In a recent interview on Search Engine Journal, online marketing expert Ben Hunt shared his thoughts on how web design should work to increase conversion rates. A long-time advocate of combining SEO with Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Hunt focused on how web designers can often miss the mark when it comes to creating websites that result in compelling visitors to act on a consistent basis.

Some of his most important points include:

  • Designing the packaging instead of the content.

What looks nice on the surface may not be compelling enough to cause people to call your business. A site can be slick but still not interesting to a potential client simply looking for the right hook to get them to make that call or send that e-mail.

  • Underestimating the importance of great writing.

Content is not just important for SEO purposes. At the end of the day, it’s how users get engaged by a site and feel confident in contacting a business. It doesn’t take a lot of writing, but it does take concise, smart text to make the difference.

  • Not realizing that web design is marketing, and that it can – and should – prove its worth, numerically.

Everything online can be tested and measured. Web design should be thought of as an ongoing experiment that is to be constantly fine-tuned in response to real data. Its goal shouldn’t be to just look nice, it should be to convert traffic and grow your brand.

  • Designing for your own sensibilities, instead of the true target market.

Don’t fall into the trap of making something that looks good to you. Study your target audience and keep them in mind at all times.

  • Failing to provide compelling calls to action

This is the central aspect of any page designed to convert. Lacking this dooms your site to failure from a business perspective.

The Blue Hat team’s professional web designers, developers and copywriters are united in the pursuit of the same goal: designing websites that generate traffic and convert visitors into sales. This is always backed by our pledge to constantly monitor and test the performance of our creations, refining the process into an efficient lead generating machine for your business.