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Three Design Hacks For Better Website Conversion

Forbes Communications Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Erin McCoy

Many marketers fail to take into account just how effective — or ineffective — their website’s visual interface is when it comes to engaging visitors. Sure, they’ll experiment with button placement, produce gated content and ensure they’ve posted good photos, but high-quality visual communication will encourage visitors to stay longer and travel farther down the conversion funnel. Changing your website to align with consumer behaviors and the visual brain will drastically improve your conversion rate. These three design hacks will ensure that your website inspires and delights every visitor.

Get interactive.

Just 46% of marketers were using interactive content in 2017, according to Content Marketing Institute, but 79% of interactive content users said they planned to boost their use in the next 12 months. This means that for those who have incorporated interactive content into their websites and marketing campaigns, it’s proven incredibly useful. This also means that there’s still room for you to get ahead of the pack.

Interactive infographics were the no. 1 type of interactive content used in 2017, and it’s easy to see why: Marketers deemed them a highly effective medium for early-stage content marketing, when audiences are just discovering and learning about a brand. Most effective of all at this stage were interactive games and contests, which keep visitors on your page longer and make their interactions with your brand more entertaining and rewarding. By the middle stage of the buyer’s journey, interactive e-books were considered most effective, and at the decision stage, configurators and wizards closed the deal.

Overall, the Content Marketing Institute survey concluded that interactive content is the way of the future for marketers, with 87% of users confirming that it grabs the audience’s attention better than static content, 77% asserting that it results in multiple exposures and repeat visits and 75% agreeing that it boosts lead nurturing. And while many brands are worried about whether they have the skill or money to invest in interactive, 77% of marketers already employing such content insist that it has reusable value.

Incorporate a landing page video.

A landing page video immediately boosts page visits, time on page and conversions. Video can deliver a 53x increase — yes, I said 53 — in your chances of getting a page-one Google listing. For your blog and individual pages, keep in mind that posts with three media types — videos, images, lists, etc. — attract more visitors compared to plain text.

So you’ve got more visitors. Great. But will a landing page video also boost conversions? All signs point to yes. Visitors who watch a site’s video stay longer. And they won’t just invest their time in what you have to offer. Viewers are more likely to buy after they watch a product video. Long story short, you can’t afford not to have a landing page video. Just remember that quality counts. A poorly made video will reflect poorly on your brand.

Reenvision your calls to action.

Better placed and more visually stimulating calls to action can make all the difference. “Simply increasing the quantity and visibility here can go a long way toward increasing conversion rates,” Jayson DeMers shares in a piece on Forbes. Here are a few ways to reimagine the visual presentation of your CTAs for better results.

First, focus on delivering quality content on your site above all else. Placing the CTA below the fold — so to speak — can boost conversions after high-quality content has done the hard work of selling your product or service.

When it comes to how your CTA looks, ensure that it evokes an emotional response through the use of photographs, data or illustrations. Viewers who have an emotional response to an ad are more likely to make a purchase. You’ll also want to create a sense of urgency through limited-time offers and then visually represent that urgency to a customer. Think about it: Wouldn’t you be more likely to react quickly to a live countdown clock than to a statically rendered cutoff time?

And finally, it’s time for a little streamlining. Visual clutter can be overwhelming to the point that it pushes customers away. DeMers explains this well: “For example, you might have an email signup form next to a banner ad that one of your sponsors pays for, or have your call-to-action at the end of a blog post, where there are also links to related content articles. When you divide a user’s attention this way, you’re splitting their chances of completing the conversion into a fraction of what it was previously.”

Instead, opt for one or two visually appealing CTAs that clearly communicate what visitors will get if they click. It’s equally important to streamline the checkout process: Cut the visual overload in exchange for a clean, single-page checkout, and incorporate interactive components to guide visitors through checkout and even personalize the product or service they receive based on their needs.  

Apply these three visual communication tips to your website, and you’re sure to see an immediate conversion boost. Happy selling!

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