When it comes to business, we’re in a digital era that’s here to stay. Websites are now a key element of operations, rather than an extra that sits on the sidelines.
Your website is the digital representation of your brand and therefore needs to be an extension of your brand, rather than an add on. It needs to incorporate your brand identity in every aspect, to ensure that your brand message is seamlessly conveyed through this digital channel of your business.
A website can often be the first point of contact a potential customer has with your business, so it needs to be the digital arm of your sales team, guiding the user through the buyer journey.
The digital advances of the web have given ordinary businesses a platform to reach a global audience, but they’ve also brought those ordinary businesses into a globally competitive market.
If you don’t maximise every visit to your website, then you will lose out to the next best thing that’s only a click away.
Consumers are savvier than ever before; they aren’t easily fooled. With endless information at their fingertips, they know what they’re looking for because they’ve most likely done their research either online or through their networks.
If you don’t give them what they need in the most accessible way possible, then they’ll find someone else who does, with one click of a button. It sounds cut throat, but that’s the reality of the digital world that we live in.
Consumers are constantly blasted with messages from every angle, and have notoriously short attention spans; if you do get in front of them, then you need to grab their attention right away.
Many businesses make the mistake of only focusing on one design element i.e. the way a website looks, purely to grab their audience’s attention.
Having a website that looks like it could’ve won a design award is fantastic, but if it doesn’t give the visitor what they need, then the visual design won’t matter. You may have initially grabbed their attention, but they’ll quickly lose interest.
A website’s visual component is important, but it’s only one piece of a greater design puzzle. User experience and messaging are the other crucial pieces that many a web design company in Australia don’t focus on.
Brand messaging and user experience are often overlooked, but they are two key elements that go hand in hand. Telling your customer what your business does, what you can do for them, and what they need to do to get it, will direct them down the user journey that ultimately leads to conversions.
That journey is a key part of the puzzle, and is as important as the first impression they get from the look of a website. If their journey is complicated and too difficult, then they’ll quickly retreat.
According to a leading web design company in Melbourne, there are 3 key design elements that you need to focus on in order to turn those browsers into customers.
Whether you’re at the stage of creating your new website or you’re redesigning an existing one, you should incorporate these key elements no matter what.
Here are 3 proven design elements you must get right to maximise your conversions according to a leading web design company in Melbourne:
The second a visitor lands on your website, they should be shown three key messages before they need to take action i.e. what you do, what you can do for them and what they should do next. Let’s delve deeper into what these three key design elements actually mean when it comes to website design.
1. Message
If you don’t have your elevator pitch down pat then here’s your chance to start.
Your brand message is not dissimilar to an elevator pitch, it should be a clear and concise summary that accurately describes what your business does.
A visitor to your website should quickly and easily be able to determine exactly what your business does, without having to click, scroll or decipher cryptic messages.
Consumers are time poor, that’s a fact. They also want things now, without having to expend too much energy getting them.
If your brand message is unclear, too detailed or complicated, you won’t be sending a clear message to potential customers. What does that mean for you? You may be getting high visit rates, but you’ll also see high bounce rates from your site.
Potential customers will leave your site in a flash, feeling confused about what your business actually does, which will be damaging to your brand.
If your brand name doesn’t accurately describe what product or service your business offers, then add a short tagline that does. A tagline can be a fantastic way to summarise what your business does into one line, as well as differentiate you from other businesses.
A tagline that’s catchy, concise and clear can add so much value to your brand. If done right, visitors to your site will get an easy understanding of what your business does, without having to think too much.
Don’t overcomplicate things. When it comes to design, less is more, which is also the case with brand messaging. Having a message that is short and sweet, yet precise is exactly what you need.
2. Benefit statement
Now that you’ve got your brand message right, you need to focus on your benefit statement i.e. what you can do for your customer.
It’s one thing to have a killer brand message that describes exactly what your business does, but it’s another thing to have a resounding benefit statement that communicates precisely what benefit you can offer your customers.
Communicating what you do as a business is the first step to getting your website design right, telling potential customers how your product or service can benefit them is the next.
