8 Examples of Top Converting Websites with Quick Observations
Big bold headlines and clear calls to action
www.salesforce.com
- The first thing you see is a big bold headline with benefit/emotion.
- Calls to action to the right with a nice clean image make for simple top section.
- Calls to action are broken into three stages:
- View Demos (Early stage persona – those looking to learn more)
- Editions and pricing (Mid stage persona – those looking to check prices)
- Free trial (Final stage persona – those looking to get started)
- Boxes below the top section have nice icons to make a visual connection with each category. This makes it easy to engage with the site.
- The “Mega” drop down menus offer simple navigation for good usability.
- Trust: 3 million success stories and counting!
Point of action assurances in the button
www.constantcontact.com
- Big bold headline with benefit/emotion.
- Clear call to action button (emphasizes free and no credit card required – answers common objections right at the button level).
- The copy is VERY sparse but highly impactful.
- Nice bulleted section of benefits below and essential details that are easy to scan and skim.
- Trust at the bottom: Awards, accreditation, and partners.
Bold thought leaders with video testimonials
www.conversion-rate-experts.com
- Has a client list at the top, testimonials, case studies, as seen in news, and brands as a thought leader. All of these impart trust.
- Video is others speaking about how they were helped, rather than a big sales pitch. This social proof is very powerful.
- Downloadable content is the main call to action, rather than only targeting people who are ready to sign up. Shows trust and confidence.
Photo of the building at the top imparts trust
www.bhphotovideo.com
- Categories on the home page with visual reinforcement steer people down aisles, not force individual items they want to push at people that likely don’t match their needs.
- Photo of the building at the top imparts a sense that it is a large, reputable company.
- Navigation with visual reinforcement makes for awesome usability.
- Great thought-leader blog is highly engaging and excellent for SEO.
Photo of “Steve” skyrockets sales
www.gundogsupply.com
- Uses a real person in the logo! They made 10 million dollars more in 1 year due to this personalization.
- “Steve’s pick” badges show what he recommends in each category. Since he is a trusted thought leader people choose the items effortlessly. He has done the thinking for them.
- Making the site more personal and showing the people behind the company made a massive difference in conversions.
42% Conversion rate through strong, consistent UVP
www.schwans.com
This is one of the top converting sites on the web at 42%!
- Headline says check out ONLINE ONLY (UVP) special and has call to action button.
- Like B&H Photo they use visual categories on the home page instead of pounding people with featured items.
- Good overview video and amazing about us section.
- Uses a rotating banner, which many conversion experts don’t like. It seems to work here and has a call to action button in each with headline and value proposition.
A strong banner with a headline and bold image is usually where a visitor starts their journey. If you barrage them with marketing offers from multiple departments featuring current events, offers, and news, they get frustrated and bounce. What is the solution? Test sending half your traffic to a version with a static banner with a bold headline and benefit-oriented UVP and maybe a few bullet points and the other half to a version with rotating banners and see which converts better.
Personalized recommendations put content in context
www.amazon.com
Amazon personalizes the experience, so recommendations are tailored to you specifically. Doesn’t always work, but when it does, it is very helpful.
In the future, sites will need to know more about each customer and provide only calls to action, etc., that they haven’t seen or done yet. At the Hubspot conference in Boston last week the founders said, “if Content is King, Context is God”.
Make sure your marketing pitches are in the context of what people are looking for personally and not a shotgun approach. The more you show customers that you value their needs, the more they will listen to your messages. The more you blindly take generic swings at the masses, the more they will be turned off.
Amazon is famous for A/B testing. They are always testing. Are you?
They sometimes get rid of things that increase cart conversions in favor of promoting sales through partner ads near the cart button! (Because they make more when they don’t have to ship and process things.) So don’t necessarily copy them, as their goals may be different than yours.
An emotional experience (Happy – Smiling), not a cluttered maze
http://basecamp.com/
Huge headline and big pics. An emotional experience, not a cluttered maze. Amazing how some sites have to cram in a million details when others, like Apple, do better with big simple headlines and cushy images that are inspiring. This is the difference between the annoying sales guy who bores you with details and the sales person that secretly hooks you by getting you to imagine yourself happily using their products or services.
Essential considerations to increase conversions:
- Concise value proposition in a headline (#1 thing to work on)
- Image or video of product or service in use that inspires desire
- Show benefits, not just features
- B2B: Request user’s personal info (in forms) in exchange for something of value
- Call to action – try several broken into stages of the buying cycle or on persona types
- Trust Factors (awards, news, affiliations, accreditations, client lists, testimonials, etc.) because people buy from those they know, like, and trust
- Social connectivity – offer the opportunity to connect and share on social networks, but make sure you have strong profiles with a reasonable amount of followers and content, or news worth sharing
What do you think is the #1 thing that increases conversions? Do have any sites you’d like to share?
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