Learn how to get users clicking and tapping with these 7 essential principles of conversion-centered design and our tips on how to apply them.
Learn how to get users clicking and tapping with these 7 essential principles of conversion-centered design and our tips on how to apply them.
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Designing for conversion â whatever that means for your business, be it sales, downloads, or newsletter sign-ups â is a matter of melding design principles with an understanding of human psychology to gently guide visitors toward taking action.
To drive web conversions, you need more than just aesthetics â you need to thoughtfully craft user experiences with actions and results in mind. Thatâs where conversion-centered design comes in.
Conversion is the lifeblood of any business. Without leads sales signups or some other desired action, products die on the vine and companies wither away.
That’s why conversion-centered design is so critical.
Conversion-centered design focuses on guiding visitors towards taking a specific, desired action through intentional design choices. It combines persuasive design techniques with psychological triggers to get more visitors converting on landing pages.
In this comprehensive guide we’ll explore the 7 core principles of conversion-centered design
1. Create Focus
The foundation of conversion-centered design is focus. Every element on your landing page should drive visitors towards one clear call-to-action.
Too many options confuse visitors and diffuse focus. This “paralysis by analysis” causes visitors to lose interest and leave your page.
Stick to one campaign goal per page. Remove unnecessary navigation links, social media buttons and other distracting elements. Guide visitors down a clear, singular path.
Pages with a clear 1:1 ratio between desired actions and available actions convert better. The home page of a website may have many goals, but a landing page should have just one.
2. Build Structure
Once you have a focused goal, structure your page to guide visitors there intuitively.
Start by developing an information hierarchy to determine the optimal flow of page sections and content. Put key information higher up and details lower down.
Choose a landing page template that matches your hierarchy. Customize the sections and layout to support your singular focus.
Use visualize flows like F patterns and Z patterns to map how visitors will move through your content. Break up sections with images, negative space and contrasting colors.
3. Stay Consistent
While landing pages are standalone, they should maintain consistency with your other assets.
Keep fonts, colors, imagery and branding aligned across your website, ads and landing pages. This strengthens recognition and relationships with visitors.
Visually match the design of your ads to your landing pages as well. Carry over colors, images and other elements to couple the experiences together.
4. Show Benefits
Select images that clearly convey the benefits and outcomes of using your product/service. Photographs work better than product screenshots.
Hero images should instantly communicate what your page is about, even without reading headlines. Prioritize clarity over cleverness.
Images showing real people evoke stronger emotional engagement. Reflect the feeling your customers want to experience.
5. Draw Attention
Use contrast to make key elements stand out. Reserve your boldest color for call-to-action buttons.
Make CTAs twice the size of body text. Use directional cues in images to draw eyes to them.
Leave negative space around your main message and CTA to let them breathe. Avoid cluttering the page.
Typography can guide visitors too. Make key headers bold and high-priority text larger.
6. Design for Trust
Prove your credibility to visitors who don’t know you. Authentic customer testimonials and logos build trust.
Identify details like photos, names, locations and dates to make testimonials believable. Don’t just make up generic quotes.
Highlight positive metrics like years in business, customers served and awards won.
7. Reduce Friction
Streamline your conversion process. Reduce fields and steps in forms. Don’t make visitors work hard.
Optimize your page for mobile responsiveness. Check loading speeds. Fix anything slowing visitors down.
Frictions like too many options or a confusing process cause visitors to bounce. Remove roadblocks and let conversion flow.
What is conversion-centered design?
Conversion-centered design (CCD) incorporates psychology-based techniques, user-centered design methods, and technical web design knowledge to optimize every step of the user journey. The goal is to move users smoothly through flows that culminate in conversions. âConversionâ doesnât just mean a sale: You convert a site visitor every time they carry out an action you want them to take, like signing up for a newsletter, clicking on a âLearn moreâ call to action (CTA), or adding an item to their shopping cart.
Originally developed by Oli Gardner of Unbounce, CCD is a design framework for building high-converting campaigns in which you craft digital experiences around encouraging users to take specific actions. It involves a set of conversion rate optimization (CRO) strategies that encompass layout, color, user journey structure, and content. With the right approach, you can craft a seamless and engaging experience that both feels good to users and optimizes your conversion rate.
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In human-centered design, designers and users co-create websites that add value for everyone. Follow these tips to weave HCD principles into your work.byWebflow Team
The 7 Principles of Conversion Centered Design
FAQ
What are the 7 principles of CCD?
What is the principle of conversion-centered design?
What are the 7 principles of conversion centered design?
So, here are the seven principles of conversion-centered design you need to consider when creating a layout: Help visitors focus. Make sure users can grasp the meaning of your offer at a glance. Create a solid structure. Develop a content hierarchy that creates a natural flow. Maintain consistency. Give your content a coherent, unified look.
What is conversion centered design?
Conversion-Centered Design is the original framework for creating high-converting campaigns. With conversion intelligence now on the horizon, it’s time for the next evolution of landing page design. What Are the 7 Principles of Conversion-Centered Design? Principle #1: Create Focus – The foundation of conversion-centered design is focus.
What is conversion-centered design & why should you care?
What is conversion-centered design, and why should you care? Conversion-centered design (CCD) is a set of rules or principles for designing commercially effective landing pages, email templates, and other types of content. Using this strategy, you can create content that brings you more high-quality leads, subscribers, and customers.
What is conversion-Centered Design (CCD)?
Conversion-Centered Design (CCD) is a framework for building high-converting marketing campaigns. It encompasses all the persuasive design techniques and psychological triggers you can use to get visitors to take action on your landing pages. You can use this proven approach to net more leads, sales, and signups for your business.
