How to Design for Conversion Rate Optimization?
Suppose your name is Jeff Bezos. Yes, you got it right - you're the CEO of Amazon. You are the owner of a popular brand that has millions of users. You have great revenue growth that is increasing every next moment.
Now the point is, when you are earning so much every day, how do you even measure the conversion rate?
You check the growth curve and are surprised!
You notice that the number of customers last year is equal to the number of customers calculated this year!
Well, this is not at all a positive sign of business growth.
You actually need to bring more people to buy products from Amazon.
What to do now? It’s time to look for a conversion optimization expert who can help you make more money and improve the conversion rate. But before we get into the details of how CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) works and how a business can benefit from it, let’s understand what exactly conversion rate optimization is.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
What is a Conversion?
In web design, the term "conversion" typically refers to the process of turning website visitors into customers or users who take a desired action.
A conversion is basically a term for making a sale - it is not at all about how many people visited your website; rather, it is the number of people who end up purchasing or downloading or taking some action on your website. So, if a user is taking an action that you are expecting, it is adding a point towards a better conversion rate which is the ratio of actions taken over the number of visitors received by a webpage.
What is Conversion Rate Optimization?
Conversion rate optimization (or simply referred to as conversion optimization) is a technique used for increasing the percentage of the people visiting your website who are taking relevant actions that might include - filling out the signup form or subscribing to your newsletter.
Conversion rate optimization focuses on various important things like - analyzing how visitors move through a website, what actions do they take, on what basis do they take actions, and what stops them from taking any further step that you are expecting.
Types of Conversions
Broadly a conversion can be of two types:
Macro Conversions: Buying a product from a website, request for a quote, or even subscribe to a service.
Looking further down in detail, the common types of conversions include:
- Sales conversion: When a visitor purchases on an e-commerce website or subscribes to a paid service.
- Lead generation: Collecting user information, such as email addresses or phone numbers, to follow up with potential customers and convert them into sales.
- Sign-ups or registrations: When a visitor signs up for an account, newsletter, webinar, or event, becoming a registered user or subscriber.
- Download conversions: When a visitor downloads a file, such as a whitepaper, e-book, or software, indicating interest in a product or service.
- Content engagement: When users interact with content by liking, sharing, or commenting, demonstrating interest and potentially leading to further conversions.
- Click-throughs: When a visitor clicks on a call-to-action (CTA) button or link, leading to another page or desired action.
- Form submissions: When a user fills out and submits a form, such as a contact form, survey, or quote request, demonstrating interest in a product or service.
- App installations: When a visitor installs a mobile app or software from a website, potentially becoming a user or customer.
- Video views: When users watch a video on a website, potentially increasing engagement and interest in the product or service.
How to Design for Conversion Rate Optimization?
If you wish to improve your website's conversion rate, here are a few web design tips that will help you get better conversion rates. So, next time you plan to design or re-design your website, don’t forget these points to include.
Let’s get started!
Better Images
No doubt, images play a significant role in a website, and it is the driving factor that brings a customer towards your business and offerings. Well, that’s not always the case! If images aren’t used thoughtfully, they can harm your business and takes the customer away from your brand. You must have a good knowledge of how to use images in order to maximize the customer reach on your website.
So, before finalizing the images for your website, keep the following things in your mind:
- Always go for the images with human faces, as it helps build a strong connection with the customers.
- Ensure that the images you use are well-optimized so that the loading speed of your website isn’t affected. In fact, delayed websites usually have a high bounce rate and falling conversion rates. So, make sure you have well-optimized images on your website and compress the images without compromising on its quality.
- To clarify your business idea, use hero images on your website, i.e. go for a big banner image at the top of your website. Hero images are mostly put in the background with relevant text or appealing CTAs.
Consistent Branding
The major industry leaders have mastered the art of branding- starting from their brand logo, to every other element like sleek designs, graphics, appealing headlines to grab the customers, and a lot more.
Try conveying your business idea in a storytelling way so that you can easily deliver your message to the website visitors and get more leads to your website.
Color Choice
One more thing you must consider while designing the website is color selection.
The colors you choose must be able to convey the message you have for your audience.
For example, banks usually have a blue color that indicates trust. So, invest a good time while you decide the color scheme for your website. And in case you are confused, use A/B testing or Multivariate testing as it helps you decide which color converts better.
Leave Negative Space
You need to have ample space between the visuals and the website designs as it enables the user to breathe while browsing your web page.
If the web elements are placed too close, there are more chances that the customers will run away from the website. So, whenever you design your website, make use of margins and padding for increasing the space between images, copy, and many other elements.
Mobile-friendly
In today’s time, nobody prefers using a PC to browse any services, rather everyone prefers using a smartphone. So, make sure your website has the same perfect view on all devices-from PC, laptop, smartphones, to tablets. It will help in delivering rich user experience and make their website journey a memorable one.
Add Breadcrumbs
A visitor can land on any page of your website from any source and the next thing is they want to know where they are.
Breadcrumbs act as navigation signs that keep a visitor informed about where he is i.e. on which web page he is presently. It is recommended to add breadcrumbs on your website as it ensures that the visitors don’t get lost on your website. Especially in the case of e-commerce websites that have numerous categories, breadcrumbs become important to keep the website visitors out of the confusion.
Follow the 8-second Rule.
Usually, a person spends no more than 8 seconds on a website, which means you get only 8 seconds to display the best of your business and turn him into a loyal lead. So, focus on various things while designing your website like- use an appealing headline, use an eye-catching logo design, compelling CTA’s, go for engaging videos or interactive animations to draw the customer’s attention.
It will enable more visitors to stay on your website and eventually turn them into loyal leads.
There are a lot of other tips you can follow to improve the website design and experience better conversion rates. However, the above ones are sufficient enough to receive effective results in terms of better customer engagement and high conversion rates.