5 Web and Graphic Design Tips For Better Website Conversion

By Joe Cunningham, Internet Marketing Manager
06/05/2013

So not only do you have a website, but you’ve been putting a lot of resources into internet marketing.  You’ve been running a mildly successful SEO campaign and your Google traffic is up; you are spending a few grand on Pay Per Click ads and sending thousands per month to your site; and you have a really slick social media campaign going.

But you’re not really getting any new business.

In fact, there’s this meter on your Google Analytics reports that says “Bounce Rate: 85%,” and you’re thinking, “That’s good right?”  No it’s not.  (It’s actually really bad: start crying.)

A “bounce” is when someone comes to your website and leaves immediately.  Healthy bounce rates are actually around 50-65%.  85% s[tin]ks.

The keyword here is conversion!  No one congratulates a sales guy for meeting the most people in a year.  So why think your website is cool if it doesn’t bring you new business?

5 Web and Graphic Design Tips for Better Website Conversion

Whether or not you (or they) built your website right in the first place, you need to be analyzing what works and fixing what doesn’t just like anything else.  Here are some simple tips to get your website on the right track to producing more results.

#1 Be Aesthetically Pleasing

Only several milliseconds pass before the human eye makes a definitive and irrevocable first impression.  Do the colors clash on your website?  Is the picture low resolution or fake looking?  Does the font rub me the wrong way?  Millions of questions are immediately answered in this small amount of time and the mind says either, “Cool, I think I’ll learn more!” or “Aurgh! I’m leavin.’”

A good point to make here is: be with the times.  If you are an eCommerce store: change with the shopping season.  If you are a business: don’t look like you are stuck in the 90’s with the first website your grandfather had NASA make when he founded the company.

I’m no graphic design expert but our own Art Director, Jesse Clayton, teaches it.  Read his blog on our site about how to improve the aesthetics of your website here.

#2 Build Immediate Trust

If I’m going to buy something on your website, I don’t want to even imagine the possibility of getting my credit card info stolen (happened to me more than once, not fun).  So I need to see things like security badges, official seals and certifications, a detailed privacy page link at the bottom; and when I pay for my stuff, there had better be an “s” after the “http” in the web address at the top of my screen (that means secure, makes sense right).

It’s a no brainer.  You put your money in a bank or buy stuff at a store where you feel safe.  Why hold onto a website that looks like a makeshift homeless shelter if you are a serious business?  And that doesn’t just go for eCommerce websites; every business needs to realize, your website is your first and foremost presence online where 97% of the world goes to find you before they drive down the street.  You wouldn’t show up to a job interview or sales call in ripped jeans and a wife-beater; so why would you be content to look like that online?  Maybe it’s time to get back to the drawing board.

#3 Have A Clear Call To Action

This is a big one.  So I’m on your site and kinda’-sorta’ interested in your stuff: what do I do from here?  Stats say that unless there is a clear call to action (Clear.  Call.  To.  Action!) nobody’s going to do anything about it.

Having big buttons that say “Click here for your free software trial” or “Sign Up Here For Our Newsletter” with the email box right there are a lot clearer than just some dull body copy about your business.  Try it – it works!

#4 Make It Easy

This picks up where the last point left off.

There are few things more painful to web users than a website that makes you figure out how to use it.  “Where’s the ‘About Us’ section?”  “How do I place an order?”  People don’t even ask those questions, they just leave.

If you want to make your website work, you have to make sure the pieces work.  Have a “Contact Us” page and make the link prominent.  Have the company phone number, address, and email even on the footer that remains common across the site.

If you have a shopping cart, make sure it doesn’t clog up; meaning, is it easy?  The more convoluted hoops you make customers jump through the easier it is for them to “abandon the cart.”  Ecommerce people (should) know what I’m talking about.  That Google Analytics “Cart Abandonment Rate” can be your worst nightmare.

#5 Make Them An Offer They Can’t Refuse

I added this point on the rewrite because it makes all the difference in the world.  Your clear call to action should include an urgent, valuable offer that your target audience wants.

The best eCommerce sites (i.e. ProFlowers.com is always on the top 10 lists) are constantly churning out deals that are “limited time only” and “35% off” etc. and you get a free teddy bear if you upgrade and add chocolate strawberries.  What a deal!  (That was hypothetical, just so I don’t get sued.)  But you get the idea.  Make the customer happy by giving them a deal.

The same applies for non-eCommerce: be creative.  Free initial law consultation.  Figure it out.

Make The Changes!

How many blogs have you read and then not done anything about what you learned.  This is not one of those blogs you want to do that with.  A healthy website conversion rate is about 2-5% (ratio of visitors to sales/form fill outs/what have you); most people are struggling under 0.5%.  What’s yours?

Fortunately for you, Cowley is the best Syracuse website design team and has a track record of designing websites that create business for our clients.  We are our own biggest success story in this regard, garnering more new business from our website than any other source.

We offer Free Website Evaluations that judge your website’s overall design and appearance, site interface and usability, and Search Engine OptimizationClick here and fill out our short form to get yours right now (clear call to action).

Creating a better web design can dramatically increase your website’s productivity and give you a great return on investment.  Don’t ignore this.  If you do, it will bug you until you don’t.

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