There’s no doubt about it: a great website is critical to any business. Not only does it provide a place for customers to learn more about your business and products or services, but it can also be a powerful tool to nurture and engage those customers. Read on to find out about some of the most effective website design strategies for doing just that. Implementing these tactics will help you achieve better conversions and revenue growth for your business!
Before we dive into the strategies, let’s define what we mean by “conversions”. In general, a conversion occurs when a website visitor takes a desired action – such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or requesting more information about your product or service. In other words, it is when someone goes from being a casual browser to an engaged, paying customer or lead.
There are two main types of conversions: macro and micro. Macro conversions are the big-ticket items, like sales and newsletter signups. These actions directly contribute to your bottom line and are typically the most important to track. On the other hand, micro conversions are smaller actions that may not have an immediate monetary value but can still be beneficial to your business. Micro-conversions include:
- downloading an information brochure or e-book;
- viewing a product or service video; or
- adding an item to the shopping cart.
While macro conversions are the ultimate goal, it’s important to remember that the journey to a sale often starts with a micro conversion. That’s why it’s essential to track and optimise your websites for both types of conversions.
Now that we’ve defined conversions, let’s look at some specific website design strategies you can use to boost customer experience and your conversion rate.
Ultimate Website Design Strategies: Nurture and Engage Your Customers
You can use a range of different website design strategies to nurture and engage your customers, but not all of them will be effective for every business. It is essential to experiment and find what works best for you. That being said, here are a range of ideas that are likelyto be effective for a broad range of websites.
1. Website Design Tailored to Build Relationships With Your Audience
If you want people to buy from you, they need to know, like and trust you first. For this reason, experts in website design recommend that your “About” page introduces your audience to your story: who you are, what you do, why you do it, your business values and philosophy, and how
you stand out from the crowd. As small business owners and solopreneurs, we are uniquely placed to connect with our audience on a more personal level than large brands. The more your prospective customers can identify with you, the more likely they are to choose your business over a competitor. Letting your personality shine to build genuine, authentic connection with your ideal audience can be a powerful feature of web design for small business.
Many people are becoming increasingly conscious as consumers and make purchasing decisions to buy the “why”. There are few businesses that have a truly unique offering with no competition, but you can stand out and shine by clearly explaining your business raison d’être: the mission, purpose, cause or belief that help you add value to people’s lives. Your target audience will likely think carefully about the impact of their spending decisions – both positive and negative – and will be drawn to a specialised and authentic offering which aligns with their values and priorities. So don’t be shy about introducing yourself and your team through your website, explaining the process by which products are made or services delivered, and highlighting any relevant ethical or sustainable credentials of your business. Do you have a program to give back to your community or support a great cause? Prospective customers want to know!
Bringing together like-minded people and building a sense of community around your brand can also be a great way to engage customers and turn them into lifelong fans. One of the most effective ways to build trust in your business is to highlight user generated content and testimonials from existing customers. User generated content is particularly powerful in nurturing relationships, showing your appreciation for your audience, building website engagement and showcasing your credibility with potential customers. People hold the recommendations of their peers in high regard, and social proof can be very powerful in showcasing your business reputation, authority, credibility and integrity.
It is also important to remember that the customer journey doesn’t end when someone buys from you. In fact, that’s when it really starts. After a customer makes a purchase, it’s important to maintain the connection: follow up with them and make sure they’re happy with your service. This can be done through email, phone, or even social media. Exceed expectations, show your appreciation and seek feedback to continuously improve what you do. If you offer quality products or services and provide excellent customer service, you will be well on your way to building a successful business.
2. Highlight a Clear Value Proposition in your Website Design
First impressions are essential for new visitors to your website. It is therefore vital that your website design quickly and clearly conveys what your business offers and the key benefits you bring to the table. For this reason, your we
bsite home page needs to include a clear headline and concise statement above the fold (i.e. the top of your webpage immediately visible to visitors). You don’t want visitors to have to spend time trying to work out your business value proposition: highlight front and centre what is on offer and why a potential customer should do business with you.
Make sure your business services, products or offerings are clearly described and easy to find on your home page and throughout your website. You might also want to consider including customer testimonials, case studies, or videos about your products or services to help potential customers understand the value of what you’re offering. This information can also resolve any questions or hesitations people may have as they are contemplating getting in touch with you or making a purchase.
3. Incorporate Compelling, Customer-Focused Content
High quality content is king when it comes to engaging website visitors. The key, as the Collier Principle states, is to “always enter the conversation already occurring in the customer’s mind”. The best website design shows that you understand the problem your ideal customer is trying to solve, their aims and objectives, the hesitations or objectives that may prevent them from taking action, and the transformation or ideal outcome they are hoping for when considering your offer. Your website will be effective when it speaks to things your ideal customer wants: their interests, passions, desires, frustrations or fears, and “enters” the conversation by adding clear and persuasive information that highlights your solutions.
