Whether or not you have you recently updated your website, your conversions are likely not where you want them to be. It can be difficult finding the proper balance that your visitors are looking for that will lead them to convert. It requires a well-designed site and attention to detail throughout the entire website redesign process. This can be even more difficult if you haven’t made a solid website redesign checklist to track your progress.

We understand the difficulty of this process and have decided to put together another website redesign checklist. However, this time we are going to be focusing on design principles that lead to higher conversion rates. After all, the point of your website is not just to get people to your site, but to turn them into customers, right? That is what we are help you to do. Let’s get into it.

Setting goals

The first step with any website redesign checklist is figuring out what is going to go on said list. This is where you are going to set goals for yourself and what you hope to accomplish with this website redesign. Be prepared to do some critical and potentially unpleasant digging into what makes your site tick, you might not always be happy with what you find.

But, without these goals and without this process, you wouldn’t know which way to go. Ask yourself some questions, such as:

•      Are my visitors bouncing from my site to another one?
•      How much time do they spend on a typical page?
•      Can my calls-to-action be more clear and obvious?
•      Am I doing enough A/B testing?
•      What is the ideal interaction with my site?

The last question is where most of your inspiration will come from. Think to yourself, if my website had one job or one thing that users should do, what would it be? Now, how can you make sure that they actually do that.

Make a list of the answers to these questions and goals that you have. Now you are ready to get started.

Website redesign principles

Now that you have laid out your goals and plan of action we can move on to the design principles you are going to use in your website redesign checklist to improve your site’s conversion rate and performance. Keep in mind the ideal interaction for your site as you review these principles.

Put your calls-to-action inside a container

You need to distinguish your most important page elements at any chance you can get. By placing your calls-to-action within a container, given the right design, it will be much more difficult for your visitors to ignore. The header, content, and other elements of the page are simply supporting elements. The most important part of the page is the call-to-action or CTA.

When you are designing your CTA, make sure that it passes what is known as the “squint test.” You can read more about it, but essentially you should be able to know which part of the page is most important even while squinting.

Employ color theory and contrast psychology

When it comes to the typical website redesign checklist, color is one of the most talked about and most popular choices when it comes to testing. However, without the right understanding of color theory and contrast psychology, it can be meaningless.

First of all, what does it mean when we say contrast psychology? You might be more familiar with the term A/B testing, but the concept is the same. With your CTAs it is very easy to contrast different colors or fonts to see which works better for achieving your desired results.

As far as color theory goes, Kissmetrics has created a wonderful infographic to work from. Essentially, it’s not so much whether a button looks or performs better when it’s red instead of blue, it comes down to what those colors convey. For instance, while yellow is optimistic and youthful, black is powerful and sleek. If you were to use black instead of yellow on a CTA, it will have a much different connotation to your visitors.

Use directional cues to point out your CTAs

Directional cues are an important aspect that many miss when they approach their website redesign checklist. You know those arrows that are always pointing you to a “buy” or “sign-up” button? There’s a reason for that.

Like we said, the most important part of your site is converting your visitors, so why not make it obvious? Now while there are a few ways to do this incorrectly, it is going to be different depending on the look and feel of your site as it stands already. Consult with your designer and see what the best options are for including directional cues in your website redesign checklist.

Utilize whitespace

Forcing your visitors to have to play hide and seek on your site is a surefire way to never convert customer. Like we said in the previous section, this is the most important aspect of your site, it should be obvious. This is a great time to utilize whitespace on your site.

For example, if you have extra space on the side of your page, consider putting a CTA there. Or, you can place a CTA outside of the normal website grid so that it pops out at visitors and presents a clear path to conversion.

The most important part to remember when working with whitespace is that too much of it is not a good thing. Too much whitespace is often called negative space and can distract from the rest of the design. Find the right balance of whitespace for your site and make it work for you!

Establish a clear visual hierarchy

The final piece of our website redesign checklist is to establish a clear visual hierarchy on your site. By creating a powerful visual hierarchy, your visitors should never have to ask where to find something on your site. This part is all about setting and then meeting visitor expectations on your site for maximum conversions.

Companies and individuals who have employed some form of the visual hierarchy have seen significant results from doing so. If you are looking for tips on how to do this on your own site, check out this article from Tutsplus.

Now that you have the tools you need for your website redesign checklist, it is up to you to make a change and make a difference. As more visitors come to your site, you are going to want to continue improving the site and making sure everything flows. This is not a one-time thing, but an almost never-ending process to turn your website into a self-sustaining conversion machine. Are you ready? Let’s go!

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