Have you got healthy traffic coming to your website, but are left wondering how you can convert more visitors into sales qualified leads or online customers?
There are many elements of a website you can update, but which ones drive the best results?
We all know the importance of making a great first impression.
You wouldn’t turn up on a first date without feeling you’d put your best foot forward, nor would you attend an interview without any preparation – your website is just the same – first impressions count.
In this week’s blog, we talk about the 10 elements of a great website, giving a summary of our top tips to improve your conversion rates at the end.
- Content is king
You need content for every step of the buyer journey.
People scan websites at first, so start by making sure that you are getting what problems you solve and for whom across quickly and effectively.
A picture can speak a thousand words, so choose your imagery carefully.
Create mystery – If you have a sales team, think about how to make your visitors want to talk to them. If you don’t, think about how you entice visitors to read more about you and your products or services. Each step should move them further along the buying funnel.
Avoid jargon – Many people who visit your site will be on a fact finding mission and may not be familiar with technical terminology. Use plain English unless your are writing a piece intended for people who know your industry really well.
- Mobile first design
With 96% of the UK population owning a mobile phone, the importance of mobile is hard to ignore.
In April 2021, Google reported that 50.47% of internet traffic in the UK was from a mobile device, so making sure that your website is mobile responsive has to be a hygiene factor, not an afterthought.
Embrace sticky navigation that keeps the main menu in view and get comfortable with vertical scrolling as people are used to it.
Avoid PDFs on your website, they are hard to read on a phone.
Whether mobile or desktop, page load-speed is important – Google reports that 40% of people abandon within 3 seconds if a site is slow.
- Inspiring imagery
Make sure that your images are of good quality, and that there is a consistent look and feel about them. They are pictures that represent your brand.
Create your own images if you can, but whatever you do, keep your imagery relevant to what you are talking about.
Always label your images – Google isn’t clever enough to read images yet, so make sure that your images are properly tagged for your SEO.
- Intuitive navigation
You want to show your brand personality, right?
However, be careful how you do this, and follow Steve Krug’s principle of Don’t make me think! If there’s a well used standard terminology for something, then ask yourself “why” if you want to change it. For example “Contact Us” is clear, but “Engage!” will make customers stop and think.
Less is more. Too many tabs in your navigation, or drop downs that aren’t clearly segmented will confuse visitors and cause hesitation.
Hesitation is the enemy of website conversion.
- Calls to action
If you’ve got a great web page, but don’t tell people clearly what you want them to do next you’ll struggle to convert. You must ask!
A simple “CALL NOW” works a treat.
Promotional offers work – don’t hide them! Making them time sensitive helps create urgency to act.
If you overuse CTA buttons, it can come across as pushy or desperate – place them at consistent intervals and below your most persuasive content.
- User friendly
With the increase of focus around privacy, site visitors are becoming less inclined to share their personal details.
The rule is therefore only ask for the information you need to be able to provide your communications and services to a customer. Don’t forget to display your privacy message too.
Use drop downs and auto-fills to help visitors to complete forms – your CRM manager will thank you too.
Also, don’t forget to check your WAAG accessibility score and use it to make sure that your site is inclusive to all.
- Contact Us
Include an easy to locate phone number on your site – if a customer gets stuck, a friendly voice at the end of a phone is always welcome.
As the Contact Us page is usually a form, there’s no need for it to be boring. It’s the lasting impression of your brand before a visitor clicks away from your site.
If you’re key call to action is call us, invest in call tracking software so you can really understand your performance.
- Trust signals
WSI research says that 79% of people trust online review opinions as much as their friends’. Trust signals are all about building your credibility.
Testimonials and case studies are great for demonstrating how you help your clients.
Reviews are also highly regarded as they come straight from the customer. Even a challenging review can be made positive if you demonstrate how well you handled the situation through your great customer service.
Show logos of key clients, memberships and any awards you have won.
Use highlights of data to demonstrate what you have achieved for your clients – people love a stat!
- Personality
People do business with people.
A corporate looking website, no matter how professional it looks can easily miss that personal touch.
Show pictures of the team, add some video, make your bios personable, talk about company events. Use your website as a platform to showcase your company culture.
With sustainability high on the agenda at the moment, share your policies and actions – take a look at H&M to see some great initiatives.
- Test and adapt
Your website operates in a constantly changing environment, so you have to accept that your website is never “done”. No matter how good your site is, it can always be better!
It may sound obvious, but you’d be amazed what people do. Never put any new functionality live without testing it.
Track your performance, and watch for changes in trends that indicate a risk or opportunity.
When you make changes, test one thing at a time. If you don’t you’ll never know what made all of the difference.
Small changes can make a big difference! Sometimes simply changing the colour or position of a button can raise your conversion. No change is too small to try.
Our 10 top tips for improving conversion on your website
- Take visitors on the journey – remember at first they’re just scanning & want to know if they are in the right place. Once they are comfortable, they’ll want to know more
- Mobile responsive – check that your site works at least as well on mobile as it does on desktop
- Relevant images – a picture speaks a thousand words
- Use plain English – don’t make me think!
- Ask! – don’t assume the visitor knows what you want them to do next.
- K.I.S.S. – Only ask customers for information that you really need to provide your goods or services
- Easy to find contact details – a phone number at the top right of your pages is reassuring that there’s a real person behind the site who can help
- 3rd party content – don’t hide your light under a bushel – show off those case studies, testimonials and reviews
- People do business with people – showcase your company culture
- Test and learn – A website is never “done”. Even small changes can make a big difference, so try that idea you have out!
Here at WSI Digital Advisors, we have over 20 years experience in Ecommerce – if you’d like some help, just contact us for a chat about your ambitions for your website.
