Alexandra Titova
/ 5th August, 2016

How to Improve Your Website for Lead Generation: Web Design Tips for Great User Experiences

Lead generation: Why user experience is crucial?

Just imagine your product, what it looks like, what it’s used for. Let’s look a bit further down the road. Your company’s lead generation system can potentially attract many customers.

For you, hitting the ground running with your product is exactly what you want. The hope and the inspiration that you get from the prospect of a growing company are great. More work lies ahead, but those sleepless nights and long and difficult meetings about your website or app are now starting to pay off.

Now imagine the next step. Your product is just starting to get off the ground and your website begins gaining traction. Your website, a product that someone is looking for, catches their attention and they click on it.

What they see is, of course, a website, buttons, menus, texts, ads, etc. What is really going on here? What sort of impressions and emotions does your website evoke from the user? Is the website user-friendly and are they able to quickly find what they needed? This is what is called User Experience. Have you ever wondered how the design of a website influences online lead generation? Believe it or not, every little detail matters.

Read also: How to Optimise Your Website Performance: Ultimate Guide

 

Website lead generation best practices

The questions you should ask yourself are:

Here at Eastern Peak Software we have compiled a list of web design tips, based on our experience. They have significantly improved a number of our projects and can also enhance the user experience of yours.

Read also: How to create an online marketplace MVP?

Lead generation website design

The first thing that may come to your mind when you hear these two words, “web design” is creating an attractive visual appearance. Since the dawn of mankind, images have possessed an incredible power. Drawings on cave walls, brilliant Renaissance paintings, educational pictures for kids, etc. As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. An image for one thing, is meant to create some sort of impression on the viewer, and for another, to attract attention to the author of the image.

Read also: Why Ruby On Rails is a perfect choice for your next web app?

So, what does lead generation website design entail?

It is a well-known fact that it is easier and faster for the human mind to perceive images than plain text. This understanding is used by marketers and designers as a tool in lead generation and thus lead conversion.

The second important thing in your website’s lead generation system is specifying how you approach your users. Pay attention to their needs and preferences and engage them with your content. For example, ratings and surveys are great ways for your customers to not only to express their opinion, but it also engages them in your business.

Push notifications and popups can significantly increase user engagement when used correctly. Be careful because overusing them can cause the exact opposite effect.

Here are some tips for improving your website:

  1. Content arrangementWhat are the most common mistakes?
    • Putting too much text on a single page. This is a huge mistake because users will not have time, nor are they interested in reading all of it. According to researchers, you have only about 3-8 seconds to catch the user’s attention, not much more.
    • Giving plain text. It is vital to mix your text with images, otherwise it will be dull and boring and your customers will forget it after reading it. Or simply not read it at all.
    • Placing the core ideas at the end. Users usually see the top of the page first, so they need to see something that is worth looking at. This is quite obvious, but when there is nothing that captures their attention, they will not scroll down and continue reading the part of your web page that contains the core ideas.
    • The content is irrelevant. Well, this is not only annoying, but it betrays your users, leading them in the wrong direction. They are trying to find something in particular, and a search result that leads down the wrong path is a waste of time for them.
  2. UsabilityThis requires attention to detail. Increasing your lead conversion and decreasing your drop-out rate is the goal:
      • Work on your loading time. The secret here lies not in the very number of seconds, but in the user’s perception of the passage of time. Use little tricks to your advantage. If your site’s visitor sees that there is some progress, he’ll most likely stay. Bear in mind that the majority of users leave your page because of your loading behavior.

     

    • Key messages must be loaded first, in order to more effectively market your website and to capture the attention of your main target audience.
    • Customers should know where to find what they need. Do not force them to irrelevant places on your website. They will leave you for something more solid and usual.
    • Make a preference of scrolling over swiping and single clicks over double clicks. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.It also means scrolling only in a vertical direction. If a customer has to scroll horizontally, they will most likely get annoyed and leave your website.
  3. Mobile version:Improving your website for lead generation also means creating a mobile version. 

