Ross Davies, the founder of Nottingham-based web design agency Strafe Creative, kicked off the afternoon talks at this year’s e-Commercial conference. The talk covered the importance of using purpose-led design when putting together a website.
With the average eCommerce conversion rate across sectors currently at 2%, there are plenty of opportunities to increase conversion rates through purpose-led design.
As online ad spend marketing grows, we need to see when we are spending money on increasing traffic, but not spending money on converting the traffic we get.
Conversion-led marketing campaigns focus on conversion-led design and good UX before funnelling budget to ad spend. This could be a few tweaks to your site or a full redesign.
To focus on purpose-led design to your website, you should consider several purposes:
Who
People want to know who you are – what is your mission? How will you help the user?
Adding a ‘mission statement’ to your website can help the user become quickly familiar with your purpose – and increase conversion rates.
Those seeking a B2b or professional service are often interested in who is behind the business. People buy people, and using imagery of employees or including a ‘meet the team’ page can help tell the story of your brand.
What
Do you have a clear message on your website?
Following the ‘five second rule’ means you have exactly five seconds to communicate clearly through copy, visual cues and design exactly what product you sell or service you provide.
As simple as this sounds, a clear message on your site can sometimes get lost in the process of putting a site together.
Why
Another question to consider is why should the user on your site care? Why should they buy a product or service from your website rather than from a competitor?
You can help answer this question using trust signals.
- Have a guarantee about your services or products in place, which give users confidence in their investment decisions
- Share impressive numbers about your business achievements
- Awards – if you have won or been shortlisted for any industry awards, make sure the award logos are proudly displayed on your website
- Reviews and testimonials from customers and clients are sure to help with conversion rates
Ease of Use
Ensure your site is clearly signposted and simple to navigate for the user.
Communicate what you need above the fold, and ensure calls to action are peppered throughout your home page, not just above the fold.
Purpose
What do you want the user to do when they visit your website? Submit an enquiry? Check out your latest deals? Subscribe to a newsletter?
Write and place clear calls to action for your users. Avoid vague CTAs such as ‘Get in Touch’, more actionable CTAs such as booking an appointment, requesting a callback or engaging in a live chat will be much more effective.
Follow @ross_davies on Twitter for more insights into purpose-led website design.
