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Conversion Design

Graphic design and marketing have two very distinctly different objectives. Graphic design is concerned with the creative elements of a website, the look and feel. The marketer is concerned with marketing to the customer. Conversion Design (or persuasive website architecture design) looks at design tactics that encourage customers to take a desired action or actions. Conversion Design works within the design framework to manipulate the position, size and color of key elements. This takes into account customer behavior prior to the design phase and outlines information architecture, plausible user case scenarios and wireframes based on the customers’ needs not the graphic designers creative vision.

The eBoost Way

“Strategy before tactics” is something you will hear repeated often at eBoost Consulting. This is particularly true of any new design project whether that be a re-design or a new site. We have long held that graphic design is often at odds with customers’ informational needs. Conversion Design at its best presents relevant information when needed and where expected for the visitor pulling them down a path you want them to take. Conversion Design significantly improves marketing and sales through focusing on the customers’ needs, want and demands ahead of graphical design.

Our process starts by synthesizing client data and segmenting it into personas through our Persona Development process. Personas then allow the team to prioritize high value segments’ needs above other segments. The factors needed to persuade each segment can vary.

Plausible use case scenarios are then created for each persona. These use-cases outline the key objectives of that segment and the elements they will interact with onsite. An outline is created of the pages that they will need in order to purchase an item, fill out a form, or give you a call. Once the key pages are determined from the plausible user case scenarios for each persona or segment, then wireframe creation can begin.

In addition to relying on personas, we use best practices and industry studies regarding color psychology, eye-tracking, link placement, information architecture, and sizing. Every crucial page from the plausible use-cases are laid out in black-and-white wireframes. Wireframes capture the needs of the consumer and place appropriate emphasis on elements important to them. These wireframes guide the designer in prioritizing his or her placement of design elements. The end result is an increased conversion rate.

Conversion Rate

We frequently get asked, “What is the average conversion rate for a website?” The answer varies but according to a 2007 Forrester Research study the overall conversion rate is 2.9 percent. However, this varies widely by company size and industry. The average conversion rate among small to mid-size companies is closer to 1.5 percent. If you then segment by industry you find that it is typically between 1.5 percent and 2.9 percent for e-commerce sites and between 2.9 percent and 6 percent for lead generation sites.

The Competitive Advantage of Conversion Rate

If you take two website in the same industry and compare conversion rate you can quickly see why raising a website’s conversion rates mere fractions of a percent boosts revenues significantly and gives a clear competitive advantage.

Website A	Website B
Visits: 100,000	Visits: 100,000
Order Value: $75	Order Value: $75
Conversion Rate: 1.0%	Conversion Rate: 1.9%
Per Visit Value: $0.75	Per Visit Value: $1.43
*Revenue: $75,000*	*Revenue: $142,500*

Website B has a clear strategic advantage in that it can afford to pay nearly twice as much as Webiste A to get a new visitor. Mere fractions of a percentage point on paper translate into $67,500 in real money.

Case Study

Home of Décor | HomeOfDecor.com

Situation

One of the first in the home decorating products category, Home of Decor's marketing communications needed consistency and its organizational team needed to be on the same page. Its website was outdated and not reflective of the company brand. Customers were turning away in droves as evidenced by high bounce rates and low conversion rates throughout the website.

The Old Design:

Challenge

As one of the first big players in its industry, Home of Décor relied on its “first-place” for much too long and its value paid the price. With brand equity decreasing, all critical business functions were misaligned with the cost-conscious consumer when its business model depended on communicating its value.

eBoost Solution

eBoost Consulting interviewed key Home of Décor stakeholders to receive customer insights that would help formulate the customer-centric business strategy. The end result was a comprehensive, balanced marketing portfolio of Conversion Design, PPC marketing, Email marketing, and Search Engine Optimization.
eBoost Consulting went through the entire Conversion Design process with Home of Décor creating Personas, Plausible Use Case Scenarios and Wireframes.

The Personas:

eBoost Consulting’s partner agency utilized these data points to redesign the site to focus on the value of Home of Décor’s brand and diverse product line.

The New Design:

The Results

Home of Décor has seen a 104.32% increase in conversion rates over the past year. Conversion rates doubled despite the impact of a declining economy that claimed many of Home of Decor's competitors. With the economy showing signs of improvement, Home of Decor is regaining previously lost market share and is in position to thrive into the future against a newly thinned-out competitive landscape.