Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [115]
If a visitor cannot find the conversion point on your website or the next step in the process, the problem is yours, not theirs. If your website needs a manual in order to understand the process, then you have a bad website. Steven Krug’s wonderful book Don’t Make Me Think (New Riders Press, 2005) was aptly named, because visitors need to have the call to action in front if their eyes and in their field of view; otherwise, once they stop to think about what to do and how to do it, chances are that you have lost them.
Using a website is almost a stream-of-consciousness activity. The user has a goal, and once that goal is in sight, they will continue to take the actions necessary. Once that goal becomes cloudy or out of sight, the entire process comes to a standstill.
Simply having a link or graphic to convert is not enough. It must be a focal point for the visitor.
Visitors have one of three mind-sets:
“Yes! I’m ready to purchase, register, or interact.”
“Maybe. I need more information.”
“Probably not. I haven’t found what I’m looking for.”
Given the low average conversion percentage, it’s vital that you appeal to visitors in all three of these categories. The following sections cover how to cater to each kind of visitor.
“Yes! I’m Ready to Purchase, Register, or Interact”
To cater to visitors who are at your site because they’re ready to make a purchase, you must make that purchase exceedingly simple. Simply put, if there are no options available, none will be taken.
For visitors ready to make the decision, the focal point of the page must be the biggest, boldest, and most obvious graphic on the page. If this is the primary method that you monetize the website and the business, then it shouldn’t be a difficult decision, right?
The primary conversion action that you want visitors to take needs to have a significant visual impact apart from the rest of the content and the rest of the links or graphics on the page; otherwise, it blends in and becomes part of the overall page design. By not distinguishing the call to action, the visitor is not able to easily find the obvious next step. Simply by making this action obvious, you can increase the conversion rate in your website.
This interaction should also lead the decision-making process concerning which calls to action to place on the page and their specific placements. The primary action concerning the content on the page needs to have the biggest visual impact. Smaller actions should not compete with the primary conversion. For instance, I have seen too many websites that have “print page” as the most visual call to action on the page, while the “request information” link is smaller, lower on the page, and less intuitive. Which action makes you the most money and is related to the content on that page? That is the one that needs to be the primary visual focus of the page.
Consider another example of an unclear call to action—Frys.com (see Figure 11-1); the product image and information are at the top of the page, but there is no clear instruction to add the product to the cart. It is not until the visitor scrolls to the bottom of the page (if they scroll down to the bottom of the page) that an “add to cart” button is visible. Even then, it is small and very lonely on the right side of the page, apart from the rest of the content.
A website I always point to as a clear example of making the conversion obvious is Woot.com (see Figure 11-2).
The call to action is a large, gold graphic with the words, “I want one!” A highly unmistakable graphic, it easily communicates to the visitor the purpose of their visit and the next step to take. Your calls to action need to reflect this type of bold intent. It needs to be an easily seen object that allows visitors to make the next step in the process.
a
b
Figure 11-1: Frys.com’s ecommerce call to action
Figure 11-2: Woot.com’s “I want one!” button
“Maybe. I Need More Information”
There may be a sizeable group of visitors