Web design is not just about making your site look pretty. It is about how you approach building your website to streamline the conversion process. To this end, here are some web design principles that will improve your conversion rate!
Opt for simpler, classier designs
If you want your conversion rate to grow, you need to pay attention to the current trends among consumers. And the current preference when it comes to web design is ‘minimalism.’ Instead of the past websites that were packed with links, buttons, and various features, less is more now! So, if you still run a website based on the previous design preferences, it is high time to redesign it and allow your business to take a step forward. Of course, this doesn’t mean your website will not be pretty. Using a subtle combination of colors and a clean design, it will look more appealing than it would with many features.
Make sure your design doesn’t hurt your website
One of the most critical web design principles that will improve your conversion rate is that your website needs to run well. If your web design is slowing down your site, whether it is because of all the features you have added or just bad coding, you will lose out on many customers. People hate waiting, and long loading times are one of the worst offenses a site can make. Responsive web design benefits your SEO because of its ability to improve your optimization, allowing you to enhance your website at no cost to performance.
Do not overwhelm your users
You may think that giving your users lots of options and different choices is a good thing. However, it has come to light again and again that overdoing it with this particular web design approach is wrong. People quickly feel overwhelmed if there is too much to check out. And if you continue to bombard them with options and information, they’ll eventually leave your site instead of continuing to browse. Especially if all the clutter prevents them from finding what they had opened your website for in the first place. If they want to purchase a particular product but need to wade through loads of similar items first, they quickly lose interest. Which is to say, you should make sure that your pages are properly separated into categories that are easy to navigate and make sure to include a search feature.
Do not be afraid of ‘negative’ space
Another one of the web design principles that will improve your conversion rate is the clever use of ‘negative’ space. Contrary to what its name might imply, ‘negative’ space is in no way a bad thing. Instead, it is just a term used to describe the empty spaces between text and other features of a website. It should be evident that trying to fill these spaces hastily is not a good thing. We’ve explained why already! Still, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use them at all. Instead, you can add a few smartly placed features that enhance a user’s experience. One example would be a customer support chat window. You can have it pop up in a negative space after a certain amount of time elapses and a user is still on your website. An experienced web designer can make the inclusion of such features seamless.
Signal the important stuff
If there’s one thing everyone agrees on, it is that people have much less patience than they used to. To leverage this correctly and avoid losing conversions to impatience, it is essential to prominently feature what your customers came for. This is especially important when discussing web design principles that will improve your conversion rate related to landing pages. Landing pages linked to ads you have probably spent good money on need to feature the service or product the ad is for, with little to no fluff attached. If you try to squeeze a couple of other products or services in there, you will only detract from the customer’s experience. It will divert their attention and maybe even lose the conversion you practically had in the bag. Better to secure sure profits than to shoot for more and lose out.
Make use of available media
Nowadays, getting your hands on quality stock images is blissfully easy. Even various videos are easily accessible, and it is possible to embed them on your site with minimal effort. This means you have no good reason not to use media in your web design! In fact, one of the most helpful web design principles that will improve your conversion rate is using pictures and videos effectively. Show photos of your teams at work if you run a moving or construction company. Features lots of photos of your products! Maybe even make and show off a video guide or two.
Everything needs to come together nicely
Of course, your website needs to be a coherent whole. You cannot use one design philosophy on some pages and another for the rest of your site. If you decide to go minimalistic, stick to it. Do you think having more features and options is better for you and your business? Then do that. Customers will notice if parts of your site seem incongruent with the whole. And it is easy for this to convey an unreliable or flighty impression. Not to mention that it simply does not look nice, which is something people pay a surprising amount of attention to. Of course, incorporate cyber security in your web design, too. Never use plugins or features that might put your customers at risk!
Final advice
With web design principles that will improve your conversion rate under your belt, you will be able to make a successful website! However, there is one thing to note: you need a site that works for you. Even if some of your ideas go against our advice here, do not hesitate to follow through with them if you are sure they will work.
Picture Links:
https://unsplash.com/photos/iEiUITs149M
https://unsplash.com/photos/iFSvn82XfGo