Every e-commerce website is designed to have one primary goal: to convert visitors. Conversion can range from a completed sale to registering a membership, or filling out a subscription form. Whatever it is, an effectively designed website must be able to convince users to achieve that primary goal.
In light of various research and experiments, web scientists and online marketing experts have discovered that certain features are associated with positive conversion rates. Web designers and content creators ought to pay more attention to the quality of features they develop for a website.
Although e-commerce websites may have a lot in common, each one is unique to the type of audiences they serve. Knowing the profile of your average customer is key to ensuring that you design the most suitable web experience for the user.
As customers proceed along the purchase funnel, they expect each stage to be easier than the previous one. A landing page with an enhanced UX has a higher chance of successful conversions.
One of New Zealand’s premier hosting companies, Domains 4 Less, does more than provide its clients with cheap web hosting. They provide a platform that helps site owners reach out to their customers in meaningful ways. As a manager, your goal should be to shorten the customer journey, improve user experience and achieve your overall business goals.
The following serves as a guide on how to design a landing page that converts.
Give your landing page a good first impression
What is the first thing users see when they land on your sales page? Are they presented with a clearly-defined products page, or do they meet a giant pop-up ad forcing them to register for something? According to this study, 79% of shoppers who have a bad experience are less likely to return to that website. Furthermore, 44% of online shoppers will tell their friends about a bad experience.
It is therefore critical you make a good first impression with your landing page. Remove pop-up ads or interstitials that hinder the customer’s web experience. Save that till they have found the information they need. You may consider putting it at the bottom of the page. Ensure customers are satisfied with their search before providing secondary solutions.
Enhance the look and feel of your site
At first glance, are you moved by the aesthetics of your site? Is it too hard on the eyes? Most times, you are better off with a simplified, minimalist page. This includes the theme, background colour and content structure. If you have sliders, make sure they are not distracting. The goal of your web page is to interest and convince, not discourage people.
Some websites have too many things going on, and eventually confuse visitors. What colours do you use? While some colours such as green, cream and white have a calming effect on visitors, others such as red or orange can be agitating. Each colour is useful in its own way, depending on the function of your website. Ensure the colours complement each other appropriately.
Improve the content structure
The written content on your landing page contributes to its general look and feel. This is where content creators must decide how best to arrange their content to match the theme. Written content must have appropriate headlines, and short blocks of paragraphs to give the landing page a comfortable feel.
White space is another key factor that allows readers easily skim through the page for the information they need. In addition to breaking up large blocks of content, white space adds a luxury feel to the website which is good for products in that category. Bullet points and occasional bold letters make the landing page content more readable.
Utilise trust badges well
In this era of phishing scams and online fraud, consumers are more aware of the dark web activities of some unscrupulous individuals. They often avoid websites that have little efforts to affirm their trustworthiness. You can increase trust for different features: the safety of data on your site, authenticity of products, genuineness of your business, great customer service and so on.
Here are some examples of trust elements that can enhance conversion rates:
- An SSL encryption badge (HTTPS)
- An internet security website badge (MacAfee Security or Verisign)
- Accredited Business Bureau badge
- Finance security badge (anti-credit card fraud)
- Money back guarantee badge
Other forms of trust elements include clear product images, video demos, and a visible office address. A report by web marketing group says that 40% of people respond better to visual information than text.
Make it mobile responsive
In our current stage of digital evolution, mobile compatibility shouldn’t be an issue. Yet a considerable number of websites are guilty of having mobile-unresponsive webpages. Some years ago, Google launched an initiative aimed at de-listing businesses with incompatible websites from its search engines. If your SEO ranking is poor, ensure your website is mobile-responsive.
Besides avoiding a Google penalty, consumers have greatly moved to using mobile, and businesses cannot afford to be lax about this huge opportunity. In fact, the mobile ad-spend for businesses increased by $9.3 billion to $49.8 billion between 2016 and 2017. By 2019, global ad-spend on mobile is expected to reach $65.8 billion.
Use well-placed call-to-action buttons
A landing page is incomplete without well-positioned CTA buttons. Consider the placement of your products and the copy, and look at perhaps changing the position of the CTA to beneath or by the side of products, to get users’ attention. For your CTA to be more compelling, it must be visible. Enhance the button with a colour that contrasts with the background.
You can also draw your readers’ attention to the CTA by using visual cues such as images or arrows subtly pointing towards it. Another way to enhance a CTA is to use descriptive text below it. This gives users additional information on what to expect.
Finally, web owners should always test their landing pages for new ways to increase conversion. There are techniques such as heat maps and conversion analysers that make tracking a lot easier. Is your landing page converting as you would like it to?
Try some of these solutions, and compare the results the following week.
This post was written by James Cummings, a business psychologist and serial entrepreneur, with over a decade working in finance, IT, marketing and recruitment sectors. He has authored numerous books in the management space and is Founder and CEO of www.dailyposts.co.uk.
