Digital ‘beauty’ is in the eye of the beholder
The five key features of a successful website will surprise you
“It takes the average person 0.05 seconds to make a judgement about your website… That translates to 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression on your visitor.”
– Web Hosting Secrets
When it comes to web optimisation for conversion, having a website with all the bells and whistles doesn’t automatically equal success.
While it might be easy to design and publish a website in seconds with generative AI or templated services, doing it well is both a science and an art form.
Those all-important ‘conversions’ – your sales, downloads, views and even clicks on the ‘call now’ button – hinge on how people perceive and interact with your website and brand.
Failure to understand how you can use your website to connect with customers and clients means you’re losing valuable engagement – and business.
Make your website work for you
What all high-converting websites have in common is a strong value proposition – a message that clearly says why people should choose you rather than someone else. The stronger your proposition, the greater your potential conversion rate. And if that message is working, it doesn’t matter if a website is ‘basic’.
Here’s what a successful website needs:
Readability. Clearly explaining your point of difference and call-to-action is important. Your website’s design should allow an unobstructed ‘eye flow’ from top to bottom, and images and text should reduce the amount of time your visitors need to make sense of what they are seeing – after all, people generally skim headlines. If it takes someone two minutes to figure out who you are and what you can do for them...you’ve already lost them.
Relevance. Does your site visitor see what they thought they would, and can they see where they fit in to the picture? How well your content reflects a good understanding of your customer’s needs, wants, and demands is key. Being consistent in how you look and sound across all your channels is also important.
A sense of urgency. The level of urgency a visitor feels when looking at your site can influence conversions, too. This could be created by an external factor – for example, Mother’s Day is coming up and they haven’t got a gift – or your own campaigns, which you share with your visitor through offers, deadlines, and tone. Urgency can be reflected by design – think contrasting button colours to draw attention.
Proven credibility. Getting a customer to convert can be inhibited by anxiety and a lack of trust in you and your brand. There’s a lot of scams out there, and that can cause visitors to hesitate before clicking ‘buy.’ Including ‘as seen in’ badges, relatable client testimonials and proven guarantees can lessen anxiety around clicking ‘buy’. But don’t go overboard – having too many trust badges can actually be detrimental to how trustworthy you appear.
A clean look. Distraction also inhibits conversion. The more elements on your page there are for your visitor to process, the less likely they are to make a decision. Remove unnecessary product options, links and other information. Needing too many clicks to get to essential information can also discourage visitors and cause frustration.
So… how do you apply all this your web design?
There’s a few things you can do to make sure your website is working for you.
Your value proposition should be communicated through copywriting, formatting and layout. Lead your visitors from the most important thing you want to say to the second, then third, and so on. Don’t leave visitors to pick what is important from a bunch of unnecessary distractions.
Sliders, GIFs and overpowering background images are all common distractions on ‘flashy’ websites that reduce usability. Sites that convert well are minimalistic, contain zero distractions and are laid out logically with the primary purpose of the page front and centre.
Judicious use of design elements such as trust seals, testimonials, and images contribute to your website's overall look and feel, soothing user anxiety and leading to that all-important conversion.
The truth? It’s all about usability
The most successful sites are highly useable. They are easy to engage with, load quickly and make it obvious what is on offer. They tell the user that you understand their needs. Increasingly, sites also need to play well with generative AI like ChatGPT and Perplexity, ensuring that your information is highly ranked (ie, top of mind to) these developing search engines.
Pretty sites can also do these things, if care and expertise is applied.
The Sellers Room is an example of an effective website. Their homepage is simple, clean, highlights important elements and the value proposition is front and centre. (And yes, we maaaaaaay have had a hand in developing it.)
So don’t get hung up about if your site is the flashiest out there. If it’s working for you and your customers, it’s doing its job!