Web Design 101: Increasing Conversions

We’ve talked about how important web design is in past articles. We’ve covered the basics of responsive design, understanding how to attract consumer interest without overwhelming them with clutter and information, and how important it is to make sure your site is easy to navigate. All that stuff is critical for luring your prospective customers in and building their trust, but what about sealing the deal? 

Web design is just as critically important when it comes to lead capture forms and CTAs as it is for the remainder of your website. Because it’s so essential, we’re dedicating this entire post to highlighting some key design principles that can give your lead forms and CTAs the makeover they need to increase your conversion rates.

Persuasive Design for Lead Capture Forms

Lead capture forms are an excellent way to build up strong sales leads and keep your business booming. When a consumer makes the decision to fill out your form and submit their contact information, it means that they’ve taken an interest in your brand and are eager to learn more. From here, sales conversions are like a hot knife in butter. But, how do you inspire your page’s casual visitors to take that step? Here are a few pro design tips and principles:

Use Encapsulation 

Once a customer arrives on your landing page, you want them to be focused on one thing and one thing only: submitting a completed lead capture form. To do this, you need to use encapsulation techniques. Encapsulation is essentially the usage of a container to highlight what’s inside. In laymen’s terms, it’s creating a sort of “tunnel vision effect” for your readers. Framing your lead capture form with dynamic shapes will help to constrain your reader’s point of interest.

Play with Color and Contrast 

Obviously, you don’t want to go too wild and crazy with colors, lest you blind your readers and make it impossible for them to read and decipher what it is that you want them to do. Even so, you want to use color and contrast to make it clear that your lead capture form is different and special from other text on your webpage, thus enticing them to follow through.

Try Directional Cues

Consumers like to be told what to to, and to know what step to take next. Try guiding the reader with lines, arrows, or patterns as they move through the lead capture form, or to highlight the most important aspects of the form.

Persuasive Design for Calls to Action

Okay, so how do you get prospects to arrive at your lead capture form? Of all of the other text on your website (excluding the headline), the CTA is the most important. This is what will inspire your readers to move forward in the process of learning more about your business, and will increase the odds of a lead conversion. Here are a few principles for success:

Embrace Whitespace 

What you want is for your CTA to really “pop” or stand out from the rest of your webpage. Not only will this make it more visually appealing, but it will also become more obvious in its intent. A consumer who intentionally clicks on a CTA is more likely to follow through than someone who was “tricked” into arriving on your landing page. Always be sure to give your call-to-action some room to breathe on its own.

Be To-the-Point 

A long and flowery CTA will quickly bore your readers. No one wants to be forced to read a novel in order to find out what’s in it for them and what they have to do to get it. Short, to-the-point copy that is clear about exactly what will happen once the reader clicks on the CTA is much more aesthetically pleasing and directional.

Need some help giving your lead capture forms and CTAs a much-needed facelift? The professionals at Madison Taylor Marketing are happy to help. Give us a call to get started.