What Really Makes a Difference in Web Design
Visual design can - and often does - make a difference, but it's often not the most important factor.
The most effective newspaper ads, direct mail letters, advertisements etc. aren't necessarily the cutest. Often, it's the plain, brash, annoying, or ugly solution that outperforms the classy, shiny one.
It's all about numbers
Visitors x Conversion = Success
Technique for Increasing Visitors include..
- On-site SEO (Search engine optimisation)
- PPC (Pay per click marketing)
- Link-building
- Great Content (that people want to link to and to share)
- Great Offers
- Social Connectivity (making it easy for people to add your content to social networks)
- Strong Brand (with the promise of a great service)
- Accessibility (ensuring that everyone can access your site, regardless of disability)
- Graphics (minor factor!)
Techniques for Increasing Conversion Rate include..
- Calls to Action (giving people a reason to keep moving through your site)
- Compelling Proposition (that gains my attention, excitement and trust immediately)
- Usability (making it as easy as possible just to keep using the site)
- Appealing Information (drawing the visitor forward, keeping them on the site until they get what they want and deliver what you want)
- Accessible Content (imagery and text that's presented in a way that is quickly getable and easy to consume)
There's very little in that list about making your site look good, although the experience of well-presented, accessible content undoubtedly feels more pleasant.
Attractive "Design" for the sake of itself (i.e. not to draw the visitor to and through content) is actually Art, and the purpose of Art is to inspire, whereas the purpose of Design is to communicate and compel action.
There's No Guarantee that a New Design Will Work
Zero!
Take this logic exercise: You take an old site and redesign it completely. In doing so, you change 50 factors.
Half of those factors are improvements over the previous ones. The other half are unsuccessful, and perform less well than the previous states.
The overall effect of the redesign might then be zero improvement on the old site - and the worst bit is, you don't know which bits were successful, and which were detrimental.
This type of exercise is likely to be no more successful than sacking all the actors from a play and hiring a new lot. It's the same content.
A strong message poorly executed is still better than a poor message skilfully delivered.
A good designer designs your message, not your packaging
The more design goes into the packaging, the more likely it is to detract from the message.
So if your redesign is no more than repackaging,
All design changes are based on guesses. They may be logical, well-argued, educated guesses, but you can't know for sure they'll work.
I'm a professional web designer with 15 years' experience, and the #1 most important thing I've learnt in my career is that I can't say definitively what design will work best for your visitors.
I can, however, say with confidence that investment made in certain key elements will likely produce a positive return.
Summary of Key Elements
- Research - Knowing your audience, their goals & how to reach them
- SEO, including keyword research guiding content architecture
- USP - Unique Selling Point
- CTA - Call to Action
- MVT - Multivariate (or A/B) Testing
- Copy - Great content
If you have a budget and are considering a new web site, ask if you're really asking for your old site in a new box. If so, here are some further questions to help you get a better return on your investment.
A Better Approach to Redesigning
1. Is your site seen?
Do you have a good amount of targeted traffic? If not, pick a term that accurately describes your offering as distinct from competitors. Type it into Google. Are you in the top 10? Or top 20?
If not, stop! Spend money on keyword research and SEO.
2. What's your Goal for the Site?
If you can't express your site's goal in simple, direct language, stop!
Get hold of "Save the Pixel" and work through the chapters on Goals.
3. Who will use your Site, and why?
What do your real visitors want? (Tip: real visitors are the ones who are going to pay your bills.)
If you don't know your audience, stop!
Spend some time reflecting, look at what people are doing on your site, what they're searching for when they come to your site, and take time to look at what's on offer elsewhere on the web.
4. What Commitment do you want from each Visitor?
If you can't answer this immediately and concisely, stop!
You can't craft a message or experience without knowing the end goal.
Figure it out clearly. What's the action you want to see? How are you going to make it attractive for people to do? Is the goal realistic?
Write down who you want to visit your site, what they're looking for when they arrive, what their goals and motivation are, and what's likely to influence them to proceed.
What kind of conversation will build trust and encourage them to take each next step?
5. Give this Information to a Great Web Designer
Hint: A great web designer is one who asks for this information before they design.
Alternatively, hire a great Copywriter, and craft a simple flow from entry to goal.
Also make sure this flow fits your SEO model.
7. Implement the Conversation Using the Right Assets
The right assets are the messages, words, phrases, images, and branding that will make your site instantly getable.
Make sure you have calls to action in the right places, and enough compelling content to persuade people to keep moving forwards.
8. Monitor, Test & Measure
Set up analytics, learn to interpret visitor behaviour from the stats, and check them at least weekly.
Continually test design variations of all your important content (text & imagery), to improve your site's conversion performance.
