For most businesses the job of a website is to generate enquiries and sales. While many
websites are able to attract plenty of traffic, it is a completely different story to turn these visitors into conversions and sales.
Globally millions of
dollars are invested everyday in driving traffic to websites. Search
engine marketing, search engine optimization and
social media
marketing are examples of activities designed to ensure sites are
found and people visit them.
But what happens when
people land on a website? Are they converting at a good rate? Are
websites designed effectively to generate the best results?
The truth is that most
websites can be improved by implementing best
practice
direct response marketing techniques and web design principles.
Most websites only take advantage of a fraction of the available
options and as a result do not maximize their potential or contribute
to the business as they should.
The two key areas that
ensure websites convert effectively are content and design related.
And these key principles apply worldwide; it does not matter if you
rely on
web design Dubai services,
web development in the USA or technical and design support in Europe.
Content Related Direct
Response Techniques
- The first key content
element is the headline or value proposition. If people visit a
website or a specific page, and their attention is not grabbed in
the first few seconds, it has failed and the prospect is highly
likely to leave the site quickly.
Headlines and value
propositions which are most effective make it very clear who the
prospect is, what problem will be solved and what positive outcomes
will be created.
- The
second content element to consider is the copy on the page. The most
important content elements are the benefits potential clients will
gain. A lot of businesses focus on who they are and what they do,
without explaining how clients can benefit from working with them.
This means that the copy on the page needs contain more "you”
statements compared to "I/we” sentences.
- The
third content element which cannot be missed is the ‘call to
action’. Clearly explaining what the next steps are and how to
take theseis the best way to get prospects to do what you want them
to do – take action. This can be in the form of sending an
enquiry, signing up to a newsletter, receiving free information or
making a purchase. The most effective calls to action contain
benefit statements, stay away from ‘order now’, or ‘submit’
text.
- The
content on the page needs to be easy to read and navigate to
maximize conversions. If content is hard to follow, with long text
blocks and without clear breaks,visitors are unlikely to read the
information. Subheadings, bullet points and numbered points are
methods that can be used to guide visitors effectively along the
page.
Selecting the right font
types and size, with a strong contrast against the background also
assists in keeping visitors engaged and reading the information on a
website. In addition to that, using bold and italics will draw
attention to important words and phrases.
Web Design Related
Direct Response Techniques
- First
impressions count. That is why it is important that websites are
designed to generate maximum impact quickly. This can be achieved by
providing the most important information prospects need above the
fold and adding strong benefit statements and calls
to action.
If potential clients are
required to scroll down the page before they can get a clear
understanding what a business is about, how they can benefit, and
what their next steps are, it is highly likely that conversion rates
will be lower than they could be.
- Using
a clean and uncluttered page design is the second key element to
ensure that prospects will convert. This involves removing any
content, images and text that not directly contributes to converting
visitors. Website features that distract people and should be
avoided are slideshows, image heavy backgrounds and flashing
elements.
- Proof
and trust building elements are very important tools to persuade
visitors, these are the third key web design elements that will
improve conversions. Benefit statements and a strong call to action
are the key components above the fold, however adding trust elements
in a supporting section will yield great results. Visitors always
look for proof that what is promised will be delivered. Testimonials
from customers and industry experts, logos of clients and partners a
business works with, accreditations and guarantees are effective
ways to build credibility and trust.
- The
fourth key design element to improve response rates is including
video and audio. Unless a visitor is highly engaged they are
unlikely to invest a lot of time reading a lot of information. By
adding a video or audio section to a website businesses can engage
visitors and help them to process information quickly.
When businesses want to
incorporate direct response techniques into their website, or create
specific direct response marketing campaigns, the best place to start
is to consider their potential clients. What are they looking for,
what do they want to achieve, and how do they prefer to get to that
point? With this information, combined with the key elements outlined
in this article, a highly focused page or website can be created.
That is how people
visiting websites can be encouraged to respond and take action.
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