Throughout the month of October we delved into the topic of online conversion. We reviewed proven online conversion tips, talked about AOL’s bold new ‘Project Devil’, which basically aims to revolutionize the way we interact with web pages in an attempt to boost advertising effectiveness/conversion, as well as went through both the design and content strategy behind the creation of high performing landing pages. While we have covered a lot of information, there are a couple of key insights to take away from it all.
1. Above all else, the most important first step in any attempt to increase web page conversion is having a user friendly site. The goals you have for users once they enter your site should be clear, and you need to make it as easy as possible for them to accomplish these goals once they arrive. If a site visitor is unable or unwilling to follow the current path to conversion, you will have very little success.
2. Instilling confidence in the consumer is a must. If you’re attempting to sell a product or other offering, site visitors will not only have to trust that it is of high quality, but will also have to trust the source, which includes the security measures in place to protect sensitive customer data, specifically credit card information. If a user doesn’t have trust in your site, whether it be your product or the checkout procedure, a conversion isn’t likely.
3. The language used and arrangement of design elements, while not always noticeable, play a key role in conversion. Oftentimes even small tweaks to certain verbs and adjectives, or the decision to add or remove a word in a sentence can be the difference between hitting and missing on a conversion. The same can be said about the colors used or placement of badges, images and forms on web pages, which is why testing and analytics have become so important. The ability to track the success and failure of elements on a web page is one of the great benefits of working online.