For a webmaster, ranking high in search results is already a cause for celebration. The same goes for when the website draws in lots of traffic. Considering how achieving both takes a lot of hard work, congratulations are definitely in order for any webmaster whose site ranks well and is also popular.
However, what would send them over the moon would be having a decent conversion rate as well. After all, that is the ultimate goal of most, if not all, webmasters. Unfortunately, a high rank in search results and significant traffic do not automatically mean conversions. As long as few to no visitors sign up for their ebook or avail of their products or services, having a prime position in the SERPs or being viewed by a good number of people won’t do much for an online business’ bottom line.
Not that something actually went wrong, but for a site that performs poorly as far as conversions are concerned despite decent rankings and good traffic, it isn’t much of a stretch to suspect that something else has indeed gone wrong. The site’s web design, for example, could be the source of all its conversion woes and might require significant web design solutions. After all, web design does impact a site’s ability to capture leads and eventually convert them.
If your website isn’t converting well despite excellent rankings and traffic, maybe you should try giving your web-design a little review. For all you know, tweaking it a little may just do wonders for your sales, which is the ultimate conversion. Here are some web design tips that might boost your sales.
1. Make sure navigation is easy
Getting lost within a website is one of the most common reasons why people bounce off from your site to another. If your website doesn’t have a search feature, people are going to have a hard time finding content they want to read within your site. It’s even worse if there’s no clickable navigation element in sight. If you want visitors to stay longer, explore your site more, and hopefully sign up for or purchase something, you have to ensure ease of navigation at all times.
2. Create an awesome landing page
Your site’s landing page is your website’s primary lead generation tool. As such, it must be designed in such a way that it will draw the attention of readers and hopefully get them on board for one type of conversion or another. To make your landing page to be every bit the attention-grabber that it’s supposed to be, it must have a strong headline, a high-quality image, and an expertly written description of what readers can expect from your offer.
3. Keep your contact form short
Do you enjoy filling out forms? If the answer is yes, then you are one in a million, or even more. Most people hate filling out forms, especially ones that are a little too long for comfort. We have seen far too many contact forms that might as well be a CV given their length. Contact forms should always be short, or you would be giving visitors a reason not to sign up. Just ask for a name, an email addresses, and a zip code, and you’re good to go with a legitimate lead.
4. Make your call-to-action (CTA) button highly visible
A call-to-action is what spurs people into, well, action. As long as they can easily spot those CTAs, visitors will likely click on them, and they will be taken to the landing page where they can sign up. Highly visible CTAs can be found above the fold, and are often red or orange.
5. Improve page loading speed
Many users drop a site when any of its pages take more than 3 seconds to load. Unless it’s alright for you to see visitors exiting just a few minutes after getting to your site, you must do whatever you can to boost your load speed. Optimizing the images you use can help, and so can minimizing redirects and upgrading the site to a new PHP version.
6. Give away free stuff
Tweak your web design and put something there about giving away free product trials or free shipping on a regular basis. In all likelihood, visitors will hang around for longer just to take a crack at your freebies. Everyone likes free stuff after all.
7. Show off your badges
Few things are as great at proving how trustworthy your site is as trust, security, and awards badges. It will be a disservice to your website if they’re nowhere to be seen. Be proud of your badges, and put them up on a place of honor on your site.
8. Make videos
If given a choice between reading a 5,000-word article about SEO and watching a 5-minute video about the same topic, people will be more inclined to go with the latter. A well-made video will always have a bigger audience than a lengthy article because the former is often more engaging, not to mention easier to digest than written prose. Getting them to watch your videos also makes them stay on your page longer.
9. Testimonials
As long as a testimonial is from a real customer and not a fake one, you should have no qualms about making a section for it on your website. After all, a former customer who has actually given your offer a try is in the best position to tell the world about his or her experience. If you get a positive testimonial from one such client, then that would help boost your credibility among your visitors.
10. Make the site responsive
In a world where mobile is the source of more than half of all Internet traffic, having a responsive web design pays clear dividends. Most mobile users shop online, which should tell you the potential for better sales if your site displays well on their devices. Web design impacts sales and that is why you must give the tips above a try. Although they’re not a guarantee that your conversions will take off immediately, they should at least help put you in a better position to get a better slice of that online pie.