Here is why a high converting website should be professionally designed.
There are billions of websites online today, and let’s face it, most of them are terrible and lack a real purpose. The main reason for many of these failures is that the site owner doesn’t know how to create a site that converts.
If you are going to have a website, you might as well have a website that people visit, interact with, and convert from. Unless of course, the purpose isn’t intended to convert. Yes, there are such sites for that purpose as well.
Let’s assume the reason behind making a website is to grow your business and start making money on the website. Usually by selling a product or service. Either way, let’s build this article around that as being the goal.
The goal can be whatever you would like it to be, but without a goal, you can’t build strategies to achieve those goals.
A website needs a strategy to build a conversion goal.
The goal and the website strategy is the secret sauce to get customers to convert. The strategy will inform decisions and help achieve the desired outcome of the website.
A goal can be as simple as filling out a form, having the user download a pdf, or even buying something. The goal is whatever you want the user to do aside from landing on your website and then bouncing away from it.
Bouncing is a term that means a user came to your site and immediately left. The user left without visiting another page on the same website. In general, bouncing is usually bad.
Before the page even goes into wireframes, a strategy needs to be in place. This strategy informs the wireframes so we can take the user to a goal.
If you need help building a strategy, please reach out to us. It’s an in-depth subject that goes beyond the scope of this article, but we’d be happy to help!
Let’s talk about website wireframes and web design.
With the strategy in place, we have the heart of the website. It’s there for a purpose and used to give life to the rest of the website design. It’s one aspect and you can’t achieve goals with a half-baked plan.
The next part of getting to your goal is to build wireframes.
Building the website skeleton with wireframes.
If the strategy is the heart, then the wireframes would be the skeleton of the website. This is going to be a raw layout that serves the main purpose of giving the website structure.
Why is this button here or that headline there? There is no rhyme or reason without a strategy, but with it, we know exactly why. The wireframes take a user down the page in a specific order. This reveals specific information at specific times.
All major brands have a strategy behind their website. They have a reason why every element is where it is. They are refining it based on the data the website receives from the user activity.
Google Analytics is great for this and you can take it even further with heat mapping and other software. As you continue to get data, it’s important to add it to the website. If data says users aren’t moving through the site, get with your designer to find out why.
The design should be on brand and build trust.
A difficult thing for designers to grasp, me included, is a high converting site doesn’t need to be pretty. Many of these ugly websites that convert well are that they are still on-brand in some way or another.
Some brands are ugly and built without purpose. Most are ugly from poor design and don’t convert. For those that do, it is important to find the elements that create a conversion site. These elements separate the pros from the amateurs.
It’s pretty safe to say that a well-designed website that looks great will help aid in building trust faster. If you match a brand better than that of someone who doesn’t know what makes a powerful design.
When a website is built correctly, it’s easier to check off the requirements that aid in conversion. The control you gain from a professional is often returned, ROI.
With amateur designs, many companies find they were putting money into a new design. The designer still couldn’t execute their vision before they found us. Not saying you need to use us, but it’s best to find a capable designer or agency.
Build your brand unity and tie it into other marketing aspects.
Conversion rarely happens on the first interaction. If you have a high ticket service or product. Conversions happen often if it’s a low ticket item in the first interaction, but to balance this out. It’s often a few times of interaction at least.
Advertising used to be seven interactions before clients begin to notice your company. With the digital age, that number is increasing. Depending on the source, you’ll hear numbers like 21 times, or 44. In reality, those details don’t matter that much.
What does matter is the consistency of marketing. Retargeting until it’s clear that no conversion will take place or that conversion does.
There are many reasons a website should be professionally designed.
There are many reasons you need a professional design for a high converting website. You need a strategy, a goal, a reason behind the website. Then you should wireframe the website to make sure it flows and builds trust. The more you do this, the more trust is created, and the chance for a conversion increases.
Once you have all of this in place, the chances of having a high converting website are much more likely than if you choose a default theme or you don’t put any thought into your design. The design is a very large factor in whether our website is trustworthy or not, the more trustworthy website the more it’s going to convert.
If you have any questions on creating a high converting website, feel free to contact us here at Rebel Ape Marketing to help you achieve your conversion goals.