B2B Website Design Tips to Increase Conversions, Leads
Today, we’re going to run through a brainstorming session I recently had with a client. We’ve been hired to assist with Vector Software. PPC management, SEO, and improve their websites performance.
Vector Software makes embedded application testing software. They target software engineers building advanced applications for the avionics, transportation and medical industries (among others).
In this instance, everyone is very please with the actual look/feel of the website so a full redesign isn’t necessary. It matches their existing brand, clean simple layout which should ring true with their target audience of software developers, however the site misses on the converting users to leads.
Let’s walk through some of the big items that we’ll be implementing during Phase I of the site in an effort to improve their conversion rate (think about these topics and how your own site compares).
Make Contact Methods Obvious and Easy
Your website is probably selling something: your company, your product or your service, and as a user navigates your site, you need to make it as easy as possible for them to get a hold of you when they’re ready. Provide options (phone, email, live chat, etc) to accommodate their preferences or where they’re at in the buying cycle: A researcher will want to email questions, a CEO that is ready to buy, will call.
Here are some issues in our example site, VectorCAST.com
Contact in Main Nav
Redesign: Includes tracking phone number and contact in main nav
We’ve been surfing the web for almost 20 years now and one convention we’ve become accustomed to is ‘Contact’ in the main navigation. Vector includes a contact, but it is under the ‘Company’ dropdown. Secondly, once you click on it, it takes you to phone and location information via a google map. This is great if you get a lot of foot traffic, however where is the form for me to shoot off a quick question or get some additional product details?
Direct Phone Number in Header
Phone calls account for approximately 70% of the leads generated on most of our B2B websites. Vector has a small phone number on the left column (below the fold) and on the previously mentioned contact page.
Make it obvious and on everypage, so if a user has a question, they can call directly without having to search for it or get distracted. Add a tracking number from ifbyphone for extra tracking points and measure peak call times, call durations and locations.
Clear Call To Actions w/benefits
After discussing their products and sales process, I found out that they offer a 30 day free trial of their software. Nowhere on the site was this stated. We’re talking software packages can break the six figure range and allowing software developers access to this is a huge perk, not too mention an easy way to initiate a conversation.
Redesign: Clear call to action with benefits, product shot, and button looking link.
They also had a ‘register’ form on the site that allowed access to the software, product manuals, whitepapers and other fun important stuff, however, on the ‘register’ page it wasn’t clear what I was registering for or any of the benefits. Tell them what they’re getting.
In-copy ‘Next Steps’
Although this is planned for phase II of our development, none of the interior pages had any call to actions. Reading through this copy, and after reading about unit testing, the ‘what do I do next’ question is left unanswered.
Offer a whitepaper, ask if they have any questions, or in this case, offer the free trial. Avoid creating dead-ends.
Simplify Forms
This is a pretty standard ‘best practice’ but was surprised to see how much information they were asking for on their forms.
Simple formula:
MORE FIELDS = LESS LEADS
LESS FIELDS = MORE LEADS [however they may also be less qualified]
Vector's existing form - 18 fields, just to contact and possibly ask a simple question.
Managing this balance is always tricky and requires continual testing. A metaphor I continually use is meeting someone new at a party. When you first meet, you don’t ask for their address, or when they were born. You get basic information; name and phone number [because you like them and want to talk again sometime]. After you talk on the phone a couple times, you ask for their address so you can stop by for a BBQ. Later is when you get product preferences, additional demographic information and any other secondary information.
Secondly, how much info can be gleaned from the data you do require. For example, can’t most addresses be found by researching the company?
REMOVE ‘RESET’: Remove ‘RESET’. I’ve never once pushed ‘reset’ or ‘clear fields’. If I took the time to fill it out, I’ll submit it. I may accidentally hit ‘reset’, get frustrated and leave. Just avoid that altogether.
Usability Issues
Avoid ‘Clever’, ‘Mysterious’ and ‘Hidden’ Links in B2B Websites
B2B users prefer links and buttons with benefits and the payoff upfront. As opposed to a ‘click here to find out more’ (vague and unclear) use a ‘Cut Software Development Time in Half with these 5 steps’ (Clear, upfront, using a benefit to the end-user). This also makes it easier to add some SEO anchor text with keywords, but more on that later.
An example is their case studies on the homepage. On the existing homepage they have a photo and a tagline, which linked to a pdf case study. It was unclear that this was:
A) a case study
B) a pdf opening in a new window
C) a link, unless I rolled over it.
Redesign: Benefit Headline, short intro, button to download the pdf (will be pages in the future)
Widen to Current Standards
This is a simple fix, but has big benefits. Currently they’re using 800px wide site template, and by increasing that to the current standard 1024px, we have an extra 200 pixels to play with in terms of sidebars, and calls to actions (once we work those interior pages). Secondly, we increase our ‘above the fold’ space and maximize area for copy, images, etc.
Branding clarification
Redesign: Includes Unique Selling Proposition with Logo. Clearly states what they do.
For most visitors coming from search results or PPC, they don’t know who you are and have never seen your site. Make it clear on your homepage:
- Who you are - software engineers that build embedded software to help with testing application software
- What you do - We make embedded testing software specifically for the avionics, automotive, transportation and medical industries
- What they can do here – buy our software to build better applications
The decision to stay or go is made in a fraction of a second, and if they don’t think you have what they’re looking for, then they’ll jump ship.
That’s it for now. We did discuss more, however this was the short list of items that needed to be addressed sooner than later to increase the conversion rate of this b2b website. I’ll post an update once everything is implemented and we have substantial data.
Special Thanks to Alicia Northup for the honest discussion of their website and how to make it better. Thanks to everyone over at Vector Software, your company for advanced Embedded Software Testing
Related posts:
- Top 10 Best Practices for Guiding Website Leads Through Complex Sales
- Play to your Customer’s Process – MOHELA.com 1 Hour Website Redesign
- 1 Hour Website Redesign
- Think "SEO" from the Beginning of Website Design
- 5 Easy Tips for Better Lead Follow-Up
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Excellent Post. It’s hard to imagine but so many websites do not pass the 5 second test:Can a visitor identify what they sell or do in 5 seconds. Shame on the marketing folks and web designers!.
Excellent post, thanks for letting us peek under the hood. I find with most of my clients the more powerful and automated their backend prequalification and nurturing systems are, the more we can afford to pull back on the # of fields on forms, thus, letting more through the top of the funnel.
Look forward to more of your ‘behind the scenes’ work. Thanks!