing, and you understand your audience very well.

DON’T Fill a Page with Long Paragraphs

It was Shakespeare (ironically) who wrote, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Do not take a paragraph to say something that a single sentence could easily accomplish.

Just like your layout (images, text, containers) you don’t want your site to be cluttered with text. Some people think that if they break up their text with headlines, secondary headlines, and body texts, they don’t need to be ultra-brief.?

Nope!?

Cut out all secondary headings and get straight to the point. If you need to explain a lot more about a product or service, save it for a secondary page, such as a product page.?

Don’t put it on your homepage or top-level pages.?

Use strategically injected images and videos to cut up paragraphs of text. For example, don’t say that you offer three main types of services, simply use icons to show the three types of services you offer.?

People can figure out what you’re saying based on this layout. If you can say something using an image or an infographic, do that!?

DO Make your Site Visually Attractive

In 2017, Vistaprint surveyed over 1800 participants about website aesthetics: 42% said they would not purchase from an “ugly” website. The way your site looks really, really matters and there is a dollar value assigned to your design decisions.?

Sometimes, a website isn’t just unattractive, it also lacks compelling graphic design or imagery. The images you use should reflect your brand’s personality and be of the highest quality.?

When in doubt, clean and contemporary should be your visual effect.?

Images are not the only visual consideration, you also need to think about engaging your audience with interactive content. Use a combination of media to communicate your Unique Selling Proposition.

DON’T Use too Many Images

Many companies make the mistake of having far too many images on their site, hoping to keep things visually stimulating for their audience.?

This is a mistake: there should be a nice ratio of images to text to headings to “white” or negative space.

SEO Tip: Search Engines cannot read images, so make sure you are optimizing their titles and metadata to get the most SEO value out of them that you can.

DO Test for Functionality!

It is amazing how many websites are created in a relative vacuum, and released to the public after only one person has tested links and pathways!?

404 Pages are common, copy that describes a product and no link to a product page, and other navigational errors are far too standard. Doing this kind of test is often the very first thing that a digital marketing company will undertake.?

These errors are commonplace and they lead to high bounce rates and low conversion rates.?

Functionality considerations should also include “need-to-know” copy, such as return policies, shipping details, store locators, and product search bars.?

DON’T Compromise on Speed

Sites that are slow to load are simply abandoned.?

You can easily run a test to see how fast your site is, and there are online tools that will compare your site to others in your vertical (ie. your competitors). The results can be quite sobering.?

Three seconds tends to be the ultimate limit for consumer patience these days. After that time, the little spinning loading ball gets scraped for a site that feels more trustworthy.?

A company’s competency is determined in a split second by all of these factors, but speed might actually be the most important first impression that your company will give.

What slows down your site? Well, videos and large images are the main culprits. Website builders might be in a rush, and upload high resolution images that are over 2 MB, for example. Videos may seem like a good idea, but even embedded videos can take up a large amount of load time.

DO Create a Focused Customer Journey

Have you taken the time to map out the customer journey for all your products or services? A well crafted customer journey allows you to know what information and resources your visitors are going to need during the buying process. And more importantly, at what point they’re going to need it.

Providing the right information at the right time is key to creating a high performing digital funnel.?

DON’T Forget to Optimize for Conversions

Make sure it is easy to “add to cart” or access social proof such as customer reviews to increase the chances that someone will cross that bridge from being a lead to being a customer.

As you can see, there are a multitude of considerations that could take your site from a 1% conversion rate to a 10% conversion rate. Imagine! Even if you just went from 1% to 2%, you would be doubling your revenue.

Whether it’s site speed, conversion optimization, or designing your customer journey, Proshark is here to help. You have your website, right? If not put us to work for you!