A couple of weeks ago we offered a few tips on driving traffic to your website using pay-per click ads. Now, driving traffic is one thing, but you still need to know what you’re going to do with visitors when they arrive. So here are bda’s 8 vital website conversion tips for turning more clicks into sales:

1. Help people find what they’re looking for

People on the web have the concentration spans of goldfish. So if they don’t quickly find what they’re looking for they’ll be gone before you’ve had a chance to reel them.

• Provide a clearly labelled navigation bar using familiar section names
• Align elements so they flow in a Z pattern and mirror how people scan web pages
• Avoid too much clutter and space elements evenly
• Use arrows to direct visitors along a clear path around the site
• Break up long blocks of text into sections to aid skin reading and so they don’t appear too daunting to read

2. Use your ‘About’ page to build trust

As the old adage goes, ‘people like to trade with those they know and trust’, which is why the ‘About’ page can have a big impact on sales.

On the web you don’t have the luxury of introducing yourself in person, so the ‘About’ page is the next best thing. Use this page to tell visitors about your company’s history, what you’re passionate about and about your brand’s message.

The more people know about you the more reasons they have to trust you. It can also differentiate you from your competitors who stay anonymous.

3. Answer questions that might block a sale

In the bricks and mortar world people can ask questions to decide whether a product solves their problem and if it’s the best solution for them.

In the digital world you don’t shop assistants to respond to questions, and you can’t expect people to email or pickup the phone. So instead you have to answer queries through your content.

Write a list of the questions people might ask before they’re ready to buy. Then write blog posts or an faq section in which you answer them in an open format. Include links on the relevant product pages and you’ll be removing hurdles that might otherwise have tripped up a sale.

4. Invest in high quality images

Avoid clichéd, stale stock photography. Instead, invest in high quality shots of your people, products and your workplace. Give people the visual reassurance that you’re an established, professional company, and not a fly-by-night organisation that’ll vanish once they’ve placed an order.

If you’re selling software include screenshots. And if you’re feeling ambitious, you could record a video talking about your company and to show off your products. After all, isn’t video supposed to be the next big thing in online marketing? So get a head start on your rivals.

5. Choose your words carefully

A mistake a lot of business websites make is to complete the design stage first and then crowbar in the words (a.k.a. copy) wherever there’s space.

This is a mistake because it’s the words that do most of the selling. It’s your words that speak to your customers and will persuade them that buying your product is the smart thing to do.

As in the real world, people buy things based on two triggers: emotion and logic. Hard hitting copy using time proven copywriting techniques appeals to both these triggers and hammers home your USP.

In fact, your website’s copy is the most influential element when it comes to selling the benefits of your business. So don’t leave it as the last element to tick off the list.

6. Offer free content

Software companies often give away free limited versions of their products so that users invest time in them before buying the full upgrade.

Even if you don’t sell software, you can mirror this tactic by giving away free content, such as an eBook, newsletter or podcast. If you offer free gifts in exchange for an email address you can maintain contact with visitors and build a relationship long after they’ve left your website.

People are also more likely to reward you with their business because of the psychological impulse to reward generosity.

7. Remove nasty surprises that cause shopping cart abandonment

It can be agonising watching the number of people visiting your site, filling up their shopping basket and then abandoning it at the checkout till.

One way of minimising cart abandonment is to eliminate nasty surprises. Consider offering free postage, by including it in the original price, and reassuring customers they can get a refund due to your ‘no quibbles’ returns policy.

8. Test, adjust and test again

The beauty of the internet is you can endlessly test every element to improve clicks and conversions. So experiment with different font sizes, calls to action, images and copy.

If budget allows, invest in usability testing to see how easily people can find their way around your site and whether they’re persuaded to buy your products.

Use analytical software to track what pages your visitors are interested in and which send them fleeing. Continuous testing will highlight your site’s strengths and weaknesses, and, ultimately, show you how to convert more clicks into sales.

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog – real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.

Our series on beautiful website design wouldn’t be complete unless we made a special mention on the most popular blogging platform around – Wordpress!

Downloaded millions of times and with a massive fan base of developers supporting it, Wordpress is an open source publishing platform that’s growing in popularity all the time.

