Are you struggling to convert visitors into customers?
While there are several factors that are associated with the conversion rate but website design is pivotal.
A minor change in website design such as adding a filter on the product page can increase conversion rate by 26%, revenue by 76.1%, and shopping cart visits by 19.76%.
Yes, website design impacts conversion rates and plays a significant role in sales and revenue.
Let’s look at the 13 website design hacks that are proven to turn your visitors into paying customers:
Bullets make content on your website easier to read.
You don’t want readers to have difficulty when looking for information. As much as possible, make it easy; put the information right before them. right in front.
Bullet points make content easy-to-read and prominent.
Follow these rules to make your bullets actionable and better than the ones your competitors are using:
Here’s a complete guide on writing effective bullet points by Brian Clark (@brianclark).
Ever wondered why newspapers use short paragraphs?
The readers feel comfortable reading short paragraphs.
Here’s an example of text. Can you read this easily?
I doubt. Now, look at this piece with short paragraphs from Jeff Goins (@JeffGoins).
Here’s another example of how short paragraphs make content on your website easier to read.
Using short paragraphs on your website will help readers in skimming the content and getting where they want. This leads to conversions and sales.
Call-to-actions are one of the most crucial parts of your website design. A CTA is where the interaction and conversion begin.
The whole idea is to make visitors click on your CTA button or link.
Using contrasting color buttons and text for CTA increase conversion rate by 21% to 32.5%.
It should tell the visitors why they should click on it.
The text should be action-oriented and must clearly communicate the benefits.
Grow & Convert estimated the conversion rates of CTAs used at different locations on the website. This is what they found.
Yes, hide navigation on the landing page so that visitors can concentrate on the benefits of the offer, images, and other parts on the page that drive sales.
Navigation doesn’t drive sales.
Landing pages should be distraction-free.
HubSpot tested the conversion rates of a landing page with and without navigation. Here’s the result.
Consider removing all types of navigation from your website’s landing pages. This will boost conversions and sales.
Use the following CSS code to remove navigation from a single web page.
.page-id-ABC #nav {
display: none;
}
ABC is the ID of the page.
A blog will help you collect more leads.
So you already have a blog, great.
You should add fresh content to your blog. Update your blog to drive traffic.
What’s more important is to use your blog as a selling machine to promote your products. It should be linked to your website, landing pages, and product pages.
Businesses that focus on blogging are 13x more likely to have a better ROI than their counterparts.
You have to understand that a blog isn’t just about writing and posting content, but rather, it’s a great tool for building your brand and growing revenue.
Nothing hurts your business more than stock photos and low-quality images that you use on your website. Most of these low-quality photos come from web designers and are embedded in the template.
You have to replace them with custom graphics or personal photos that you took yourself.
As much as 67% of consumers look at the quality of the product image before buying a product online. Low-quality images don’t stand a chance.
Whether it’s your website’s header, logo, landing page, homepage, or any other page or post, always use high-quality images.
Do you use videos on your sales page, landing page, or homepage?
You should because videos convert like crazy.
This infographic by Hyperfine Media shows how videos boost conversions.
But don’t use autoplay because 53% of consumers reported that they don’t like autoplay videos. In another survey, 53% respondents said they don’t like autoplay videos while only 15.2% said they like them.
If you’re going to use videos on your website, endeavor to disable autoplay from all the videos throughout your website especially from the landing and product pages.
Above the fold is a crucial area on your website. Use it smartly.
It’s the part of the website that is visible without scrolling. The portion of the website that needs scrolling to be viewed is known as below the fold.
Put most important elements above the fold so that they're instantly viewable to the visitors. The area above the fold grabs 80% of the attention. Nielsen Norman Group reported that the difference between above and below the fold is 84% in terms of how visitors treat them.
Your website visitors should instantly see your value proposition above the fold. Make sure you add at least on CTA above the fold. Your best and most compelling content should go here.
Kristina Zmaic gets it right.
White space makes content readable and gives the web page an inviting feel.
Does this website make any sense?
Look at Google. Notice how much they whitespace.
It’s found in a study that the use of whitespace between paragraphs and in margins increases comprehension by 20%.
Make your customer’s life easy by adding as much white space as possible throughout your website.
User experience design (UXD or UX) is the art of making your website’s design in accordance with how the users will use it. The purpose is to improve usability, accessibility, and pleasure.
Website’s layout and design are reported to be the most crucial variable that influences how users perceive a website’s credibility.
Improve user experience by understanding what your users need and what they like and dislike on your website. Though, this needs testing and experimentation.
Statistics show that every dollar invested in UX will have a return of over $100 for your business, and another study reported that 85% of the UX problems can be solved by testing with five users only.
So start spending on your website’s design. Every penny pays off. Most importantly, you can test UX variations with five individuals.
Don’t know how and where to start?
Follow successful businesses.
More than 87% Fortune 500 companies have a distinctively visible search bar on their homepage. Get started with a search bar.
This has been talked about a lot. I'm sure you know that by 2019, more than 5 billion of the world’s population will be using mobile phones.
The mobile phone is the second most popular device after computer for browsing the internet.
Your website has to be mobile-friendly so that anyone accessing your website from a mobile phone can use it seamlessly. Use a mobile-friendly website design.
Better yet, have a responsive website so that it loads equally well on all the devices.
HootSuite has some nice tips to make a website mobile-friendly.
Live chat feature on your website is one of the easiest ways to convert visitors into customers by providing them with real-time assistance. You can interact with them just at the right time with live chat.
Not just that it helps you convert visitors into buyers, but live chat is one of the most demanded and loved feature. Your customers love it.
eMarketer reported that 62% of customers are more likely to buy a product if live customer support was available on a website.
It can’t get any easier. Just adding a live chat feature on your website will help you drive sales. Why not give it a try?
Be sure to keep live chat available 24/7. This needs resources. Be prepared.
Make your website and business unique. You may not be able to achieve this if you’re using a website template that hundreds of other businesses use.
Be different. It starts with a unique custom website design.
It’s not just about increasing sales -- but a unique website design makes your brand professional and credible.
Look at all the following websites that are using the same template.
Looks similar, right?
While most of the visitors won't pay attention immediately but eventually they will. Some of them are quite picky from day one and they would notice it immediately.
Believe me when I say that this is the wrong approach to building a brand.
Make sure that you’re using a custom website design even if it’d cost you more. Do it. It will pay off eventually.
These website design hacks are proven to generate more sales. They will help you convert visitors into customers easily.
But don’t just stick to website design. It’s just one variable.
Sales and conversion rate are driven by several factors.
Content creation, social media, search engine optimization, email marketing, and several other online marketing activities are equally important to growing a profitable business.
However, get your custom website in order by implementing some of these hacks -- and get ready to turn casual visitors into customers.