Conversion-Centered Principles

We will next cover principles for conversion-centered design proposed by Unbounce. The main idea behind these principles is to help create highly converting webpages by concentrating on key design ideas that have less to do with creating aesthetically pleasing websites and more to do with creating websites that help marketers achieve their objectives.

The principles are as follows:

1. Create focus. Design pages for a single goal and minimize attention ratio.
2. Draw attention. Use design tips such as color, directional cues, and white space to direct visitors’ attention.
3. Build structure for clarity. Use visual/information hierarchy to facilitate rapid reading.
4. Stay consistent. Match your ads with your landing page through design and message matches.
5. Build trust. Use testimonials and social proofing to create trustworthy pages.
6. Consider congruence. Align all elements of a webpage toward achieving its goal.
7. Think continuity. Always know what the next step is.

For example, applied to the optimization of a landing page, these principles suggest the following questions:

1. Does the page have one goal and one associated link/call to action?
2. Am I using visuals to clearly indicate what users should do?
3. If I scan the page quickly, is it clear and obvious what I should be doing?
4. Are my ad and page visually and rhetorically aligned?
5. Would I believe this page was trustworthy if it were a competitor’s page?
6. Do all elements work together toward helping visitors achieve the page’s goal?
7. Is it clear what users should be doing once they have completed the goal on this page?

Now let’s examine each principle in depth.