Content management systems are designed to be easy to update with new content, and using Wordpress to build an entire website offers many advantages, including:

Ease of use – posts and pages can be added without any complicated coding language

Free plugins – Wordpress’ functionality can be extended with over 5000 free plugins. Popular plugins enable you to optimise your content for search engines, to add social bookmarking buttons and to record stats on what your visitors are looking at

RSS – visitors can subscribe to your site’s feed and keep up to date on your latest content without having to revisit the site, great for relationship and trust building

Interactivity – visitors can comment on your content, ask questions and interact in an open format

SEO – in basic terms, Google ranks websites based on how regularly they’re updated and the number of links from relevant sites. Regularly publishing useful articles people want to share can achieve both these aims

Easy to use and easy on the eye

Whether it’s powering an online portfolio, a news/magazine style site or an online shop, Wordpress can be used for a wide variety of purposes.

Here’s our top ten of beautiful sites built with Wordpress:

1. http://www.enroutefilm.com/ – an online showcase of Canadian short films which are also screened on Air Canada flights. So grab some popcorn, grab a notepad and decide which short firm is a worthy winner.

2. http://www.blup.fr/ – this smartly designed personal blog of web designer Dew illustrates its pop culture focus through its beautifully designed header. The blog design also provides an attractive frame for his photos and posts on what’s interesting in the world of Dew.

3. http://www.jrvelasco.com/ – this blog offers a ‘veritable panoply of literary, visual and aural diversions’, with an intro that’s as long as a post on its own. The unique, personalised header and navigation gives this website the impression of being an interesting place to spend some time, if you speak Spanish.

4. http://www.homedesignfind.com/ – if you’re fan of Grand Designs or Property Ladder you might want to have a read of this interior design online magazine. The authors provide a daily guide to the latest furnishings, trends and ideas that can give your home a unique look.

5. http://ecoki.com/ – if you aspire to live a greener lifestyle then this site offers organic recipes, eco-fashion and an online community sharing their passion for all things eco-friendly. The front page is divided into clear categories and the strong visual element makes it easy to find topics of interest.

6. http://icondock.com/ – if you’re a designer and would like some interesting new icons for your print or web projects then this site offers icons galore. You can buy icons in sets and subscribe to their blog for the latest in all things iconic.

7. http://www.45royale.com/ – this web design studio loves Wordpress so much they’ve used it to power their own website. An eye catching banner, prominent hero text and clear links to their latest projects and blog makes this a great showcase of their talents.

8. http://anidea.com/ – don’t like this website’s theme? Then change it simply by selecting a different one from the dropdown box. This digital advertising agency promotes their expertise by offering insight and smart thinking, rather than with a boring online brochure.

9. http://www.gomediazine.com/ – this art and graphic design magazine offers helpful tutorials and a range of resources for the digital artistic. You can easily wile away some time watching videos, entering polls and engaging with its enthusiastic community.

10. http://www.twiistup.com/ – this bright, vibrant website presents the online portal for an LA based Dragons’ Den for startups. You certainly get a feel for how Twiistup can be a bit livelier than traditional stuffy conferences. Let’s hope it makes its way to this side of the pond.

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog – real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.

This week we’ve been welcoming Lee Williams, a design all-rounder, to the bda team. So we’ve been making sure he knows how everyone has their tea and when it’s his turn to buy the cakes. But on a serious note, Lee is a bit of a whiz with Flash. So you can expect to see plenty of snazzy Flash driven websites trundling out of the bda labs very soon.

Now, when I say Flash I know many of you think of sitting impatiently, twiddling your thumbs and debating whether to boil the kettle whilst waiting for a website to load. Well, Flash has grown up a lot since its misspent youth in the 90s, when it was misguidedly used to create firework displays of animation despite the wheezing data rate of dialup.

Ten years on and Flash is now a respected and versatile programming language. Rather than just for intro videos, Flash can be used to create interactive websites and the quality of applications you’d normally expect to be on your desktop. With people’s expectations of websites growing all the time, Flash is becoming the language of choice for many developers wanting to create richer online experiences.

So, to clear up some of the misunderstandings on Flash (and because it will please Lee) this week we’re focusing on beautiful Flash website design.

Google CAN now find Flash based websites

One of Flash’s Achilles’ heels used to be that Google had trouble reading it, which meant Flash sites struggled to be found in the search results. But as Flash has advanced so has the ability of the search engines to read it, and now Flash driven websites are becoming just as easy to find as their html cousins.

The advancement in Flash has freed developers to become ever more creative in the sites they can create. Flash can be used to graphically present complex concepts, and being able to create interactive animations means multiple layers of info can be easily navigated at the click of a mouse.

