Having a conversion rate crisis? Revisit your website design

Once upon a time in a time gone by, the sole goal of digital marketing was to drive traffic to your website with the idea being the more visitors, the more customers you will have; a digital version of chucking pasta at the wall knowing some will stick.

But digital marketing has evolved.

In this more enlightened age, website designers and online marketing specialists are directing their efforts into enhancing the customer experience to not only generate leads but strategically increase the conversion rate and make more sales.

What is a conversion rate?

A conversion rate refers to any desired action you want the visitor to take. This is anything from clicking through from a call to action to completing a purchase, subscribing to a newsletter or making an appointment. You may have several trackable conversion rates on your website.

How do you calculate the conversion rate of a website?

Conversion rates are helpful in digital marketing because they track the performance of a website. To calculate a conversion rate, divide the number of conversions/ actions by the total number of website visitors, multiplied by 100.

For example, if Digital Presence a Christchurch web design company had 1000 visitors a month which generated 40 appointments for new website designs, the conversion rate would be 4%.

What’s a good website conversion rate?

Research by Wordstream found the average conversion rate is 2.35%. However, the statistics vary hugely between industries. 

The best website design elements to optimise conversions

So how can you optimise your website’s conversion rate through better website design? Ensuring the website is responsive to the device the visitor is accessing the website from and the speed at which it loads are clearly major influences, but there are other elements to pay attention to:

Reduce website design friction

This means cutting down on unnecessary clutter and make the consumer journey as simple and easy as possible. Whereas once it was best practice to help visitors achieve their goals within 3 clicks, now the emphasis is all on improving the experience the visitor gets from each click. For example, do you want visitors to fill out a form? Don’t ask too much information from them or force them to create an account. Ease of action reigns supreme.

Build trust and credibility through website design

Small details within a website design can make all the difference between a visitor leaving a site and becoming a customer. SSL Certification and HTTPS security, links taking visitors to where they expect to go, high quality images and website content add credibility and boost visitor confidence. Don’t just give the perception of excellence, be excellent!

Leverage the power of human connection and social proof

Social proof is using real customer testimonials to create positive connections to your brand. When a visitor reads a third-party review about a product or service, rather than from the viewpoint of the business, they are more likely to buy – this adds a layer of authenticity but strengthens credibility too.

TIP: Never ignore negative online reviews. Click here to learn more.

Research to identify powerful SEO

Applying top drawer SEO attracts organic traffic to your website, but investing time to research and understand what and how users are actively searching for your products and services gives valuable insight into their challenges and motivations but also gives clear direction to take the website content in.

If the maths ain’t mathing and you are not happy with your website’s performance and conversion rates, call Digital Presence for a free no-jargon or obligation chat and affordable website solution. We provide digital marketing and website design services for Christchurch NZ businesses, call now on 0274 278047.