If you want to boost conversion rates on your website, then change these 6 elements (described below) on your website right now to dramatically boost the sign-up rates by an incredible 75%.

1.Use Clean Visuals

Just spend 30 minutes browsing the internet, and you’ll come across landing pages crammed with ads that say, “Build Guerilla-Like Muscles with This One Simple Technique.”

Unless you’re a salesman selling weight loss products, you don’t want to have those types of ads on your landing page.

Yes. You might get some attention, but most people will get sidetracked with this bunch of “junk” visuals.

Here’s what to do instead:

• Have a simple and clean landing page design with plenty of white spaces. Why? Because it will help your people focused on your call to action.
• Use big fontso that your people can easily know what the landing page is all about.
• Use bulletsto make blocks of text easy to scan.
• Include videos, if you can, as it is proven to boost conversions by up to 80%.
• Use images and other graphics onlyif it supports your message. Otherwise, cut down it unnecessary visuals.

For design, here’s what to consider:

• Remember – When it comes to boosting conversion, less is always more. Remove those exploding graphics, stock photos of people looking way too happy with their shirt, coat, and tie. Make sure nothing gets between your visitors and your call to action.
• Make sure your landing page load faster, as fast loading pages are known to get a better response from people.

Ribbon does this really well:

• The design is really simple and clean.
• The product is displayed with a video.
• The menu items are silent and easy to locate.
• And, the clever use of colour draws the eye to the call to action button.

Use a simple and clean landing page with a clear and actionable call to action button for increased signups on your home page. (Image source: Ribbon)

2. Use Video

There are several video types that’ll immediately boost the bottom line of your company. That video could be an explainer video that guides a potential customer through your brand, product, or service – step-by-step – and how they can use it. Or, it could be a video animation that clearly explains all the problems your product or service immediately solves.

TeamGantt – an online Gantt chart software – used a product intro video on their home page. I discovered that they made the video themselves – using just iMovie and ScreenFlow. If you need to learn how to create an explainer video, then check it out here.

Since the day they used mini-explainer video on their website page, they’ve received a whopping 51,000 unique views. This video quickly gives an overview of their product – what it does for them and how they can use it.

Just by including this short video on their home page led to an incredible boost of 50% conversions on their home page. (Image source: Kissmetrics Blog)

They also placed this video in different positions on their home page to see if they could get even better results. They tried three different areas:

Bottom of the page: They include a button (“Watch Video,” see below) when clicked would take their potential customers to another page containing the video.

Top of the home page: This lowered their signups by 5.3%. (Image source: Kissmetrics)

“Watch Now” Button & Video placed on the same page, further down: This increased their conversion rates by 3.3%. (Image source: Kissmetrics)

Placing a video at the top of their home page would actually decrease the sign ups. This is why A/B testing is so crucial because you won’t be assuming anything. Every result you’ll get through A/B tests will be hard cold fact that’ll actually help you stay on the right track.

They found that placing the video at the bottom of the page, about one-third down of the page yielded them a 3.3% boost in conversion. This increase may not seem a big thing, but if you combine all the minor improvements, the results will quickly pile up.

3.Use Social Proof

I was ploughing the web, and came across a site (Quick Sprout) and got completely shocked at how one marketer had successfully gathered more signups than he could ever by using the power of social proof.

He was working for a local nonprofit firm, collecting money from people. After a couple of weeks, he picked up a good momentum and managed to sign up several people from the same community.  And then, he didn’t even have to use any sales pitch; he just held his papers and showed everyone he met that all other people in the neighbourhood had donated. The result: They did the same.

This is a powerful example of how social proof can increase conversions for your business. As social beings, we tend to value things that others have shown interest to. This is probably why you’ll find most sites using evidence of social validation on their website:

• Testimonials
• Press mentions
• A list of happy customers, etc

If you’re new to your business, you probably already have all this. But, even if you can display few quotes from less-known folks – your girlfriend for example – can show your website visitors that someone else has gained value from what you’re offering.

Here’s what you can do:

• Gather evidenceof social validation on your page, especially on your home page.
• Keep your home page updatedwith great customer testimonials, updated user lists, and new press mentions.

Optimizely does this brilliantly.

They have included several social proofs, all just above the fold of their home-page:

(Image source: Kissmetrics Blog)

• They have a note on the top left corner that says they were “featured on CNN News”
• The header includes the “#1” note.
• They mention “3,000 happy customers” using their solution
• The logos are easy to spot and visually uncluttered.

4. Use longer design

This is huge. There’s no other better way to truly find whether a longer page design is better or not-a-good-idea than testing it through an A/B test.

Let’s take an example of TeamGantt, again. They used a long home page design for their website and it really worked for them.

They actually went for a longer home page design because they were not getting more people to visit their “tour” page. What they did was incredible: they fused the “tour” page with their home page. This way, their people could immediately know all the awesome benefits of using their software without visiting another page.

By using a long homepage design over a short one, TeamGantt saw more clicks to their “tour” page. (Image source: Kissmetrics)

Just by making this simple yet little-known tweak on their home page, TeamGannt improved their signup rates by 8.6%.

5.Resolution layout

Yes, there are still people who surf the net on 800 by 600 display monitors, and according to a study, most popular screen size in the US alone is 1024X768.

What does this mean? It means that most of your visitors (potential customers) might be seeing something very different from what you see on your huge HD monitor.

Do this: Keep the most mission-critical parts of your home page – your logo, call to action, and headline, and image – in the top centre of the screen. Keep all other supporting messages further down the page.

Talk with your web designers so that he/she knows which elements on your homepage are most critical and which one goes on the front and the centre.

For design, here’s what you can do: check your home page on different resolutions so ensure old monitors can see your headline and CTA without having to scroll. Also, check it on smartphones, iPads, etc.

The screenshot below is a home-page design of Visual Website Optimizer at low resolution (i.e. 1024px), but you can see all the vital elements – compelling headline, catchy and clear CTA button, and other supporting messages.

Make sure your home page design displays properly in all resolutions. (Image source: Visual Website Optimizer)

6. CTA button

Did you almost forget your CTA button? Do your visitors know what to do on your landing page? Should they signup? Download ebook? Buy your product now? What should they do?

Don’t be pushy, but just give a slight warm nudge to let them know what to do next. This small thing can have a huge impact on your bottom line if you haven’t already done this before.

One more thing: place your CTA button (the major one) on the top half of your page. Why? This will allow your potential customers immediately know what they have to do without rolling their mouse further.

Place your CTA button on the top half of your home page, and make it clear and actionable. (Image source: The Sharp Firm)

Conclusion

You can try making this tiny little tweaks on your home page and monitor your progress running A/B tests.