You’ve probably heard the saying that “you can’t judge a book by its cover.” The same thing is true for websites. Just because a website looks pretty doesn’t mean that it’s effective at converting visitors into customers. In order to increase your website’s conversion rate, you need to design it in a way that encourages people to take action. In this blog post, we will share a framework that has been proven time and time again to help businesses increase their conversion rates!
What is effective website design and why is it important?
Your website is your digital storefront – it’s how potential customers will learn about your business and what you have to offer. That’s why website design is so important! If your website is hard to navigate, doesn’t look professional, or doesn’t offer a good user experience, people will likely leave without taking any action.
On the other hand, if your website is designed in a way that makes it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for and learn about your products or services, you’re more likely to convert them into customers.
There are a few key things to keep in mind when designing your website:
- Navigation should be easy to understand and use
- The website should load quickly
- The design should be visually appealing
- The content should be well-written and relevant to your audience
If you keep those fundamentals in mind, you’ll be well on your way to designing a website that converts!
Now that we’ve covered the basics of website design, let’s move on to the framework that will help you increase your website’s conversion rate.
3 Step Framework for Website Conversion
While it is important to know the characteristics your website should have, it is even more important to know how to do it. The following 3-step framework will help you create a compelling website that will convert visitors into customers. The framework can also be used for other marketing activities including ads, email campaigns, social media posts and more. For now, let’s start with the website and jump into the Hook – Story – Call to Action framework.
The Hook – Story – Call to Action (HSCA) framework is a simple yet effective way to increase website conversions. It works by first grabbing the attention of your website visitors with an interesting hook. Once you have their attention, you can then tell them a story that is relevant to your business. Finally, you’ll include a call to action that encourages them to take the next step.
Let’s break down each step of the HSCA framework in more detail:
The Hook
One of the primary goals of your website is to attract people’s attention, so they will stay on your website to listen to your message. This is increasingly difficult in today’s world, where people are bombarded with hundreds, even thousands of ads each day. At some point, they start screening for what to engage with and start ignoring brands and ads, unless it’s something they have a personal interest in.
This is why the hook is so important! The hook should be something that speaks to them personally so they want to learn more about your business. It could be a relevant statistic, an interesting fact, or even a question. Ultimately, it could solve a problem (take away pain they are experiencing) or help them achieve a dream.
It should also be something that is relevant to the content on the page and appear at the top of the first screen (“above the fold”). It can be a headline, an image, or video…something that will spark the interest of your website visitors.
Please note: for the Hook/Story/Call-to-Action framework to succeed, it’s important that you’ve identified your ideal customer so that you’re able to hook them, tell a story and design a call-to-action that they will have a personal interest in. To address their needs, solve their problems, or help them achieve their dreams, you need to know who you are targeting. Be as specific as possible.
Hook Example
Target audience: Let’s say your ideal customer is the home renovation contractor.
Hook: Tired of paying a fortune for the batteries that keep your power tools going only to replace them a few months later? That stops now!
As you can see, this hook is designed to solve a problem for the target audience. Now that you have their attention, you can tell your story.
Story
Facts tell, stories sell. Successful businesses know that stories are powerful and mastering the art of storytelling connects you to your audience in an authentic way.
Once you have your target customers’ attention, it’s time to tell them a story. The story should be relevant to your business and highlight the benefits of working with you. It should be interesting and engaging, and most importantly, it should be true!
Stories can come in two forms. They are about solving a problem or achieving a dream but told from two different perspectives.
- It can come from the perspective of the business owner and founder, who had the same problem the target customer has now, but overcame it because of a certain discovery or insight.
- Or the story is about other people who had the same problem as the target customer and the business owner was able to solve it due to a certain discovery or insight.
The story should be relatable, inspiring, and highlight the unique benefits that only your business can bring.
Story Example
Target audience: Let’s say your ideal customer is the home renovation contractor.
Hook: Tired of paying a fortune for the batteries that keep your power tools going only to replace them a few months later? That stops now!
Story: As a contractor in the business for nearly 30 years, I’ve used all kinds of different brands to [insert here]. I’ve spent tens of thousands on the “latest and greatest” with all of the new “bells and whistles” that were going to extend my battery life, but the promises always came up short. No matter how much I paid, I always got the same result – having to replace my expensive batteries after a few months. You always hear, “You get what you paid for,” but I’m here to tell you that in some cases the most expensive option was actually the worst. I thought I was doomed forever to be the victim of this ripoff until I met a friend of my son who…blah blah blah. The story continues and ends with an epiphany on how just 3 simple steps using ingredients that you have in your kitchen can add 10x to the life of your batteries.
Call to Action
Up to this point, you have hooked your audience addressing an issue that they have. You tell them a story that is similar to what they’ve experienced and that they can relate to. You show them you’ve been there before or helped others who have, setting up the call-to-action. This is where they will buy your product/service or take some desired action to address their need (solve a problem or achieve a dream).
This could be a button that says “Buy Now,” “Sign Up,” or anything else that encourages your website visitors to take the next step. It’s important that your call to action is clear and easy to understand – you want people to know exactly what they need to do in order to take advantage of your offer.
Call to Action Example
Target audience: Let’s say your ideal customer is the home renovation contractor.
Hook: Tired of paying a fortune for the batteries that keep your power tools going only to replace them a few months later? That stops now!
Story: As a contractor in the business for nearly 30 years, I’ve used all kinds of different brands to [insert here]..
Call-to-action: Sign up for my webinar where I’ll show you the exact methods I’ve used to extend the life of my tool batteries by [insert here]. Plus, for the first x registrants, I’ll include as a bonus my “Secrets For Not Paying Retail for Another Power Tool…Ever!”
Depending on the type of business and the goals for your website, you may keep the call-to-action the same or change it up with different offers and different landing pages. What you do, is totally up to you. How you do it, well, that’s for another blog post.
Final thoughts on Website Design: How to Turn Visitors Into Customers
That’s it! The “Hook – Story – Call to Action” framework is a simple yet effective way to increase website conversions. By following this framework, you’ll be able to create a website that is designed for conversion success by hooking your visitors with an issue they have, delivering a compelling story that they relate to and a call-to-action that solves their problem.
Ready to Turn visitors into customers?
If you’re ready to take your website design to the next level and turn more visitors into customers, contact us.