So where do I begin?

First, let me explain the image above. It’s a web heat map. What’s a web heat map, you ask? Wikipedia describes a web heat map as a representation “..used for displaying areas of a Web page most frequently scanned by visitors.”

The above heat map from Google describes from dark orange (strongest performance) to light yellow (weakest performance), the best place to display ads. “Ads placed near rich content and navigational aids usually do well because users are focused on those areas of a page.”
source: Google Adsense

I read an article in Website Magazine called Keep Your Graphic Designer on a Short Leash.

The focus of the article is that the best visual designs don’t always close the most sales.

I work with an awesome team of designers, not to mention a big group of creative friends. I appreciate and understand the importance of good design. So, before I get barraged with comments about the importance of good design, let me just say that I understand it. Design is important. Got it.

But, there are also components of web page design, that, while potentially detracting from the visual appeal, may actually increase conversion rates.

There are many factors that influence a buying decision – brand reputation, product features, price, etc. Even basic things like page load time all have a factor in someone clicking the big red “buy” button.

My point of the post is to stress the importance of A/B testing and iterative improvements. Simple tweaks can have a huge impact on sales. In the article from Website Magazine referenced above, the design that was less visually appealing in the eyes of most people actually performed 84% better.

Direct mail experts have always stressed the importance of a control group and running tests with various offers, body copy, headlines, imagery, fonts – you name it.

But for some reason, some of the principles of direct marketing have gotten lost in the excitement around implementing the latest technology on a web page.

Flash, video, Facebook integration & the latest shiny widget are all great – but not if they have a negative impact on sales. You can’t afford to continually innovate if conversion rates are sacrificed for another award on the shelf.

The technology to test various web page designs isn’t rocket science and is readily available. At the most basic level, almost anyone could try running a different design for a few weeks to see if there’s an increase in conversion rates.

I’m also not saying that driving sales is the most important factor if brand equity is sacrificed. Branding is a long term commitment and short term spikes in sales can be detrimental to brand equity if you water down your image in the process.

Summary: balance. Design. User experience. Technology. And there, at the intersection, you’ll find the optimal conversion rate.

Ready? Discuss…

Technorati Tags: web, design, conversion