Web Design Principles That Will Boost Your Conversion Rate

Web Design has an unappreciated impact on SEO. Approachable and user-friendly web design will score much better than uninspired and insipid ones. The reason for this is deceivingly simple. Google values web site creators who place on a pedestal not the SEO tricks and techniques but the user-friendliness and engagement. Therefore, recognizing what can be improved and tuned can give you the desired edge in achieving the maximum SEO potential.

The main question then lies in what exactly distinguishes between great web design and a hollow one. There is no lack of factors that contribute to great web design, thus it is only reasonable to strap in and take an inquisitive look at what we have.

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/iEiUITs149M

Web design is the most essential part of attracting new visitors and retaining old ones. What’s more, it’s important to have a great conversion rate and this is where the properly honed design will be an irrefutably conducive factor. 

Conversion Rate and Its Influence on the Web Design

Before delving any deeper let us tackle conversion rate and what it means to have a negative and positive conversion rate. Essentially, conversion rate means what percentage of visitors of your website accomplish their end goal, which, in turn, converts into the revenue you get. Positive conversion rate means that your marketing and web design strategies pan out and people are involved in whatever you are creating. People get what they come for and you are reaping the due benefits. 

Whilst negative conversion rate indicates that there is an inherent problem in your stratagem that you may be overlooking. The gist here is to run a meticulous reconnaissance of what might be the issue. Oftentimes, the culprit is the inappropriate, barren, or, on the contrary, overly flashy and widget-heavy web design. Flawed web design can be an intolerable issue for users and visitors of your webpage which will inevitably lead to a negative conversion rate. 

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/JVSgcV8_vb4

Since conversion rate is highly variable throughout different industries, it is imperative to check your standing amongst your competitors in the same “business territory” as you. By doing so, you will have a better understanding of what might be awry and subsequently fiddling the tune of your own business instrument accordingly.

How to Check Your Conversion Rate

There are tons of useful and handy benchmarks that you can implement in order to better understand where you stand. Wordstream has a great AdWords conversion rate Performance Grader which is an indispensable weapon in the SEO arsenal and will be of great help in singling out potential issues. 

Source: https://www.wordstream.com/google-adwords

Conversion rate improvements should come from multiple layers and aspects. This non-exhaustive list includes:

1. The price of your offers;

2. The design of your webpage;

3. Content relevancy;

4. Market saturation.

Evidently, there is no single cure to limber up a webpage and turn around your conversion rate 180 degrees. Every aspect at every step of the way should be considered and fine-tuned appropriately. 

PRO TIP: In order to improve your conversion rate, you can use a custom URL shortener like Rebrandly to track all or some specific links on the page. In doing this, you can analyze click activity on links, helping you to quickly spot which images, copy variations or CTAs are most effective.

Web Design as the Most Important Factor

However, web design might arguably be one of the most contributing sources. Why so? Web design gives the very first impression that is a deciding factor in whether a visitor will spend time on your site or leave it right away in total aversion. As was briefly mentioned, bad designs happen quite often. And to no surprise. It is a formidable task to create a design that is universally appealing and neutral but approachable, stylish, unobtrusive, and straight-to the point.

Source: https://unsplash.com/photos/Px3iBXV-4TU

The guiding stars on your journey should be avoiding common mistakes that many beginners and newcomers tend to fall into.

1. Flashy, widget heavy, or animation-ridden websites not only overload the users’ devices, which in turn leads to an unpleasant experience but also is quite a sore to the eyes and overall has a waft of infantilism. Thus, it is advisable to forgo the usage of unnecessary media stuff and overly flamboyant color spectrum.

2. Although visual-heavy websites are banes to avoid, barren and boring looking ones are no better. Remember web pages from the early 2000s? Black text on a white screen with the Comic Sans font to sprite things up. Horrendous! It is quite a trial to find the middle ground and not to commit either of these extreme mistakes. However, in most cases of web design, less is better. Minimalistic site design with a neutral color scheme and readable fonts will in most cases seal the deal. Although it is highly dependable on the industry you are focusing to drill into.

