Websites are expensive. They cost time and money. It’s imporant that your website is created to result in sales for years to come. So how is it done?
Do you want traffic or is it sales you?re after?We all know that we can?t get sales in our business? if we don?t have a steady flow of new customers ? this is the whole point to marketing and promotion. I had an interesting conversation with a business owner yesterday. We were discussing him becoming an SEO client and after talking about rankings and traffic I asked him a question. I said ?Are you looking for a company that will get you rankings or customers.?
I thought the answer to this question was simple, customers is the end goal, not just good search engine rankings.
Don?t get me wrong, to get sales in a lot of industries this involves getting visitors to their websites. Interestingly though, most business owners make the common mistake of focusing on the volume of traffic (number of visitors) they get to their sites, rather than direct return on investment and integrating their marketing strategies across platforms.
Of course, traffic and rankings ARE are important metrics, they won?t amount to very much if that traffic isn?t converting into sales.
A vitally important aspect of a business? website is that it be easy to navigate and to that the visitor to the site can find what they are looking for without having to click through layers of pages. If it?s frustrating for a visitor they will quickly ?bounce? and leave.
Things like your contact page, phone number, opt-ins and any forms you may use to collect information should be clean and simple and only ask of the viewer the most essential questions. The phone number should be an easy to find and prominent place.
Avoid crowded and confusing forms, especially in the dominate mobile era in which we live Complex forms are a disaster on a mobile device.
Since we are touching on the topic of mobile websites, if we are talking about website design that converts this article would be severely lacking if it didn?t mention mobile navigation. If you don?t have a mobile friendly site that is easy to use with thumbs only as well as having click to call numbers, you will miss out on a LOT of mobile sales. If your website viewer has to spend time scrolling across and zooming in or out to read your content, forget it.
Additionally, your site and branding should still be used on your site and Google rewards sites that are responsive and fast loading, not just ?mobile? friendly. So ensure your web design company knows the difference.
Mobile friendly or fully responsive websites is the only way to go in 2013 and beyond.
The look, feel and overall user experience on a website are essential aspects of the conversion process. Successful web designers understand the importance of visual triggers, colors that sell, image placements, and know where the heat maps indicate that the viewer will naturally look at more frequently! These designers are not easy to find.
This type of expertise depends primarily on the talents of your web design team ? there is no underestimating the power of a skillfully and strategically designed website!
A website may be visually unique when it comes to layout and design, but there are some basic rules that apply to any website that will help your business to get higher conversion rates:
Design a website that focuses on your most important information. Position is KEY here. The heat maps I referred to earlier reveals that users? attention is focused at the top of web pages, mainly on the top and top right to be specific. This simply means that you must have your critical information above the fold (as in no scrolling required), where it is said that 80.3% of users spend their browsing time.
So, when a visitor lands on your site, they want to quickly find the information they are looking for. They will continue to scroll down the pages if what is initially presented to them above the fold makes them think that it is worth their time to keep reading.
This is something that many website owners overlook.
If the most important information is not where the viewer wants to look, the viewer may miss content that you really want them to see. They will fail to read the content that may have lead them to take the next step towards a purchase. Also make sure to break up your content and use white space to your advantage. Don?t bog down your viewer with long boring boxes of text and don?t confuse them!
Good web design not only highlights what you have to offer, it also showcases the benefits of your product or service. Visitors are presented with the information they need to make a decision to make a purchase in a visually appealing and interesting way. Simple, clean design works best.
Great web designs make use of strong calls-to-action throughout the website pages.
These are designed to lead visitors towards a desired course of action. Don?t assume that your website viewers will do what you want.
Always let them know the next step that you want them to make. Step by step. This is major! A confused visitor will not buy! Make it straightforward and very clear if you really want sales and not just traffic.
It is no secret that in today?s world, social engagement is an integral part of the sales process.
Person to person is ideal, but in the sphere of internet sales, today?s purchasers want to see the person behind the company, the name behind the business. They also want to see recommendations from their friends and people they may not know. There is no better way for someone to hear about your product or service than from a friend. Add an attractive social plugin to your site so that your viewers can interact with you and get to know you better.
They want to get a feel for WHO they are dealing with and whether or not they feel comfortable enough to choose you! An even more important aspect of the social networking issue is that of third party validation.
A key indicator of good web design is consistency in the look and feel of your website, this applies to all pages or sections of the site. Keep your color scheme consistent and use similar types of images.
Keep it clean and polished ? don?t distract your viewer from your offering with somew wild website design that is visually unappealing and stay away from flashing images that look like Times Square.
You don?t have a second chance to make a first impression and user experience on a website is crucial if it is sales you are after. You want to ensure that your website design works to support your sales and business goals.