The 7 Principles of Conversion Centered Design [SlideShare]

In order to hit lofty lead and customer goals, marketers rely on creating well-optimized site pages, landing pages, and calls-to-action.

But what happens when creating those -- and optimizing them through some A/B testing of form length, button copy, etc. -- isn't enough?

We often turn to what other companies are doing to optimize their sites when we really want to juice the numbers. But looking to other companies can be really detrimental if we start to over-obsess over certain tactics -- those specific tactics might only work for them, or heck, maybe they just look good but aren't even driving any real business.

This is when it becomes helpful to step back and learn the general principles we should be following to inform our optimization efforts. Fortunately, our friends at KissMetrics and Unbounce have identified seven of those principles -- what they've called the principles of conversion centered design. These principles will allow you to create your own unique method for driving conversion rates and marketing success. Take a look at what they've found so you can provide a better experience to your site visitors, and improve your conversion rates as a result.

The 7 Elements of Conversion Centered Design

Principle #1: Attention Ratio

This is the ratio of interactive elements (links) on a page to the number of campaign conversion goals -- which is always one. The takeaway here is to focus people's attention on the one action you want them to make. 

Principle #2: Conversion Coupling

This is the bond that exists between the pre-click experience and the corresponding post-click landing experience. It's critical you understand the relationship between your advertisement and the target page so you can create a natural design match, and message match.

Principle #3: Contextual Design

This is an experience that demonstrates awareness of a visitor's environment and showcases the offer as it applies to its use in that environment. Create an experience that makes contextual sense for the visitor.

Principle #4: Congruent Design

Align all of the elements of your page to produce a cohesive message. Congruent design aligns every single page element so they all work together -- not against each other.

Principle #5: Clarity

Create a simple, easily digestible, delightful experience. The easier it is to understand who you are and what you do, the more likely it is you'll encourage conversion and visitors will keep your brand in mind for future opportunities.

Principle #6: Credibility

Use trust signals, transparency, and verifiable social commentary. If you establish trust so people believe in your brand and messages, it should help increase conversions.

Principle #7: Conversion Continuance

Find opportunities to ask new contacts or leads for an additional conversion. These opportunities come through things like kickback emails, thank you pages, registration confirmations, etc.