Here are 10 of our favourite beautifully designed Flash websites, which illustrate how Flash can be used to create interactive online experiences that enhance brand engagement:

1. www.m-prism.com/main.htm – navigating this site is like exploring a map of the cosmos. To delve deeper you simply click on the central planet before zooming in on its orbiting moons

2. http://www.samsungcamera.com/st50/ – they say every picture tells a story, and this website provides a series of narrated mini-stories displayed through pictures and videos captured on a digital camera

3. http://www.gtiproject.com/ – if you had a toy racing car track as a child then you might want to whiz over to this site. After gaining entry to a secret lab and taking a tour around the track you can have a go at setting your own fastest lap

4. http://www.mono-1.com/monoface/main.html – members of this advertising agency have all contributed their facial features so you can have fun mixing and matching to make your own creation

5. http://okaydave.com/ – this website makes a portfolio of pdfs as sophisticated as a cave painting. You can enjoy a pleasant journey trawling through Dave’s scrap book of past design projects accompanied by his narration and video diary

6. http://www.gettheglass.com/ – making sure the kids drink their milk can be a hassle for any parent. So send them to this website where they can play games and learn more about milk at the same time

7. http://www.subspecies.co.uk/ – what better way to sell T-shirts than using monkeys with machine guns? Opening to a hail of bullets and parasailing chimps, this website is certain to be a hit with those who take choosing their t-shirt brands seriously

8. http://www.sectionseven.com/ – websites are often designed to act as an online portfolio, and in this case it’s meant literally. Click to open their workbook as you would in the real world, and sift through their samples to see what this design agency is all about

9. http://www.goblincreative.com/en/ – dressed up as a trendy iPhone app, click around each room to discover more about this web marketing agency. Learn more about their services, sit down to watch a movie or play a game of darts if you want to

10. http://ff0000.com/ – why wait for people to find you in Second Life when you can create a virtual world of your own? On the Red Interactive you can create your own avatar, fly around and chat to other guests. Just remember to play nice

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog – real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.

Spending hours on a blog post can be a waste of sweat and tears if visitors don’t stop for a read, which is why blog design is so important. Blogs should be functional, easy to navigate and easy on the eye. So you should think carefully about the elements you need to include and how your blog can reflect your personality.

Good blog design aids readability, and provides an elegant frame in which your carefully chosen words can shine.

Pulling readers into your content

Web visitors are a judgemental bunch, with the attention spans of gnats. So your blog design needs to tell them at a glance what you’re about and whether they might be interested in what you have to say.

Your blog’s header is the first element people will focus on when they arrive. So it should reflect your personality and appeal to your target audience if it’s going to pull them into your writing. Many aspects of a blog can be easily customised yourself. But if you really want your blog to pull in readers then paying for a professionally designed header can be a canny investment.

Your header can be used to display your logo, illustrate your topic or to feature a slogan telling people what you’re all about.

Other elements

You want to keep people engaged with and reading your blog for as long as possible. So deciding where to position elements that helps them navigate your content is worth some planning.

Elements could include an author bio, subscription options, links to recent posts and a search box so people can delve into your archives. The most important links should be kept above the fold, which means they should be visible to every visitor without the need to scroll down the screen.

Links to your Twitter and Facebook profiles are also popular, but you should be careful not to clutter up your blog’s sidebar. You don’t want visitors feeling overpowered by too much going on and clicking away in confusion. Sometimes simplicity is best.

Minimalist style or action packed collage?

In basic terms, minimalist blogs are carefully arranged to feature plenty of white space and evenly arranged images. Links and widgets are kept to a minimum so that visitors’ attention is focused on the blog’s actual content.

Alternately, you could take the approach adopted by many graphic designers and fill up the screen with graphics, logos and customised icons. There’s a fine line between creating an impression of organised chaos or a blog designed by a child left alone with the crayons. But when done well it’s certainly eye catching.

Top Ten Beautiful Blog Designs

Here’s a mixture of different blog styles, layouts and personalities. Whether minimalist, collage or retro, what these blogs all have in common is that they’re excellent examples of beautiful blog design:

That INDIE Dude

Loodo.com.br

Pays Sud Gatine

L’effet Créa

Objectified

Surfstation.com

No MILK Today

Meagan Fisher

Lynnterpretation

The Bond Makeover

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BDA (Buckingham Design Associates) blog – real people giving real opinions, and a complete lack of agency waffle. BDA deliver an exciting blend of design and creative marketing for the Oxford, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London region.