3. Slow page load speed is a notable nuisance that oftentimes scares people off. In our fast-paced lives, we feel quite intolerant towards anything that slows us down. As such, it would be great to aim for at least 3-5 seconds’ load time for your page. According to a study, 70 percent of web pages surveyed score 7 seconds of average load speed. And according to Google, the best way to keep your visitors is to keep your load speed at 3 seconds average. Not to mention that load speed also has a substantial contribution to your SEO rankings.

4. Non-conformity with the established ideas can be viewed through two different lenses. It is either a healthy dose of critical thinking or totally bogus. In web design, conforming to standards is a tradition that many adhere to. As, for example, is including a search bar on your website and getting rid of plaguing pop-up ads.

5. Creating convoluted, multilayered, and complex web design might sound like a great pastime but it definitely is not a great way to attract new visitors. For most people, simple and approachable “site infrastructure” without any unhinged mazes will score far more favorably. 

Planning your Journey and Niche and Web Design Touchpoint 

Your final design vision should be inseparably intertwined with whatever industry or area of expertise you are planning to start a business in. The initial and final phases of web design are heavily influenced by your chosen niche. A clear example of that is, let’s say, you want to create a web design that speaks to more of a hip and pop-culture influenced individuals ranging between 16 and 25 years of age. Here, we can comfortably employ a more radiant vibe with catchy slogans and creative artsy design. 

Source: https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment

What is also inextricable is accommodating the UI to a particular target group or niche you are working with. Although a universal approach of simple and straightforward is, in most cases, the way to go, there are particular cases that call for a more ingenious layout.

What we’re trying to say is that having a premeditated plan is going to help you map out the area of what your future business will look like while also giving you an overhead view of where you stand.

Mobile Friendliness and Its Impact on Web Design Conversion Rate

Adapting your website to the whims and wants of mobile users is also one of those often neglected aspects of web design that, in the end, have a huge impact on the conversion rate. In the smartphone era, it might even be tantamount to crime to ignore the importance of mobile-forward design. There is even an opinion that by 2025 three quarters of the population will access the Internet via smartphones. So, skimming on the mobile users is probably not the best idea. Here are some tips to optimize your website design for mobile users.

1. What mobile platforms lack compared to desktop systems? Screen ratio. Although in the last decade we excelled in this section, still, smartphones are mandated to be portable and ever-present. That’s why the UI and text must be optimized for mobile users. No one is fond of constant squinting on the screen just to read what you’re trying to convey. For that very reason, creating a bolder and more defined text while also using an easily eligible font on top of the simplified UI is a must.

2. Mobile users are far more fastidious when it comes to loading speed. If with desktop users you can make an excuse of 5 sec load time, smartphone people are spoiled by shorter load time. Here you want to aim at exactly 3 seconds load time, not more - and preferably less. Or be ready for 53% of users to outright abandon your “slow” website. As such, compressing your media file size is a great practice to follow.

3. The content on your website should be easily scannable. This is crucial. The placement and size of the text or images have to be logically positioned. The main body and headline should be complemented with images or any other media to emphasize users’ attention and keep them keen and involved in whatever you are trying to convey. Images and videos ought not to be sprinkled over your site sporadically, it is important to make use of available space in a reasonable manner, especially on mobile screens.

4. Mobile SEO must be treated as a separate entity since mobile search optimization requires a different approach from desktop one. Mobile SEO is an overarching topic that deserves an article of its own. Backlinko has a great introductory guide of what mobile SEO is.

Conclusion

If you feel overwhelmed by the sheer amount of points to remember and consider, it’s OK. The topic of proper web design is justifiably vast and daunting at first glance. However, with enough practice and reference material, you can be sure that success is biding its time right around the corner. 

Nevertheless, if you just don’t feel the immediate urge to plunge yourself in such a deep pond of information, you can always turn to professionals ready to “take the beating” for you. Services like LinksManagement provide reliable and quality SEO service and general help in the SEO related realm.