CXL Institute Conversion Optimization Mini-Degree Scholarship Program WEEK 2Review

In my first blog article written for my scholarship program mini degree with Conversion XL (CXL), I covered the introduction to conversion rate optimization (CRO) as well as some of the best practices for CRO. I left off on e-commerce category pages, and this week I will continue my summary and insights from what I learned, starting with the buttons and call to action module.

Buttons and calls to action should focus more on principles instead of best practices. Ideally, you want to make the call to action buttons on your website noticeable and big. And by noticeable and big, you want them to stand out and contrast strongly enough on a visual level to

In my first blog article written for my scholarship program mini degree with Conversion XL (CXL),I covered the introduction to conversion rate optimization (CRO) as well as some of the best practices for CRO. I left off on e-commerce category pages, and this week I will continue my summary and insights from what I learned, starting with the buttons and call to action module.

Buttons and calls to action should focus more on principles instead of best practices. Ideally, you want to make the call to action buttons on your website noticeable and big. And by noticeable and big, you want them to stand out and contrast strongly enough on a visual level so that it is easy for a website visitor or prospect can clearly know what it is that you want them to do on the landing page they are on. Having a big call to action button as well as a unique color (relative to the surrounding colors on the website or landing page) that jumps out on the landing page .

Ultimately, we want to have one primary call to action on a landing page to reduce friction and remove distractions towards what we want the landing page visitor to do. It is okay to have secondary call to action buttons on a landing page, but it is best to visually construct it so that it is not mistaken as the primary call to action button.

A good rule of thumb formula for call to action copy is copy that completes the “I want to (blank)” statement. In the context of e-commerce, which is my primary focus, this can mean using the call to action “Add To Cart” on the product page. Or, if it is a direct response e-commerce sales page, I could use “Buy Now” or “Try Now” for the product I am selling. Fundamentally, buttons and calls to action should be made clear and specific enough to convey a benefit and a trigger word that drives further action down the funnel to the action you want your prospects and landing page visitors to do.

Furthermore, another component of best practices is the fold and page length. It is important to prioritize the content on each website page. The most important information should be up top and presented first, and the least important information should be presented last or further down the page in descending order of importance. The important information should be above the fold. This is the visible portion of any web page presented before someone scrolls further down on a web page.

It is important to prioritize the most important information on any web page to be presented above the fold. This is specifically applicable to me in e-commerce. It is important for me to pay attention to the above the fold portion of my product page or long-form direct response sales pages on both desktop and mobile. Some of the above the fold elements that could improve sales and conversion rates on my e-commerce store are: a relevant benefit-driven user generated testimonial, the primary benefits of the product being sold outlined in bullet point format, a video sales letter selling and/or demonstrating my physical product, a big and clear call to action button to buy the product, product pricing information, and trust badges. These elements (and many more) can be included or tested over time to improve and iterate on my product pages and sales pages. And in terms of page length, I will seek to A/B test short-form product pages with long-form sales pages. It is important to provide just enough information for my potential customers to buy my product, but I won’t be able to determine what exactly is “enough” until I iterate and test for page length over time.

In the following module, I learn about E-commerce signups It is important to reduce friction, so it is not typically ideal to force user registration for prospects to buy a product on an e-commerce website. Statistically speaking, 1 in 4 potential buyers abandons their shopping cart because the website requires them to register for an account to complete a purchase. This is something that seems necessary for an optional recurring membership or incentive-driven brand loyalty program on an e-commerce store’s website. You see this with Amazon where Amazon Prime users have their own user login with order history, saved payment information, and other benefits linked to having a registered account and membership.

To cap this week’s blog off, I will briefly cover the principles of persuasive design module. Persuasive design is critical to influencing the decisions people make and the judgments they have on our website. Since most decisions are effortless snap decisions we don’t pay attention to, we need to know what goes on in our target prospect’s brain to persuade them. Visuals get interpreted faster than words and copy. Visual design sets the frame for understanding the message we are conveying and what they are buying into. The first impression sets the tone for people’s perception, and it takes more effort to change that perception.

The five principles of persuasive design are as follows:

1. Clarity above all

2. Visual appeal

3. Strong visual hierarchy

4. Conserve attention at all costs

5. One action per screen, when they are ready

In terms of e-commerce, we want low visual complexity. White space puts more emphasis on the product image. Large product photography captures attention, and what is good for attention is good for conversions. Showing product images with real faces and genuine smiles with real people is also an effective way to improve the persuasiveness of an e-commerce website’s visual design. It is also good to have contrast on the visual design with important elements like a distinct and sizeable call to action button to capture a prospect’s attention to our desired action in the sales funnel. And in terms of text, it is usually more effective to not stuff too many words in a paragraph and to have headlines and sub-headline to break out the copy in a more visually appealing, easy-to-read manner.

Next week, I will continue my discussion of the landing page best practices course within the Conversion Optimization Minidegree program for my CXL Institute scholarship.

-David