Do ugly websites convert better than attractive websites? The short answer is hell no! I often hear clients, web designers, and SEOs profess that poorly designed, a.k.a ugly websites have higher conversion rates than “pretty websites”. Let’s clear up the smoke and mirrors and debunk this myth once and for all.
By viewing this example of the Top Ten Converting Websites you will notice that these websites range from fairly attractive to very attractive website designs. http://seewhy.com/blog/2010/04/14/the-top-10-converting-websites/ I will get into why these “Pretty Websites” have higher conversion rates than most ugly websites in a bit.
What is an attractive website?
An attractive website should be a website that integrates form and function in a way that is attractive to your target audience, but also allows them to get down to business unobtrusively.
Not All Ugly Websites Convert
In fact most don’t. If it were that easy then we would all be millionaires. There are many dynamics that will determine whether a website will be successful or not regardless of looks. Here are some examples of “Why Ugly Websites” may convert better than attractive websites.
1. You offer a discounted or low cost product or service and your website needs that to reflect how low your prices are. See the example above. Or your price is so low that your users are forced into a poor user experience because they will buy your product anyway, amazon.com and other high volume e-commerce websites provide a good example of this. If this is the case you can greatly increase your conversions by fine tuning or re-designing your website for a better user experience.
2. Ugly websites are often the result of “content cramming” meaning that a ton of information is crammed into the website “mainly above the fold” thus giving the user many choices for a call to action which will eventually lead to conversions. On the downside you may also be creating a poor user experience which can actually hurt your online sales by creating competition with your loss leaders vs. your best sellers. If you are like me and have a hard time finding your key’s on an unorganized desk or house, then you will begin to understand that by “shotgunning” content all over your homepage or subpages can actually have adverse effects on your entire sales process.
Why Do Some Pretty Websites Have Low Conversion Rates?
The number one reason why a pretty website will have a low conversion rate is because of the lack of an effective call to action. Replace or enhance your flashy graphics with a well thought out call to action and you are in business! While good graphic art and photography plays an important role in online marketing, you can expect low returns if your work has no purpose other than looking pretty. In addition the flashy artwork will provide little use for your site visitors, thus creating a negative impact on your online conversions.
In the example above, this website could have a much higher return on investment by providing useful information such as an offer, a price or even SOMETHING that tells me what this website is all about. When I first visited the website above, I was not sure if I was visiting a clothing website for hipsters, a photography website or something else. Turns out this website sells sunglasses and frames, although the random images showed pics of men that were a cross between Zack Galifinakis and the Geico Caveman. For a minute there I thought I had landed on a Car Insurance quote page. With that said, there is nothing more frustrating to a website visitor than making them click on things in order to get to the good stuff. While the website above probably does get conversions, it could do a lot better by doing these three simple things.
- Make it very clear on your homepage what your website is about, people hate guessing
- Create a compelling call to action that allows users to make a purchase or inquire about a product or service
- Give your logo a tagline or place a short and concise description of what it is that you have to offer
Your Website Does Not Need To Look Ugly To Get High Conversion Rates
http://seewhy.com/blog/2010/04/14/the-top-10-converting-websites/ shows perfect examples of attractive websites that have extraordinary conversion rates. Why do these websites break the old stereotype?
1. Call To Action. Good looking websites that have a clear call to action will perform extremely well and have higher conversion rates than unattractive websites selling the same product or service with competitive prices.
2. White Space. Well designed websites are very good at placing important content above the fold in a way that makes it easy to read. Tip, try and not to make your site visitors “zig zag” with their eyes in order to find content. The content should be formatted with good use of white space and consistency that will allow users to systematically skim through your site content in a left to right manner. By structuring your content evenly, you make it easier to read. Take a look at any popular newspaper or magazine and see how the content is formatted.
3. Design for your target audience don’t alienate them. Some online businesses only want to do business with certain demographics while others may want to do business with everyone. For example everyone needs to do their taxes so why not make a website that is user friendly and easy to use for everyone? Some online businesses only want to do business with let’s say high school kids, professionals, photographers, or wedding brides. Your website’s design and call’s to action need to reflect who you want to do business with and describe what type of business that you are in right from the start. Bottom line, never leave your site visitor’s guessing.
In Conclusion
By having a thorough understanding of how website visitors behave, react and do business online, you will have a better idea of how to build better websites that are not only attractive, but have higher than normal conversion rates. So the next time someone asks you: do ugly websites convert better, tell them hell no!