    • Cross-device and cross-browser compatibility. Larger fonts, larger buttons and the distance between them (minimum mobile button size – 1cm x 1 cm), has to be usable. If it is a tablet, provide the possibility to use both hands.
    • Put the most urgent information to the front including; events, location, contacts, prices etc. Your users typically decide on which gadget to use based on the particular situation that they are in. They will change their minds if they can’t achieve those purposes in a relatively short span of time.
    • Use push notifications when appropriate.

  4. The functional elementsEvery instrument you use to actually communicate with your visitors has to be chosen scrupulously.

    Buttons, links, and menus – You should spend some time on these in order to enhance user experience and improve your website:

      • The buttons and Call to Actions have to be visible and clickable/tappable. Needless to say, they have to look like buttons, with different colors from a general website background. The idea should be covered in 1-3 words, and should present a clear and obvious direction.

      • The links have to be distinguishable from the main text, preferably underlined and blue. You can apply another solution, but never use the same style for other elements in the text. They also have to lead where they promise to lead. Avoid dead-ends. A nice idea is to use a different color for the links which they have already visited. It will economize your users’ memory space. They’ll appreciate this, whether they are aware of it or not.

      • Navigation has to be plain and simple, not more than 3-4 levels. Breadcrumbs can come in handy here.

      • Write useful error messages. Yes, it can happen, that not everything functions properly, but your error messages can become a solace when it happens. They can explain the situation, guide your users back to where they want to be or encourage them to report the error so that it will be solved as soon as possible.

      • The search field is something big websites cannot do without. For the users’ convenience, put it in the usual place, top right corner of your page. Restrain your creativity here and stick to the main principle, which is to make it look like a text field. It is international and apparent. The perfect size is when the whole user query fits, but not too long that it occupies space that can be used for other important tabs.

      • Avoid annoying elements. No sticky menus. They distract, irritate and rebuff. No carousels either. They have proven to be inefficient. Only 1% of users really take advantage of them. Even hamburger menus cannot be suitable for every case. Sometimes they go unnoticed, which is exactly what you don’t want.The most popular way is through a Drop Down menu.

     

  5. Read also: Mobile app design: from blueprint to masterpiece

     

  6. The color theoryDid you know that according to the survey called “Impact of Color in Marketing”, 90% of Internet user are capable of leaving the page if they do not like the colors, or how they match the product? From this perspective, it seems like something worth looking into.Colors can truly influence our mood, evoke certain emotions and encourage us to take certain actions. The combinations of colors and shades of colors can convey messages, and can be a more powerful Call to Action tool than the one expressed in the text.

    Let’s use psychological achievements to improve your website for lead generation.

    What are the main associations people usually have with certain colors?

    • Red is the color of passion and love. Also it is used as a warning about danger and to symbolize anger and tension. It is a warm color, even a “hot” color, so be careful with overusing it. Better use it for contrasts and highlights.
    • Orange is considered to be the color of health and prosperity. It is a warm and flavorful color. If your brand symbolizes energy and life, then choose it for the web design.
    • Yellow – the sun color. It is a color of energy and it can even make a person feel more energetic. It can revive the strength of an individual, raise their spirit, and boost their confidence. It is should be noted here that in some cultures it symbolizes death and mourning.
    • Blue a is calming color. According to some researches, it is the color of professionalism. That is why so many companies choose different shades of blue to represent them. Especially in combination with white.
    • Green usually reminds people about nature, the environment, energy and growth. It triggers feelings of safety, harmony and freshness. It also is associated with money, which in turn has a secondary association such as success with work and finances.
    • Purple has always been associated with mysteries and mystics, as well as creativity and royalty in many cases, as only kings were allowed to wear it.

    Neutral colors are used for backgrounds, though they too still convey meanings.

    • White means clarity and purity
    • Black is the color of death and sadness, but also elegance (like a little black dress)

Use caution when trying to master the art of color communication. Remember, that although there are general patterns, each person may have his/her own perception. In addition, there are people who do not distinguish colors at all. Every culture has a different reaction to certain colors, thus leaving a certain imprint on each color choice. So the advice that we would like to offer next is logical…

The individual approach for better lead generation.

At Eastern Peak Software we know exactly what users are dealing with and how to make UX work for your advantage. There is no second chance to make a first impression, right? You are welcome to check our other articles on design or turn to our specialists with any questions you may have.

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