As such, your content should be well-written, informative and relevant in style and substance to the existing motivations and aspirations of your target audience. Make sure that your brand tone and messaging is clear and consistent across your website, as well as emails and your social media channels. Establish your authority and build audience engagement and trust by providing practical expert information in your field that will keep people coming back for more. Some practical ideas that often work well include offering educational articles, tips and tricks, or unique perspectives and ideas your visitors can implement to resolve a problem they are experiencing.
If you have a list of leads, it’s important to nurture them with targeted content that will help move them further down the sales funnel. This could include educational blog articles, case studies or free trials. It is important that you show that you understand your customer’s pain points and highlight how your business is best placed to address these with your offerings. Not everyone is a natural wordsmith. If you’re not a strong writer, consider hiring someone to help you create high-quality content for your website.
4. Focus on Clear and Easy to Navigate Website Design
Your website content and layout should be clear, logical and easy to navigate, so that visitors can find what they’re looking for quickly and easily without distractions. User experience is a critical factor in engagement and conversions, so make sure your website design keeps your ideal audience in mind. To this end, your website should incorporate clear headings and menus for easy navigation and provide links to the most important pages directly from the home page (for example: “Services”, “About” and “Contact”).
When it comes to good navigation, less is more, so keep menu item options focused and avoid long drop-down lists that could overwhelm your visitor with options. Remember that your website footers can also be an excellent aid for good navigation, so make sure you incorporate your menu here, along with your contact details, email sign-up and social media links.
You should also make sure to link your logo at the top of your website to your home page, to allow visitors to easily navigate to this page from anywhere on the website. Finally, help customers to reach out to you by including up-to-date contact information prominently on your website. You could also consider adding a contact form or live chat feature to make it easier for people to get in touch.
5. Include Strong Calls to Action (CTA) in Your Website Design
A call to action is an element on your website that encourages visitors to take a specific action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. While next steps might be obvious to you, audiences are conditioned to seek out and act on calls to action. So think of them as signposts and transition points along the various phases of a visitor’s journey through your website.
Your call to action should be relevant to the page content and targeted to your ideal customer. Make sure it is clear, concise and easy to spot. Some examples could include: “It Starts Here”, “Find Out More” or “Contact Us”. Incorporate eye-catching CTAs in your website design to gently steer your visitor towards taking the next step to engage with your business, improve your conversions and build a loyal customer base.
6. Create a Tailored Landing Page for Campaigns
Creating a specific landing page for a marketing or advertising campaign you are running in an email, through social media or via online advertisements can be valuable in converting visitors into leads or customers. Unlike other pages on your website, a campaign specific landing page typically includes detailed information about the product or service that is the subject of your offer. It will have a single, strong call to action and avoid distractions or options for website navigation. Some of the ways you can drive traffic to your landing page include email campaigns, organic marketing, paid search or social media traffic.
7. Highlight the Scarcity or Time Sensitivity of Your Offer
Online marketing consultants recommend highlighting the scarcity of a product or service as a web design strategy to make it more attractive, valuable and desirable. Combine with social proof demonstrating the value of the offer to those who have already tried it for a powerful conversion s
trategy to help make purchase decisions now, rather than risk missing out. If you want to increase conversion rates, it makes sense to consider ways in which you can prompt a potential customer to take action now, rather than deferring a decision for later (or never). This can be done in several ways, such as highlighting limited availability or scarcity of your product or service, offering time-sensitive discounts or bonuses to reward those who are decisive, or by featuring customer testimonials that speak to the results your product or service can achieve.
While incorporating these elements can be very effective as part of a holistic and well-thought out content strategy, they will only improve conversions if combined with a complementary suite of measures outlined in this article. This includes website content that is relevant to your ideal customer, provides a clear value proposition, builds audience trust and provides excellent user experience. You can experiment and implement variations of these strategies in a way that aligns with your brand values and offerings, and feels tasteful, authentic and natural for your business.
Final Reflections
You might be thinking, do I need to do all of these website design strategies to boost conversions? The answer is, it depends. If you want to see results from your website, then the answer is most likely yes. You could be missing out on valuable leads and customers by neglecting these website design strategies.
Of course, not every strategy will be relevant or applicable to all businesses. And you may find that some tactics are more effective than others depending on your niche, audience and offerings. The key is to experiment and find what works best for your business. But if you want to see results from your website, it’s crucial to put in the effort and implement as many of these web design strategies as possible to nurture your dream customers and enhance engagement, conversions and revenue.
You should also consider using some of these powerful search engine optimisation (SEO) ideas and broader strategies to increase organic traffic to your website, to help people find your website and the information they require. And don’t forget to track your progress and implement changes to your website design strategy to continue to improve your results over time.
If you need a hand with discussing the current state of play in your digital world and how Summer Days Digital can help you implement powerful strategies through clever website design services and tailored SEO marketing strategies, feel free to reach out and book a discovery call.
