These 6 tweaks I made to my Squarespace website helped conversions

Over the last few years, I've studied and collected tons of information on how to make a website conversion-friendly. In other words, conversion-friendly is all about preparing your website so that visitors turn into subscribers.

It's not just about putting up a lead-magnet or sign up to my newsletter form, which of course are important. But you need to pave the way with these other strategies so the reader will want to subscribe.

Now, knowing all the info is one thing. But implementing is another. So today, I want to share with you the 6 changes I actually implemented on my Squarespace Website that helped me to improve my website conversions. 

I invite you to assess your own site and see if you need to make any of these changes to your site to improve your website conversions. 

Watch the video to see examples and
case studies from other sites for all 6 tweaks

So here are those six tweaks I made on my website:

1. I changed all my links to be of the same color:

This is something I learnt a couple years ago from Derek Halpern of Social Triggers. It made sense to me. When we have different link colors, the experience for the reader is discord and disharmony. Our eyes are trained to see patterns.

So bank on that behavioral fact and make all your links to have the same color. This unified look will give cohesion and clarity to your site and trains the eye to easily know what is "clickable". 

Pro-tip: Choose a color for your links that stands out from the rest of the font colors on your site.
Pro-tip: Apply this rule to all buttons and anything clickable. 
Pro-tip: Carry over this rule into your emails where buttons and links are of the same color as those on your site for links.

These are examples from my blog as of June 14th, 2018: 

Here you see an excerpt of my blog summary on my home page. I've got the clickable headline in mango-yellow. And the Read More link is also in mango-yellow.

Here you see my Blog sidebar. Notice that all the category links are in a unified color.

Also my invite to my weekly newsletter is wrapped in a mango-yellow circle.

Here is a screenshot of my Live Workshops page. Notice the button is in mango-yellow.

On my work with page, I have yet another button. You can see that "Start this package" button is in a button that has a mango-yellow border.

Same thing I repeated with the purchase buttons on my "Create a Website that Converts" Live Workshop page. You see the repetitive mango-yellow and they are all clickable.

Here's a screenshot of my top navigation. You can see that upon hovering over each option, the link color turns mango-yellow. And of course, the text logo on the upper-left and the button on the upper-right are both clickable and have mango-yellow to create a harmonious user-experience.

2. I reduced my top navigation to four tabs

I streamlined my top navigation with only four page choices: Portfolio, Blog, Work With Me and Live Workshops. All of them have interlaced purposes. I want my Portfolio to show that I can build Squarespace Websites so that folks will want to Work with Me. My Blog also helps to build credibility and demonstrate my expertise which leads folks to either work with me or join my Live Workshops. I am working on integrating my Portfolio within my Work with Me page so it will go down to three and make room for a value-giving lead magnet instead.

Below you can see my top navigation has only four options:

Right now, my footer navigation is a bit overcrowded. But I am on my way to fixing it and want to streamline it as well.

You will also see that there are no drop-downs. I find them a bit cumbersome and sometimes even counter-productive when they end up overlapping on top of other menu items.

Having fewer options to click makes it easier to for the viewer to make choices and move forward with interacting with your site. You can always put more details nested within the umbrella pages.

If you do need to have very distinct pages all at once in a at - glance view, have them in the footer in a neat and logical list. I encourage you to find more cleaner and streamlined ways to organize your pages. In the video I show some good example of orderly footers. I am taking my own advice and working on streamlining my footer navigation is on my task list!

3. I have a logical CTA on each page (as much as possible)

I made an effort to have calls to action (CTA) embedded on each page as much as possible. Each page of your site needs to graciously move the conversation forward. For example, once people have read your About page, what should they do next? After they have read your blog article, what's the next step. Ask this question when crafting each page of your site and you will create a natural flow to keep your visitor moving forward. Call-to-actions can be anything that makes the person click and helps them move forward in exploring your content and connecting with you. Some examples of CTA: Read more, Hire me, Check out the blog, Sign up to the newsletter.

