There are a number of simple strategies that work great. If you put them into practice you will become a master of persuasion and you will win conversions.
I’ll show you how.
What is persuasive design? Can I use it on my website?
I start by answering the second question, can I use persuasive design on my website? Of course you can and you should also use it on your website . Persuasive design tries to take advantage of what we know about human behavior to optimize your website in this case and build customer loyalty. Persuasion is a powerful weapon at your service.
Persuading a user is generating enough empathy for him to carry out the actions you want , convinced that they are also the ones he wants. With these techniques you can guide the attitude of a potential client to where you are interested. This is achieved by using positive reinforcements. Tactics that intimidate or coerce can be annoying or end up undermining the trust that you have built up elsewhere.
To get their attention before you have to have created a friendly brand image and capable of generating trust. From there, your website has to be intuitive, comfortable, easy to understand and pleasing to the eye. If you achieve that environment, you will have taken a big step to improve your engagement and translate it into conversions.
I’m going to give you a fact: users quickly decide (and not for strictly rational reasons) if they like your design or not. And when I say quickly I mean milliseconds (in fact, about 0.05 seconds). In that blink a person is able to weigh whether they trust your page and what you offer. You have very little room to persuade him, so take good note of what you can do and put it into practice now!
6 simple persuasion techniques
Persuasion gives results and is, therefore, a concept that you should not lose sight of . I’m going to give you some clues so you can take advantage of it.
1 Value simplicity
Your page should be as simple as necessary so that your client immediately understands what you offer . Put yourself in his place: you already know what you sell, you know your product perfectly, but he has just landed on your website and does not know what it is about or what you offer. If the appearance is motley, the information is piled up, there are calls to action here and there, the images are pretty but they don’t show what you’re selling… That’s where you’re going wrong.
Your goal is to convey the main ideas at a glance , in a clear way, so that the client can see that it is easy to find what they want.
I am going to give you a simple trick that will help you support the simplicity of your website: design your website following a pattern , so that the user who slides vertically, which in English is called scrolling , identifies the pattern. Patterns are proven to improve the scrolling experience , so pick a pattern and stick to it, with minor variations. If on one screen you put the image on the right and the text on the left, toggle on the next.
That sense of predictability gives the user confidence and makes it easier to understand what you are trying to convey. In addition, the information presented in a schematic way and following an order is easier to retain . By not having to scroll from one page to another, but only scrolling down, the focus remains centered on the screen . If your potential client does not divert attention, you will have taken another step to persuade him.
2 The good, if brief…
We are going to apply the traditional proverb to the design of your website. Let’s see: I’m sure that your product is fabulous, that it has three thousand qualities and is capable of providing as many other benefits, but do you really have to tell everything to a newly arrived visitor to your website?
Write it down in a visible place: be brief . If the customer goes ahead and wants detailed explanations, he is interested in your product . Offer him then, not before, all the information he needs.
3 The art of using images (well)
It is worth that in many places you have read that a good image contributes more than an explanatory text . Now, do you know what images will convey your message? How do you choose them? What criteria do you have to take into account? It is not easy to decide on an image capable of conveying the essence of your business … but there are many useful clues. I leave you some:
- Let people show up. Any of us will feel more identifiedif another human being appears in the photograph. We empathize better. Or at least parts of the body can be seen: some feet walking with the shoes you sell, for example. If it is something small, do not put it on a plain background, but on the palm of one hand.
- Beware of abstract images. I agree that some of them are beautiful, but they have the drawback that they don’t convey concrete ideas (we’ve already said they’re abstract, right?), therefore… don’t use them unless it’s highly justified. You have to communicate with your client with images that support the content of the texts.
- Contrast colors. As far as possible try to break the monotony. Study your corporate colors and first look at images in which contrasting tones predominate. If you choose a black and white photo, try putting some element in color. Be that as it may, it escapes from uniformity.
4 Respect hierarchies
A good designer will tell you that you must prioritize the contents to give them the appropriate form. It is right. If the information is a totum revolutum, your client will not know where to look . If the first thing you see is not the most relevant, you have done something wrong. Rearrange your ideas first, and then your content and images. How are hierarchies marked? Two things to keep in mind to start.
- the size. The brain understands that the biggest thing is the main thing , be it a phrase or a photo. Don’t put what matters most in tiny print.
- The ubication. If you want something to be seen, don’t hide it. It seems like a drawer but, believe me, there are simple mistakes that can make you lose many customers . If you have a new product launching, a special promotion for the summer or an irresistible offer, put it in front of the eyes because it is the first thing that has to be seen.
5 Communicate
Be careful, it’s not that simple. What kind of language are you going to use? In general terms, to persuade a potential client you should speak to him in his tone, so that what you tell him is familiar and friendly.
You have to handle a language that is related to your potential audience. If your area is very technical, do not make the mistake of exposing your services using words that only you and those in your sector understand. You may think that doing so is going to give you a certain level, but in reality you are marking distances with your clients and, ultimately, communicating fatally. In summary:
- Simple vocabulary. If your client needs a dictionary to find out what you are selling, there is no doubt: you are doing it wrong. Leave the technicalities for later, when the work of persuasion is done.
- Forget superlatives. We already know that your product is great, but to say that it is “the best”, even “unbeatable” or the most amazing in the world, is not the right way to go. It is more effective to use objective descriptions , they offer the user more confidence than inflated and baseless adjectives.
- Short Phrases. Mileage subordinates are not going to help you. One idea per sentence is enough, do not link to each other. Use the points, that’s what they are for.
- small paragraphs. A website made of text “bricks” will scare away your customers (and anyone).
6 Use CTAs (calls to action) wisely
Imagine that several people call out to you from across the street and they all start gesturing to get your attention, raising their arms and whistling for your attention. Which one do you attend? Most likely, your first impression will be one of bewilderment.
That is what will happen to your customer if you fill your web page with calls to action . Not by putting more is going to pay more attention to you. It is about using them with precision and in a studied way, placing them in the exact place, where you want to direct the attention of your client.
After putting these tips into practice you will see that it is possible to persuade without that nostalgic “face to face” with the client. Persuasive design applied to websites is effective not only to stop losing customers , but also to gain new ones and scale your conversion rate. They will give wings to your business as soon as you put them into practice.