Design Amazing Webpages

I know that when I browse online I’m looking for things that peak my interest. I want to be entertained and delighted its not a big ask but it is my browsing habit that I understand. I want to see interesting and informative websites serve me helpful content and unique images that are not blurry.

Now as a marketer I know most of my webpages I work on Im either selling a product or a service or influencing a visitor to take an action that will lead to that next step being a transaction or enquiry to something that makes money. This is unavoidable as a online marketer we have to be making ourselves or someone else money to be employed. 


The Key Elements of A High Converting Webpage Are:
1 Focus header with crisp clear hero image and CTA
2 Uncluttered page layout using 3-5 main elements

3 Clear calls to action per page 
4 Clear micro conversion points per row
5 Content that helps move the user into the conversion phase
6 Images that help inform the user that your product/service works
7 The Story carries throughout the webpage

Lets expand on each point listed here so you get a clear understanding of how important each one is and the best use case for them on your money webpages.


Number 1 Focus Header & Hero Image Explained:
When you first land on a webpage you land on the header and are usually greeted by a hero image or banner that should instantly confirm the reason you clicked through to this page is what this page is about.

User flow example.
You searched for “Website chat bots” and the first results claims that its all about website chat bots this meets your first needs.
You click through to the website and you should be greeted by an image and messaging that confirms that this webpage serves website chat bots as its primary focus. If you were greeted by a picture of a gym shoe you would be wondering WTF does that have to do with fixing my problem with my website live chat feature.

Number 2 How Uncluttered Webpage Layouts Matter:
I learnt a lot of webpage layouts working in ecommerce, my sole goal 90% of the time is to get the user to land on the webpage and read just enough to know that the product we have on the page is right for them. The next logical step is to make buying that product as easy as can be usually a 2 click process.

Most of the time I would suggest product images to the left and the key notes, features and pricing immediately on the right with a ADD TO CART or BUY NOW button directly under the key description points. This converts very well and if you look at ecommerce stores now almost 99% of them do this layout as a standard because it works.

You do not want to clutter that flow in any way, your other content needs to go below the product. Every bit of content even the SEO juice content and reviews get pushed down the page to keep that transactional flow first and foremost. No distractions no clutter.


Number 3 Expanding on Clear Calls to Action:

The number one hook point you have on your webpages are the Calls to Action or in short CTA. These are what make people take action and when you find the winning formula for your webpage you will notice an increase in leads & conversions. 

Number 4 Can You Include Micro Conversions In Your Webpage?
Yes you can once that number 1 priority goal has been established. You never want to confuse people with too many options and want to keep the overarching goal to be 1 page 1 goal. There are however micro conversions you can include per webpage row.

A row on your webpage if you think of your webpages like excel spreadsheets, you have rows going across the spreadsheet and columns running down the spreadsheet and they work together to help align data into easy to read sections. Your webpages are based from this type of organisational design using rows and columns to build the page.

You may have also guessed at this point that I’m a huge nerd and you are 100% correct I love this stuff.

Now back to the spreadsheets example, taking my webpage here I am using a x1  column downward layout with a x4 row across layout. Within each one of the four rows I can add small micro goals to influence the bigger goal we have of the page. 

Number 5 Why Your Content Matters 
Content used on your webpage helps to build the story behind the product or the service.

Number 6 How Images Help Influence Action
Nothing speaks as loudly to your website visitors as images. Use the wrong image and you will see a high bounce rates in your analytics, but use an image people connect with and you will see people stay on the webpage and engage more with the page because they feel this page connects with them and what they are looking for.

Number 7 Are You Telling Your Story Throughout the Webpage?
Good marketing is really just clever storytelling if we were to break it down to the nuts and bolts of it.


Conclusion
If you want to take this serious you need a basic understanding of design vs function. I cant count on one hand the number of arguments Ive had with UX designers because of conversion impact issues by design getting in the way. Funny that a UX designer could block transactions but it happens when you don’t understand the full spectrum of the sales funnel.

Keep the webpage you care about to a 1 page 1 goal limit and you will start to get a feel for what works for various things you sell. Don’t rush into things always test and measure to understand how behaviour and patterns work towards the transaction flow of your webpages. Keep it super simple until you know you have it under control.
Thanks for reading and put what you read into practice.