Almost
any website can make it to the top of search engines
through strategies like search engine optimization
(SEO) and pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. But how
well do those sites convert visitors to leads and
customers? I'm sure you have clicked on a ad or link
from search engines and landed on a page that you
couldn't click off fast enough. The landing page may
have been stuffed with content and links containing
keywords but there was nothing to draw you in, respond
to your needs and give you any reason to subscribe
to a list or explore more of the website or blog.
This
article will focus on three powerful web design elements
that are critical for capturing your market and holding
their attention. Specifically you will learn about
creating an emotional response from artwork, effective
layout, and content and components that are essential
for lead generation and sales conversions. Not only
will these web design strategies help you to build
a loyal list of leads and customers, they will encourage
your market to virally spread your information to
people in their lists. So let's get started!
Web
Design Element #1: Generating an Emotional Response
Through Your Artwork
The
design of your overall website and each individual
landing page must be aesthetically pleasing, relevant
and immediately create an emotional response in your
ideal customer. The emotional component is one of
the most important to convey. It is a known fact that
people buy because of emotion and not because something
that makes sense. Buyers can and will justify almost
any decision if they are excited about the product
or service they are purchasing. Winning ingredients
for effective lead generation and sales conversions
includes design with emotion-stirring graphics combined
with benefit-rich copy that answers objections and
presents a low-risk offer. Before you can decide on
the graphics that convey the emotional response you
wish to communicate, your first step is to define
your ideal customer and identify what is important
to them. Put yourself in their shoes and feel what
they feel. Think thoughts that they think. Carefully
define their emotions that are likely to motivate
them to buy from you.
Let's
take an example. Perhaps you are a merchant selling
automobiles. Whether online or in a magazine ad, you
are going to be more effective if you zone in on a
particular automobile for a particular market. Some
of your customers may be interested in a family vehicle
while others may be looking for a sporty luxury car.
It is vital to carefully define your ideal customer
for each product you sell. Then identify the emotions
that are likely to captivate this particular market.
Some possible emotions include happiness, security,
excitement, adventure or family protection and closeness.
If you are selling a sports car to middle age single
men or empty nesters, make your sports car landing
page communicate all the things important to this
market. This may include spontaneity, fun, luxury
and adventure. These people are less likely to be
motivated by security, economy and family values.
Artwork
for Lead Generation, Sales Conversions and Sharing
Carefully
select artwork for the main design that is a metaphor
for your selling message. Since this web design element
is seen on every page, make sure it resonates with
your ideal customer and captures his or her emotional
response. Additional artwork on landing pages is also
important in communicating your message and capturing
your market. Obviously, this is much more important
in websites where pictures are major selling tools
for the products or services. Quality artwork will
be particularly important for the sale of jewelry,
artwork, crafts, home building and services such as
aesthetics and plastic surgery for instance. Make
sure your pictures clearly show your products or services.
If detail is important, offer an enlarged view. Proper
editing assures that pictures are crisp and clear
with good lighting and are cropped to avoid unnecessary
background distractions. If your visitor gets excited
by what they see and experience, they are much more
likely to buy from you and pass your information along
to others. This is where your results can significantly
improve your bottom line!
Web
Design Element #2: Website Layout That Effectively
Leads and Closes the Sale
Have
you ever gone to a website and gotten lost in the
navigation. Maybe the content didn't match the link
names or there were so many links that the focus of
the site was difficult to determine. Perhaps you had
to click your back button to return to a particular
page. Diligently planning your design will help you
to avoid these issues and communicate your message
in the best possible way. Effective website layout
is essential for lead generation, sales conversions
and creating a viral marketing response.
Effective
Website Layout Keeps Visitors Engaged in Your Message
When
people cannot easily find what they are promised and
looking for, they quickly move on to other websites.
This can be avoided through proper planning that assures
the visitor ready access to the content they seek
and makes it easy for them to join a list and/or become
a customer.
Organization
and Website Links Enhance the Visitor's Experience
Give
careful consideration to the organization of your
content and your main navigation links. Naming your
links with keywords that are descriptive of content
in that section will help your visitor to find important
content. If you have a great deal of information related
to one topic, consider creating a main category link
with a sub-menu of related links available from every
page within that category. Think about your primary
objectives when deciding on links to include in your
main menu. For example, if your goals are to sell
books, offer consulting and sell a couple of services,
you might include each of these as a main navigation
link. If you offer multiple services however, you
might include a single link to your services from
your main menu and a descriptive sub-menu link to
each service within that category. Also part of your
main navigation should be links that provide credibility,
education, and information that provide support, answer
objections and close sales. All main navigation links
should appear on the top or side menu bar and in the
footer navigation. It is common to include additional
and less important links in the footer as well. Using
keyword rich text links instead of image links will
allow the search engines to find your content and
drive more of your market to your website or blog.
Whatever
is important for your visitor to know should be included
within your main website design and should be available
on every page. If customer contact is important to
you, make it available from the same place on every
page. This is where a template greatly enhances your
efficiency and effectiveness. When a template is used,
changes made to the template are automatically applied
to all pages assigned to that template.
What
appears above the fold or before your scroll on the
page, is particularly important to capturing and holding
the visitor's attention. Each landing page should
be laid out with this in mind.
Web
Design Element #3: Content and Components for Lead
Generation, Sales Conversions and Viral Sharing
Content
and Components for Optimal Performance of the Website
or Blog:
