Web Design Conversion - May 2009

Web design Sunshine Coast

At 12website.com - Web design Sunshine Coast we will follow on from last month where we are finding companies with the time to look at their websites and marketing. These people are turning to us to examine their web design Sunshine Coast or UK, USA, Brisbane and look at ways to make their websites work. Last month we focused on your web design homepage and this month let us look at your web design conversion rate, Sunshine coast or elsewhere.

Web design Point of Action

"If you build it, they will come" is dealt with in many of our articles including our web design basics. Firstly we need to look at your "point of action". Basically, the POA on your website is what you want visitors to do initially. Many websites will have more than one POA, so POAs are further broken down into primary and secondary POAs. A primary POA (usually the most profitable action for a user to take) might be completing a purchase on the site while a secondary POA might be signing up for the site's email newsletter announcing weekly specials. As a general rule, the owner or marketing department in consultation with the web designers and sales department may decide what the primary and secondary POAs will be.

Some websites have no clear POA and mainly serve as an online brochure. If a website doesn't have clear POAs that guide users toward taking specific, valuable actions, those users are of course less likely to become purchasers. As an example we maintain a financial planners website whose POA is "You first consultation is fee and obligation free". This is included on our web design checklist.

Web Design Website Conversion

The percentage of total visitors who come to the website, follow through after clicking on the company's desired point of action (POA) and submit information, download a demo, make a purchase, etc. is the definition of website conversion. In an e-commerce application, multiple visitors will add items to their shopping carts, but a smaller percentage will actually make the purchase. The percentage of visitors that completes the transaction signifies the conversion rate for the website. In a lead-generating application, multiple visitors will follow a path that you desire for them to follow (at first), but will not complete the form, download, etc. The percentage that does signifies the conversion rate.

In order to boost the website conversion rate, companies need to determine why potential customers drop out at certain points in the process and eliminate these roadblocks in order to increase sales. It is crucial to have professional web design with clearly defined POAs, intuitive navigation, and simple checkout processes that make it easier for potential customers to buy, contact, download, or whatever else it is that you want them to do that will lead to a sale.

Web Design Take Rate

The number (or percentage) of visitors who show interest in your POA (i.e. click on a link to visit the site's contact form), comprise your take rate. Say a B2B website is highlighting its downloadable demo as its POA; a visitor might click on that link to get to a download page. Whether or not they actually follow through with the download has no bearing on the take rate - the take rate merely demonstrates that there was enough interest for them to take the POA.

On an e-commerce site, for instance, a visitor who adds a product to his shopping basket has taken the first step toward the company's desired POA, but the potential purchaser may not complete the transaction.

There are many ways to improve the take rate of a website. Through clever web design, one of the biggest ways is to simply make it very clear to visitors, on every page of your site, what you want them to do. Whether this is to purchase, to contact, to download, to sign up, or any number of other actions, make it clear and prominent for the visitor. No matter where they are on your website when they decide they are ready to take that POA, your site should make it easy for them to do so. More on good web design function.

Web Design Website Conversion Rate

The actual website conversion rate is the ratio equal to the number of people who actually convert on the site versus the overall number of visitors to the site for a given period. If, for example, 3 out of every 100 visitors to your B2B site filled out a contact form (and that form was your only POA) your website conversion rate would be 3%. There may be an option to investigate web design global and increase 100 visitors to 1000.

Obviously, improving your take rate will also improve your conversion rate, since more people will be coming to the form, download page, purchase page, etc. But there are many things you can do to increase the likelihood that people will convert after they have taken the initial POA. Keeping contact forms short and only asking for the minimal information you need is one way. Having a prominent and clear privacy policy or encryption policy can also help. The important thing to recognise is that a large number of people who demonstrate an interest in your products or services by clicking on your POA may not follow thorough, and it is important to determine why and to remove those obstacles.

Web Design Sunshine Coast

There are literally thousands of elements you can change on your website to increase both your take rate and website conversion rate. Simple testing has long been used to determine how changing certain variables affect the conversion and take rates. However, this method is limited to testing one variable at a time if you want to gather the granular metrics from each slight modification. Today, with more sophisticated testing software packages available, multivariate testing, which enables you to test many variables at the same time while still seeing granular results, is becoming more common.

Common tests include changing color schemes, tweaking various aspects of navigation, copy, and POAs have all been proven to maximise the take rate, website conversion rate, and subsequently, your revenue and bottom line. Website conversion is all about your visitors - appeal to their needs and desires in a logical, concise way, and you'll see your rates improve. Change the way you think! More on web design for customers.

Disclaimer

12website.com has prepared the supplied information as a voluntary service to the online community. The information is necessarily web design and small business in nature and is not intended to be relied upon other than as general background material. This should not be used as specific advice, recommendations or guidance, and specialist assistance should be sought by anyone in need of such help. 12website.com accepts no liability under any circumstances for any loss, expense, damages or costs whether direct or indirect (including loss of profits / damage to business) which may be incurred by any person as a result of relying on or using in whole or in part any of the supplied information.