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4 Simple Web Design Techniques for Better Lead Generation

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Roses are FF1919, violets are 1C86EE, Futura is a controversial font choice but Comic Sans is just wrong.

But seriously, why is great web design still such a big deal and how does it translate into better sales results?

Great Design Knows the Visitor Already

Even if you’re a new business you will have some sense of your ideal customer. So make sure you do your research and form an accurate, detailed picture of the customer by answering questions like:

  • What do they do on a typical day?
  • What are their biggest challenges/pain points?
  • What information do they use to make a purchasing decision and how is the decision made?

Knowing your visitor means knowing what to put on the page. If your customer can’t approve the purchase themselves, for example, then you need cater for their information needs and those of the boss.

Great Design Knows a Mix of Content is Best

 

A website needs a compelling proposition, a good story. This very rarely (read almost never) happens via large blocks of text. A website must cater to readers and scanners, but prioritise scanners because they are the large majority of site visitors.

Scanners will pause on page where there is a break in text, this happens with:

●     Links

●     Images

●     Videos

●     Infographic/Stats

●     Downloads

 

  

 

 

confusing floor tiles

 

So if you want them to take away one or two key points, use something other than text to convey that point. Think about what gets people’s attention and weave that into your compelling (product) story.

Great Design Knows That People Do Business with People

 

Seems sensible right? So many websites forget this by:

 

●     Using 100% obvious stock imagery

●     Not having a clear way to contact a real person

  

tree in front of garage door

Everyone on the web has a mobile phone, and all phones have a camera function. Take photos of your team, your work environment, your city, take photos of real things that will connect your customers to you.

There are some amazing news tool out there for automating Q&A, service issues and lead generation but you must still provide an opportunity to talk with a real person.

Prioritise other contact methods on your website if you need to, but make sure they can talk to a real person when they need to. Even just having the option makes converting a visitor into lead more likely.

Great Design Keeps Asking, “So What?”

So now that we’re clear that on your website you need to:

  • Know your ideal customer
  • Use a mix of interactive content to reach them
  • Emphasise connection on a human level

You must still give them a clear reason and a method to take the next step.

 

The all important call to action needs your consideration. They’ve read down the page, maybe they’ve even clicked on a link or two, but they have not moved into the lead category.  

drawer design fail

Compelling (product) stories should lead to good business opportunity and a well-designed website should help you do that.

Right when they are about to ask, “so what?” give them something good in return. Insight they can’t get elsewhere, a stat they’ve never seen before, a report they didn’t have to do themselves.

Avoid Design Fail

Avoiding #designfail with these 4 important techniques is really about applying common sense when designing your website, because lost business is no laughing matter.

Looking for Creativity & Inspiration in One? Try Canva!

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In an ever-changing online world Google and everyone you know is content hungry! And you can’t just share a nice written article anymore; you need to make it beautiful with creative design and imagery.

If it’s that important to Google and your users, shouldn’t there be something that doesn’t require a degree in rocket science to use?

Enter Canva

For those who have never used this kind of thing before, it has its own very simple training modules that you simply click the ‘Design School’ button up the top to find easy, step-by-step instructions.

And if you still need some extra love and care, click on ‘Hint’ at the bottom left of the module to be taken to video that demonstrates exactly what to do. The best part is that each one loads and plays through so quickly so there is no chance to forget what it is you have to do. Once you grasp the simple basics it is very easy to make an amazing infographic, poster or whatever else you need.

One of the best features of the software is the ability to drag and drop to insert your choice of image or text box into your poster or whatever it is you are working on. What’s even cooler, is even if you you have the whole thing finished and you decide you don’t like that background after all, it’s so easy to change!

And maybe the coolest, you can use one of the thousands of free images provided or your own image that you have uploaded. No need to pay loads for istock images or your own photographer!

Melanie Perkins

This software is easy to use because it was designed by a graphic design university teacher for her students who found it difficult to understand other software – like most of us. Melanie Perkins is an inspiration to all of us. From simply wanting to help her students design their university yearbooks more easily, she has become the CEO of one of the fastest growing companies in Australia. Of course, such things don’t happen in a vacuum and she did have help, but she has certainly put in the hard work and the hours to create her dream.

The Canva Story

It took seven years to get her dream up and running and in that time she worked hard and kept her focus on her business plan instead of diverging like many young companies do. It is this single minded focus teamed with patience and care in choosing just the right person for the third helper that has helped to make her company so successful. And now it is up and running, expansion is on the way with Canva for Business almost ready to go.

Inspiration

Learning about what Melanie has done should inspire all those who have a goal of any kind to not be afraid of hard work and long hours if it means success in the end. Her journey also teaches us the importance of having patience and in choosing wise and knowledgeable people to help us along the way.

Freshen Up Your Marketing Mix – Go Offline!

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We were recently invited to an American Chamber of Commerce lunch in Brisbane on behalf of our Adelaide Plains customer Dominic Versace Wines and it was a terrific example of how to efficiently bring your brand to a national audience.

Dominic Versace Wines is in growth mode, appealing to the growing Chinese taste for high quality wine with an excellent, award-winning brand reputation.

Amcham (as the Chamber calls itself) is an extremely well connected group, the room was filled with QLD CEOs and major consulting, banking and law firm representation. Queensland is in growth mode too, trying to appeal to the growing Chinese appetite for authentic tourism experiences.

Having their wine on each table and a great plug by Robyn Houghton from AmCham gave Dominic Versace Wines direct access to people who can help them expand their business and drive some offline relationships online.

We have been eagerly supporting the growth of Dominic Versace Wines because they continue to think outside the promotional box.

Consider the opportunity to relaunch your marketing strategy along with a new website, there is so much to the mix.

Three Steps to Feeling Less Intimidated by Website Design

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We all need a little care and contemplation every once in a while to get the best out of ourselves and website design is no different. In a website build or revamp project it really is the most important part of the process and most people feel intimidated from the start. Never fear – these 3 easy steps will help you feel a whole lot more in control and confident in what you can achieve.

Step One – What You Want to Feature?

There are those normal things like About Us, Products and/Services Lists and Contact Forms that all sites generally have and they are important too. But when your customers (current and future) load your website what are the couple of things that you really want to impress upon them? What is your unique sales proposition, what makes you stand out? Is it your extensive product range or maybe your expert skill in your particular area. Whatever it is, it matters when it comes to the site design.

Step Two – What Do You Want People to Do?

If we use the storefront comparison, if customers have physically entered your store and are showing signs of interest, what would you want them to do? This is easy to track when you are looking at someone face to face, and its easy to track online too with Google Analytics by figuring out how long people are spending on your website and what pages they are looking at, but I digress.

What do you want them to do? Buy straight away, call you to discuss how you can help, send an email to request an appointment or reservation? What you can encourage your customers to do on your website is virtually unlimited, but keep it simple and know what you want to them to do so that the site design encourages that.

Step Three – Find Existing Websites That Do These Things Well

Ultimately you can’t go wrong by putting yourself in your customer’s shoes, so find the sites they like, and the ones you do too and then share all of this information with your designer. And be specific about those things because no site is going to do everything exactly like you would so don’t be afraid to mention likes and dislikes about those examples.

The Internet is framed around being able to gain information and engage in transactions quickly, therefore following the above three steps with this principle in mind means you will be in the driver’s seat of your website build. Empowered and dare we say it, feeling a little excited too!

Interested in sharing your design dreams with us? Give us a call or click here for more information.