My next goal is to bring a CTA above the fold. Above the fold essentially means, to the top part of your page on the screen, before you need to scroll down. I still have this to do on most of my pages. It is a work in progress - the work is always getting more and more refined over time!

4. I have a blog that is filled with useful content

This is really key to making your website conversion-friendly. Why? Because a blog helps you stand out, shows that you can help people solve a particular problem and builds trust. Whether its written content, audio podcast, video tutorial or a combination of it all, a blog is one of the most important things on your website. It makes people come back to your site repeatedly.

Your blog content sets you apart as an expert, an authority, as someone who knows what they are talking about. It is your digital content that serves as the window to your business. Create content. Create consistent content. That's key. Sean McCabe at the 2017 Craft and Commerce Conference said that as soon as we started writing daily, the income in his business sky rocketed. Take a look at this photo below of one of his slides where he points out how his revenue increased when he began writing daily. Here are some meaningful things I learnt from Sean McCabe in my blog post No. 025.

Consistent can mean different things to different people. Pick a frequency and keep at it. Weekly, twice a month or monthly - whatever it is Pick it and stick to it. 

For over a year, I blogged weekly but burnt out and had a gap for a while. This didn't help my business.

Now I am back, with a stronger and better approach to creating content and so far I have been doing well with a new weekly publication - every Thursdays! 

Want to receive my Thursday emails? You can sign up here. 

So, yes, creating content is muy importante. Please consider putting up a blog if you don't have already and start publishing content. It would be a wise move on your part.

5. I personalized my about page:

I still come across sites where I see nothing about the creator or the human behind the website. People buy from people. We like to know who we are dealing with. People are always eager to find out who is this person behind this organization or behind this site. Add an about page.

And then don't be afraid to show your personal side. At least add one photo - and choose a photo that reflects the mood you want to project to your audience.

Ex. I chose a photo of me with a kitty - why? for two reasons. I love cats and that’s a huge part of my life - I have seven cats and my dream is to fund animal shelters in places that don’t have any. And two, my brand is about friendly expertise that I share with the main purpose of helping my readers.

That’s why the mango-yellow is a big part of my site branding. I did not choose a photo of me in a suit sitting behind a desk working on my computer. That’s not the image I want to give.

Also, you’ll see lots of trees and nature and landscape on my site - that’s part of a very intentional choice. I love nature but do spend 8 to 10 hours behind the screen. And so do my readers and my clients. I want to give them a chance to experience nature at least visually through my site. Nature also represents wisdom and quiet strength. And that is what I want to bring to my clients under all of the tech and the strategy, my goals is that with all that help people will be able to have a peaceful, thriving life where they act from compassion and wisdom. Not very common for a business that is so tech oriented but that’s a big part of me.

6.  I added a location

This may not seem important but it is important. Every website should state where it is located. This helps people have an anchor in their minds. I often like to know where my clients are based or where they are if they are traveling.

My mind makes an invisible connection with that place and I know that’s where my client is. Otherwise people are just floating in the vast internet space and that is very unnerving for us earth-bound creatures. Don’t you think so?

Adding a location also adds character and personality to the site. If you are a business based in London or one that's based in Perth or one that is based in the deep forests of the Appalachain Range in North Carolina (that's me), you will each have a different vibe. It's important to bring that flavor.

I choose to not have cityscapes and gorgeous street art graffiti in my photo choices on my site because I live inside a national forest. I have wall-to-wall green, lush trees to look at - so I feel my site should emanate that vibe.

There you go. Now it's your turn!

These are just a few of the tweaks that I made on my website that has made it more conversion-friendly. My clients have found me because of the blogs that I have written and videos on YouTube that helped them solve a problem. And people are registering for my workshops. This is evidence to me that things are on the right track.

If you've got all these tweaks down and your site is working well for you, congrats. 

But if not, and you want to transform your website into one that converts, 

And learn those tips and strategies in an afternoon, then you are invited to my live workshop.

I'm hosting a live workshop, "Create a Website that Converts". 

Get all the dates, details and registration info here.

Thanks for being here,

Sophia

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