What is Conversion Architecture ?

Having a website that looks great is all very well, but if it doesn’t convert visitors to your website into prospects for your business, or in the case of an ecommerce website, a new customer then it doesn’t really matter how pretty it looks.

This is where conversion architecture comes in, this is basically the art of getting people to do what you want when they visit your website. These things are known as call to actions and can include anything from filling in a form, picking up the phone and calling, through to making an online purchase.

The best way to think about it is to compare it to a shop in the real sense. So a retailer spends a lot of time and effort working out the best layout to have in their shop. Where certain products should be to optimise sales and also to sell more of those products with the best margins. They tempt us with BOGOF offers which often still end up more expensive than non branded items, or end up being purchases that you didn’t plan to make.

Well the same should be true of your website. Think of conversion architecture in terms of a framework, one that sets out the form and function of the site, its look and feel and overall content. Each and every person that comes to your site does so with a specific purpose in mind. You need to make sure that as soon as they get there it is plainly clear that they have come to the right place and that you can fulfil a need that they have.

It should be blatantly obvious to someone where they need to go next on the website through ease of navigation and really strong call to actions, don’t distract people with anything that takes them away from their purpose, things like flash which used to be popular, basically to show how great a web developer you were have died a death purely because they create this kind of distraction.

Here are some points for you to consider for your own website:

• Try and understand the different reasons why someone would come to your website, what are they looking for, what is their need?
• Make it as easy as possible for someone to navigate from page to page
• Ensure you have enough information about each of your products/services
• Make sure you write for the reader rather than just tell them what you want to say
• Think about where your call to actions need to be on each page
• How easy is it to find out how to contact you?
• How well do you use images and video?

These are just handful of some of the most important aspects of conversion architecture and as internet marketing consultants something that we are pretty knowledgeable about (if I do say so myself). If you want to find out more about how you should be structuring your website and how to make the most of every visitor the give us a call on 01279 647003 or email us directly