Best Practices for Increasing User Conversion

Ashkaan KhatakhotanAspiring UX Design and Developer

OverviewWhy is this important?

Increasing new user conversionBuilding brand trust Increasing perceived valueCalls to actionUser onboarding process

Wrapping up / Questions

Importance?Successful companies follow similar patterns

across these different areas

Companies need users to buy in to stay afloat, and by optimizing user conversion you have increase profits

By following certain practices you can lower your cost of customer acquisition while converting more customers

In todays competitive market following these steps can give you a edge on the competition

So how can we do this?

Building Brand TrustSurvey of 1000 US consumers finds that 88%

are at least “a little” worried about data privacy (GfK.com)

We need to understand consumer concerns to help implement smarter solutions to build trust

Don’t: Rely on consumers to believe your words

Where is the proof?

Lacking name or uniqueness

Consumers will not just take you at your word.You need to provide them with evidence.

Try: Using social proofWhat is it?

Phenomenon where people assume the actions of others to gauge what to do in a given situation

We are hardwired to learn from others It’s the new way of marketingConsumers trust social proof 12X MORE than

manufacturer description

Different kindsExpert, Celebrity, Crowds, Friends

Using social proof cont.Wow, look at all these tweets

150,000?! And I recognize these brands

Try: Humanizing your brand“People connect to humans – not logos” – Amy

Jo Martin, CEO Digital Royalty

Appealing to customers on a human level is increasingly important

A little human touch gives your brand a sense of transparency, engagement, and honesty

Social media must be leveraged

Humanizing your brand contLook at these happy people

The people behind the product

The face of the company

Don’t: Ask for data without providing justification for it

Are you going to spamme if I give this email?Probably.

If you do not provide a valid reason to ask forvisitor information this will be a huge turn-off

Try: Explicitly stating how you will and will not use information

They say why you should give an email.And that they won’t spam me. Nice!

Everyone recognizes that check.Helps me believe my info will be safe.

Don’t: Drown users with ads and noise

“Less than 25% of online consumers trust ads” – Carlton Doty, VP of Forrester Research

Try: Telling a clear story

A clean narrative tells meabout the company, the productand why I should trust them.

Don’t: Try and attract users with “30-day” trials

Read the fine print.Almost got me…

Still has a place.But consumers are nowrightfully wary.

Dishonest companies makeit notoriously hard to cancelthese trial offers.

Try: Allowing instant accessibility

So… you don’t need anything from me?I can just start playing around?Awesome!

Helps cultivate a level of engagement with your users before trying to upsell them.

Increase Perceived Value

Need your visitors to see the value of your product as greaterthan the value of the money or information they need to give upto get it.

Don’t: Force your user to sign up right away

This example again? Yes, its that bad.I want to see some of these 70% of deals before I commit anything.Why? Because I value a clean inbox over deals I can’t see.

Try: Using freemium model

How inviting!

Lets the users come in a see what you have to offer,which gives you a chance to upsell them later on allyour amazing features and products!

Try: Clearly communicating and remind users about the benefits of premium access

All I have to do is give an emailFor this great information?

Wow look at all those features!

Giving free access can be agreat way to attract a lot ofusers, but you need tocontinuously remind themwhat they are missing out on.

Call(s) to Action

You need to give your visitors and users a clearindication of what they should do next.

Don’t: Have an unclear CTA

Wait? So what do you want me to do?I’m out of here.

Don’t: Let your CTA be boring and impersonal

Yawn.. So what is it you do again?

Your CTA should give a sense of what your product is,why you should use it, and get visitors excited about starting

Another Example

Why oh why are you using THREE different search bars instead of a filter

This makes it very unclear what you want me to do from here.

Try: Making your CTA prominent and personable

Ahh much better: clean, visually pleasing, and one clear CTA.

Using a combination of visuals and short but sweet text Is a good way to send an unambiguous message to visitors about what to do next.

Another Example

My eye is immediately drawn to the Call to Action

Within 5 seconds I know what the product is and what they want me to do next.

Don’t: Show your CTA in one place

Well that was a good pitch… but now I am unsure how to proceed so… see ya!

Ensure that you have multiple CTAs across different pages or evenon the same page so that If visitors lose site of your initial CTA theycan still know how to proceed.

Try: Repeating your CTA

Okay well know that I knowwhat your all about I can go hereor here to proceed

Try: Placing your CTA on relevant pages

Well I am not ready to commitbut I’ll look around

Wow what a deal lets check it out!

If I am willing to click instantbook I am probably willing to atleast sign up

You need to align your CTA with the content of thepage or the stage of the sales cycle the user is at.

Onboarding new users

This is the process by which you can help users quickly and easily sign up,Learn an unfamiliar interface, convey benefits, and overcome a blank profile.

Don’t: Overcomplicate your formNo way I am filling all this out…..

Initial sign up forms should only gather absolutely necessary information.Everything else can be gathered later when the users engagement is higher.

Yahoo’s sign up now

Wow, so much cleaner.

Try: Exposing, simplying & validating form fields

All you need is an email and password?I’m in!

40% of US consumers prefer social login over creating new/guest accounts

Inline validation also helps reduce errors and progressesthe onboarding process.

Don’t: Have a lengthy tutorial

13 steps for a note taking app?! Are you kidding?

You don’t need to teach your new users everything at once.Just teach them the basics to get them started and everythingelse will come later. This will help reduce friction.

Try: Getting your users to the “Wow” moment as soon as

possible

Optimizely lets users start testing without so much as an email.The “Wow” moment is when new users realize that all you need to do tolaunch manage and track a test is a single line of embedded code.That really is WOW!

The “Wow” moment comes when the key benefits of your appbecome clear to the user, and the value they garner is much greater than the effort they put in.

Don’t: Try and teach everything at once

Your fooling yourself if you think anyone is reading that…

Why not mention a few basic things that I can do at first to get me started.Too many options may lead to none at all being taken.

Try: Exposing user to key featuresScreen overlays are a good way drawing my attention to a few key features.

And it’s nice that theyprompt me on what to donext.

Try: Customizing the user experience off the bat

Avoid the issue of the blank slate profile.You can do this by providing a walk through ofkey steps users need to take to begin theirexperience.

Pintrest requires you to like a few things And pin something before releasing you intoThe wild.

Wrapping UpNo one thing will make or break a your user

conversion

Some tradeoffs inevitably will need to be made, make sure that the pattern you try is most applicable to your company

There is a common theme of what the best practices are but they can change quickly – look at UI from even 2 years ago