Design is not just about making something look good, especially when it comes to products, apps, and websites. It’s also about helping users find what they need and quickly get the most value out of the product. In the case of websites and mobile applications, it can play a big role in generating revenue for business owners.

Let’s have a look at how design can improve conversions as well as ten tips to step up your website. 

The role of design in improving website lead conversion

There are generally two ways in which design can improve conversions on a website. 

1. Through the overall website design

When visitors see your website for the first time, the overall design gives them the first impression. It tells them what you’re offering and it inspires a level of trust in the website. While people are more open to online purchases, there are still many scams and fraudulent websites and a bad design can drive away users quickly. 

If a website has a cluttered appearance or shows a ton of popups when you open it, it may irritate visitors and they’ll leave. 

2. Through specific design elements. 

Besides the overall website design, specific design elements can also improve conversions. 

For instance, you may have noticed that for many SaaS websites, the pricing page often shows three options or three tiers (excluding the free version, if it exists). The first option would be super cheap, but won’t have a lot of benefits. The third option will be super expensive and will offer a ton of benefits. The second option will be affordable and offers almost all the benefits of the top tier. 

This is the Goldilocks Effect in pricing. The goal is to get people to buy the second tier. However, by offering three options and adjusting the pricing and benefits, designers make the second option more enticing. 

Similarly, the way products are presented in an e-commerce store, the number of steps to checkout, and even the color choices can impact conversion rates. 

In another less-than-ethical instance, we have dark patterns that somewhat force customers to make choices they otherwise won’t. For instance, a website offering subscriptions may make it super easy to sign up but may require users to send in a letter by carrier pigeon to the company headquarters to cancel the same subscription. 

Dark patterns are just one example of how design can control user behavior. We don’t encourage it nor do we follow it. In the long run, dark patterns will negatively affect customer trust in your brand. 

10 Design Tips to Increase Lead Conversions on your Website

1. Minimize the number of clicks

Reduce the number of clicks it takes your users to do what you want them to do. Want them to try out your solution? Don’t force them to sign up first. Want more customers to sign up for your newsletter? Don’t ask for too many details when they sign up. Want more people to make an account? Enable Google/Apple/Facebook sign up, instead of asking for them to verify their emails. 

Keep the number of clicks and effort to a minimum for activities you want your customers to do. 

2. Use clear language throughout. 

There are two aspects you need to take care of here. 

Firstly, if most of the visitors haven’t heard of your brand, avoid using brand-specific names for simple tasks. For example, imagine an e-commerce brand with the name ‘CashIn.’ It might be tempting to use ‘CashOut’ with your brand’s logo instead of the term ‘CheckIn.’ But if your customers aren’t aware of your brand, the word may be confusing. 

Secondly, minimize cognitive load for customers. Avoid using icons if their meanings aren’t immediately apparent. Ideally, use labels along with icons. For instance, the menu icon or the settings icon are commonly used and most users know what those mean. But some of the icons used for ‘share,’ ‘download,’ or ‘import’ are often not easy to understand. 

3. Use clear Calls to Action 

Calls To Action or CTAs are words or phrases that invite your visitors to do something. Examples include ‘Start Shopping,’ ‘Make a payment,’ and ‘Sign up now.’

When you’re using CTAs, make sure they’re very clear and indicate the action. 

For instance, instead of saying ‘Join Now,’ try ‘Sign up now.’ We can further improve this by saying ‘Sign up for free’ or ‘Try now for free.’ 

In some cases, we have seen the CTA buried in the website copy and isn’t obvious to the user. For example, a website may have a ‘Contact Us’ link within a paragraph but most visitors don’t see it. With a dedicated CTA button, the problem can be solved.

4. Keep the text short, sweet, and to the point. 

Make your website short and to the point. It’s not necessary to just put out the information, it’s also important that users read it. 

Nobody is going to read a huge wall of text. Break it up, make it short, and use multiple headings. 

At the same time, make sure people quickly understand what you are offering. If visitors are still clueless after going through your entire website, you have a problem.  

5. Use social proof 

Your visitors trust your website and what you’re selling if they can see that others trust you and that they had good experiences with it. That’s where social proof comes in. Social proof is particularly important for budding businesses. 

Collect testimonials and ratings and showcase them on your website. If you’re in B2B, show logos of businesses and companies you work with. When you’re getting testimonials, try to get them in video format so that you can repurpose them for other channels. 

6. Make sure the website is easy to navigate. 

Innovative designs may look good for the CEO and the investors, but users often find them confusing. Users are used to some design trends, like having the close button on the top right corner (sorry, Mac users) or having the menu for a mobile app on the right-hand side. If you are drifting from these, make sure you test them extensively. Put things how and where people expect them to be. 

It’s also important to not crowd the menu with too many items. Use what the user will need, not more, not less. 

7. Make the site mobile-responsive 

Having a website that adapts to different screen sizes is a must-have in 2023. Around half the Americans in between the ages of 30 and 49 use their phones to shop online at least weekly. If your visitors can’t see your website properly on their smartphones, you will lose business. If your website isn’t mobile-responsive, this can impact your page ranking on Google. 

8. Make sure you are using the right hierarchy of information on the site. 

Present the information in the order you want them to see. There are different ways to do it. For example, users tend to look at large writing before looking at small ones. If you put someone’s picture and they’re looking at a part of your website, your user will also look there first. 

There are also many questions you have to answer when you decide on the information hierarchy. For what purpose do most of your visitors come to your site? What do you want your visitors to do? What do you want them to see? 

There’s a reason why the ‘Sign Up’ buttons are highlighted with bright colors while terms and conditions are written in small font. 

9. For eCommerce sites: make the shopping experience as clean and painless as possible. 

If you have a ton of products on your website, you can’t expect your users to go through all of them to find the specific product. Ensure users can quickly find what they want, through a search option, with filters, and different options for sorting them out. 

If you’re a B2B business and have a large collection of products, users might find it useful to search with a serial number. Many e-commerce sites are also experimenting with image search options. 

10. Make sure that the fonts and type are readable 

Users should be able to read everything on your website without straining their eyes. Low-contrast images and small font sizes can also make your website less accessible. Before launching your website, test with a couple of users to make sure everything is readable. You can also use free online tools like contrast and accessibility checkers. 

Bonus tip: Use high-quality, relevant images 

Invest in product photography and use high-quality images that show your product in action. It will make your offerings more attractive and your business more pleasant to interact with.