Your website design has a significant impact on your visitors’ buying decision and perception of your brand. Just check out these statistics:

 

 

 

When people first visit your website, most likely, they are not ready to purchase from you. They’re still checking out other options and comparing your business to your competitors. At this stage, it’s important to stand out against the competition, and it all starts in your web design.

 

Take a look at these 10 smart but simple web design tricks that will help increase web traffic, interaction, engagement, and ultimately, sales.

 

1. Simple navigation

 

Today’s viewers have a very short attention span. Thus, you need to incorporate a strategic browsing strategy on your website. The best way is to make your site simple and easy to use. Put the most important information in prominent and conspicuous places that your viewers will most likely see.

 

Avoid forcing viewers to scroll down or click through several pages just so they can find what they want. Make navigation simple and intuitive so that viewers can easily find the information they are looking for.

 

2. Headlines

Headlines are some of the first things that viewers notice when they visit your site. Not only do they separate blocks of content into manageable sections, but they also tell viewers what that section is all about at a glance.

 

Make your headlines short, interesting, and straight to the point. It should directly address any concerns that your potential may have. Here’s a great link about how to write enticing headlines that can help convert site visits to sales.

 

3. Videos

Videos are undoubtedly one of the best ways to keep viewers on your website. They are more interesting than mere blocks of text or photos and allow you to convey information in an engaging way.

 

It has been proven that videos can increase sales to as much as 144%.

 

You can use videos to demo your products, explain your service, or just simply give an overview of your entire company and culture. Videos can also be used to encourage clients to buy your product/service through client testimonials.

 

4. Short forms

 

Have you ever tried filling up a long online form just to register or buy something? Frustrating, isn’t it? You’ll probably end up leaving the site and take your business elsewhere, right?

 

You’re not alone. Prospects hate filling out their street addresses, names of the cities, states, pet’s names, and 10 other pieces of information just to take advantage of the special deal or freebie.

 

If you need the viewer to fill out the form, keep it short and sweet. A first and last name and an email address would do just fine. Get other information from these leads as you build a relationship with them, and they begin to trust your business and brand.

 

5. Colored or animated call to action buttons

The call-to-action buttons on your website must be highly visible. After all, it’s your “invitation card” for the viewer to do something. There have been studies done that show specific colors drive certain responses and reactions. For example, Ript Apparel splashed their Add to Cart buttons in orange, increasing conversions by 6.3 percent. Check out our article about how color affects buyers' and viewers' emotions.

 

You can use this tactic to help increase the number of conversions you are getting from your website. For example, if you’re targeting men, choose green, blue, and black. If your target audience is women, choose purple, blue, and green for your CTAs.

 

6. Trust symbols

With all the scams and fake content circulating the Internet, it is important to build genuine trust between you and your customers. You can do this by showing trust symbols on your website. Examples are badges from Yelp, Paypal’s certification logo, high BBB ratings, security seals, certifications, and other industry-related symbols. You can also post testimonials from satisfied customers.

 

In addition, you can include logos from trusted companies that you have done business with in the past. Those are excellent indicators that your business is well respected and trusted by others in your industry.

 

You need to ensure that your potential buyer feels he or she can trust you and that you can provide a great experience for a client. These trust symbols help you do just that.

 

7. Chat feature

 

When people want to inquire about your products or raise a concern, they want a real person to talk with them---ASAP! They don’t want to wait for a reply after you fill out their Contact Us form or browse endlessly through an FAQ page. This is a support chat feature can come in very handy!

 

Having a chat feature can increase trust. Viewers know that you are willing to help them right then and there.

 

8. Freebies

Nothing gets someone’s attention quite like the word “free.” Freebies---items, services, and even discounts---are surely inviting, and rarely a viewer would refuse a product or service with “free” attached to it.

 

Try to create promotions such as freebies, discounts, and rewards. Make sure the word “free” is visible, vivid, and bold. Check out our Tip number 5 about the call to action buttons; you can apply these tips to your freebies and giveaways.

 

9. Social media buttons

 

Social media platforms are the perfect channels to increase visibility, promote your brand, and interact with your market. Even if your website has great SEO, social media can give your business a much-appreciated SEO boost.

 

Invite people to visit your social media accounts by adding visible social media buttons on your website. As a rule of thumb, you should have these icons at least on your home page and each blog post you publish.

 

10. White space

Have you ever visited a website where every free pixel of the page is crammed with photos, words, graphics, videos, and links? It’s incredibly confusing to navigate and hard on the eyes.

 

Simplicity often works wonders. Avoid cluttering your web page by limiting elements to only the most important and significant ones. Do not load up your pages with pictures, videos, and text in every available space. Leave some blank space so your viewer’s eyes can easily navigate from one section to the next.

 

Think that implementing all these cool web design techniques is too much for you to handle? Don’t worry! FolioWebsites is here to help! With 24 hour support and a full team of skillful web designers, your website will no longer be a burden to your business. Instead, let us focus on your web presence while you focus on satisfying your clients.