How to Increase Website Conversion With These Easy Design Hacks

[This article was written by Ashley Kimler.]

Every online entrepreneur knows the challenge of high bounce rates, low conversion, and excessive A/B testing. These issues arise, at some point, with every website. But, what if you could save yourself hundreds of hours just by enhancing the design of your website to keep visitors on your site and increase conversions? Well, maybe you can. Here are five easy design hacks to boost user engagement on any website.

What is the Role of Page Design on Conversion Rates?

Of the many considerations to make when starting an online business, website design needs to be at the top of your list. Whether you create a site yourself using a CMS or eCommerce platform, or you hire a development company to do the work for you, the design of your site has a direct influence on conversion.

HubSpot compiled 17 statistics that prove the correlation between good design and happy website visitors; among these is the fact that 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content and layout are not attractive. So, use these hacks to make sure you’re at the top of your game and see a boost in your online conversions.

Hack #1: Include All Relevant Information (in an Aesthetically Appealing Way)

Whether you’re running an online store, an SaaS website, or simply an online brochure for your brick and mortar business, use psychology on your website visitors. One of the quickest ways to send people away from you site is by not including all of the necessary information to make a purchase decision.

For example, if you don’t include your pricing, users are likely to move on to your competitor’s website rather than call you to inquire. So, include everything a potential customer or client needs to know and integrate this into your design in an aesthetically appealing way.

If you run an online store, an inventory management app can help you keep track of whether a product is in stock, how much it costs including shipping, what other buyers are saying about it, and deliver this information to your website visitors in real-time. Keep your brand consistent. When people know more, they are in control of their experience and more likely to convert.

Hack #2: Assume That All Viewers Access Your Site from Mobile and PC Browsers

You may be living in the dark ages if you aren’t using a responsive website theme. Still, you’d be surprised how many big brand websites are optimized for either mobile or PC browsing, ignoring the omnichannel reality of their viewers. This can be a slippery slope.

Of course, you need to integrate best practices for your mobile site design, but keep in mind that many people will still view your pages from desktop browsers, especially when shopping. So, test your pages from all devices before publishing live changes; this is sure to keep visitors on your pages longer, no matter where they view them from.

Hack #3: Integrate Social Media Into Your Design Strategy

Mastery of social media is your secret weapon for online success. You should align your design strategy with best practices and leverage social media to increase website conversion rates. Not only should you add your social profiles to the header and footer of your pages – instead, squeeze every drop of value you can from Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and more by integrating social elements into your website design.

• Create a branding strategy and keep your voice and design consistent.
• Use social media images to help your content go viral.
• Leverage social analytics to discover your best converting demographics.
• Implement social login to see more site registration.
• Generate and collect user-generated content (UGC) for your brand.
• Use your social presence to build trust through “social proof” (embedded posts, etc.).

Note: Most companies rebrand every 18 months to two years. If you’re ready to launch now, there’s no need to wait. If you don’t have a logo yet, you can use a free logo maker and create a placeholder until you’re ready to hire a designer.

Final Thoughts

Mastery over design is more than just taking shortcuts to boost your sales. Yet, the tips above will provide you with the boost you need to take your brand to the next level. What are some other easy design tips you’ve used to increase conversions? Please share them in the comments.

Author Bio:

Ashley Kimler is the Content Director at Heroic Search in Tulsa. She’s been working in the content marketing industry for over a decade. Follow @ashleykimler and @heroicsearch on Twitter to see what she and her team share next.