Conversion Optimization
There is a right way and a wrong way to design a website and it all starts with the conversion goals. Things like color, layout, content, graphics, search engine optimization and online marketing all come second to your conversion goals.
Website Conversion Goals
The conversion goals of your website are based on the purpose of your website. Do you want to sell products or services? Do you want your visitors to call you, email you, fill out a form or come to your location? Whatever your goals are, defining them is a crucial first step in website design.
Unfortunately, most web designers and website owners design websites that are pleasing to their eye, taste and preference. They design websites to be “pretty” instead of functional. Their mistakes are your gain. By building a website that is designed to convert, you will make more sales or conversions than your competitors while still having a website design that is “pretty”.
Landing Page Optimization
There is a psychology of how the average visitor scans a website. Typically, a visitor will immediately view the top left corner of your page and scan to the top right corner. From there they will scan diagonally down to the left corner until something grabs their attention. If nothing has commanded their attention, their eyes will naturally scan straight across towards the right corner, completing the Z pattern. If you don’t have them by now they will, more than likely, leave the site.
Of course, depending on a variety of factors including what graphics are on the page, how many of your pages they have viewed and how they originally arrived on your page can all affect how a typical visitor will view your website. For example, a graphic of a baby’s face will immediately grab the first visual focus even if the page is not about babies and even if that graphic is placed outside of the natural hot zone. By knowing where your visitors are looking on your webpage, and how to direct them to look where we want them to, we can typically increase conversion on any given web page.
Call to Action
The call to action is a graphic, word or phrase which is designed to entice the reader into converting on your website. For example, “Today Only, Buy 1 Get 1 FREE” is a call to action which entices your website visitor into purchasing your product right away. It is important to try out many different kinds of call to actions as you never know which one is going to perform best until you compare them side by side.
Analytics and Reporting
No matter what website design you have developed, no matter what products or services you sell, no matter what call to action you use… it all comes down to tracking the analytics. If you don’t track the analytics on your website and landing pages, you will not know how well a particular page, call to action, design or traffic source is converting for you. It’s amazing how the smallest of changes, like font color or size, can have a major impact on your conversion rate.
If you do not currently have analytics on your website, you can use Google Analytics. It’s free and easy to use and will give you a wealth of information about your website, web pages, traffic sources and visitors.
Discovery Communications Group
We specialize in designing and developing websites which are both aesthetically pleasing and highly converting. What makes us different? Our competitors will have their clients sit down with their web design team so that they can deliver the website the client wants. When you come to Discovery Communications you will meet with more than just our award winning web design team. You will meet with our marketing department, search engine optimization specialists, landing page optimization specialists, conversion optimization specialists and copywriters so that we can all work together to not only come up with a website you will love, but one that will serve its ultimate purpose.