Getting your benefit statement right will take your potential customer further along the buyer journey; it’s the hook that will get them one step closer to becoming a customer.
Your benefit statement is key to maximising every opportunity you get to convert a browser into a customer, which will ultimately improve your bottom line.
Basically, you need to think about it in terms of “what problem does my product/service solve for my customer?”, and “how am I making my customer’s life easier?”.
A great way to collate your benefit statement is to think about where your business started and why your business exists, think about things like:
- Why did I start the business? Where do my passions lie?
- What are the core values that I founded the business on?
- What do I do differently to others? What makes my business unique?
Answer these questions, and you’ll most likely be able to create a benefit statement that highlights your businesses’ unique selling points, which is the “how” behind your business – “How can I help?” and the “why” behind your customers – “Why do they keep coming back?”.
The answers to these questions will be uniquely yours because no other business is exactly like yours. These answers are the reason why your business is a one of a kind, and ultimately determine your unique selling point; it’s what makes your business different from your competitors.
A web design company can’t answer these questions for you, and most likely won’t include a benefit statement in your website design unless you offer it to them. Make sure that you take the lead when it comes to your benefit statement.
You know your business, as well as your customers better than anyone else, so it’s your responsibility to ensure that this element is incorporated in your website design.
Make sure that your benefit statement is convincing, authentic and precise. Don’t overpromise and under deliver; your benefit needs to be realistic not imaginary. If it promises too much then customers will be left disappointed in the long run.
3. Clear CTA
Lastly, but not least is the CTA (call to action).
What is a call to action? A call to action is a design element that tells the visitor to your website what they should do next.
You’ve grabbed their attention with a clear brand message, convinced them that you can help them with a persuasive benefit statement, where to next? Telling them what action they should take next is the last of the three key design elements, and the most crucial.
Every web design company in Australia should know that your website’s call to action has a direct impact on conversions, and needs to incorporate this into their designs.
The obvious element of a call to action is that it needs to be action orientated; it must directly tell the visitor what to do, without being ambiguous in any way.
If you want a visitor to your website to subscribe to your mailing list, using a direct, action orientated term like “subscribe” is the best way to do it. Having a long winded sentence that doesn’t tell the visitor exactly what they should do, will leave them lost, not knowing what to do next.
You want to lead them further down the buyer journey, ultimately getting them to take action, whatever action that may be.
Once again, keeping it simple is key here; overcomplicating things will lead to missed opportunities. Having a few select call to actions is the best way to go; if you have too many competing action orientated elements, your visitor is guaranteed to get overwhelmed and not know which way to go.
A good web design company will minimise the number of CTAs on a website, so as not to confuse users. But include select ones that are powerful enough to convince a user to take action, and lead them down the buyer journey.
Getting this element right can be the difference between losing opportunities and making sales/generating leads, it’s as simple as that. A clear call to action means more sales for your business at the end of the day.
Conclusion
In this digital age, a website is a hugely important part of a business; it opens up so many opportunities to take your business to the next level, if it includes certain key design elements.
Communicating with your audience in the right way can be tough to get right, but if you simplify things and go back to the “why”, you should be able to create a clear message.
Focus on the elements of your business that make you unique so you can stand out from the crowd, and not only grab your audience’s attention, but keep them interested.
You’re in business to provide your customers with a solution to their problem/challenges, so identify what about your business offers that solution. When you begin to think about how you’re helping your customers, you’ll easily be able to create a benefit statement that appeals.
Whether you’ve got a large budget or you’re looking for affordable web design, ensure that your web design company incorporates these three proven design elements in order to maximise your conversions.
Make sure that you not only have a website that looks good, but one that communicates the right messages too. Too much focus on visuals will lead to missed opportunities; you won’t be maximising those conversions like you should be.
In a world of endless choices, make sure that your website has the right messaging to not only attract but to also retain attention. Make sure the user journey is simple, easy and uncomplicated to ensure that your customers know that they can find what they’re looking for with minimal effort.
Strive to be the go-to website for your customers and you’ll see how much it benefits not only your bottom line, but your overall brand identity too.