Every marketer knows how much traffic they’re getting because it’s right there in your analytics. But what happens next isn’t as obvious.

That’s why giving advice for driving traffic is easy, but web design tips are hard.

Websites are two things: containers and content.

The container is two things: structure and style.

Let’s start with the first.

1. Leverage a visual hierarchy

Visual hierarchy refers to the arrangement, size, color, and contrast of visual elements.

Web designers use visual hierarchy to guide visitors' attention to important elements first.
The website layout includes the position (high or low on the page), sizes (big or small), visuals (video, images, icons), and contrast (color and white space).

Combining aspects multiplies their effect.

Everyone will see a large video, high on the page. Few people will see low-contrast text surrounded by images.

Put a keyphrase-focused headline at the top of the page.

Rather than write a fancy, but vague headline, write something descriptive. Make sure that you explain what the company does high up on the page, above the fold.

2. Mimic landing page design

Make it a tall page.

More pixels mean more space to answer questions, address objections & add supportive evidence. If the visitor doesn’t find an answer to an important question, they can simply keep moving down the page.

3. Show one thing at a time

“I like clean, modern designs.”

That’s what most of our clients tell us when we begin web design projects. They often refer to Apple’s website as an example.

Visitors don’t like clutter. We like whitespace.

In other words, we like low visual complexity.

4. Stick to standard layouts

The “standard” website with high prototypicality includes the following:

Logo in the top left
Horizontal navigation in the header
The search bar at the top
Social icons at the bottom (AKA footer)
Mobile responsive design

5. Don't fall for "false bottoms"

Modern marketing websites, especially sales pages, are built with page blocks.

These are rows of content, often with an image on one side and text on the other, flowing down the page in a single column.

But if the design has a page block with a dark background, the visitor might think they’ve hit the bottom and stop scrolling.

It’s a false bottom.

6. Avoid carousels

They’ve been popular for years and clients love them. But there is a problem with the homepage slideshow: visitors might only see the first slide.

So what to do instead?

Stack the slides, so the visitor can see each by scrolling down the page.

They will suddenly become much more visible.

Use a featured image, using the one most impactful slide as the hero.

Give it a good CTA

7. Avoid tabs and accordions

Yes, we all love how cool they look BUT they don't convert.

If tabs and expandable accordions were effective, you’ll probably see them on Amazon. But you don't.

Remember, scrolling is faster and easier than clicking.

8. Use people's pictures

Faces are uniquely powerful imagery. The magnetic power of people's pictures is very useful in web design.

Not only do faces draw attention, but they also correlate with conversion.

Make sure your website doesn’t look like a "souless spaceship”.

9. Use faces as visual cues

People pictures give you a special opportunity to guide the visitor's attention.

The famous “you look where they look” phenomenon.

10. Use arrows as visual Cues

Faces can guide attention, but they aren’t the only way to control the eyes of your visitors. Little hand-drawn arrows may be even more effective.

If you want your visitors to look at something, point at it with an arrow.

11. Use color to guide visitors’ attention toward a CTA

Colors have emotional connotations (red is urgent, blue is calm) and they’re part of brand standards.

But they are also opportunities to pull the visitors eye toward buttons and CTAs.

If you want your button to be more visually prominent:

> Contrast the button color with the background
> Contrast the button color and the button text
> Contrast the button color with nearby elements on the page (or leave plenty of white space around it)

12. Be descriptive with your navigation

Visitors typically start their visit by scanning across the header.

When the navigation labels are generic, you’ve missed a chance to tell the visitors what you do.

Example 1 - Products / Services / About / Contact


Example 2 - Web Design / Branding / Social Media ---------- About / Contact

If you do have a home link, put it on the left. It’s the most common place for it, so visitors expect to find it there.

13. Be careful linking to anything on other websites

Whenever relevant, link to things that help the visitor reach their goals.

On a blog post, that’s often a citation of a source or link to external references.

But on service pages & homepage, you should link away to other sites with caution. For any page optimized to convert visitors into leads, ask yourself:

Does it help you reach your conversion goals?

14. Avoid using social media icons in your header

Likewise, colorful social media icons in your header aren’t great for your goals.

If visitors click on any of those candy-colored buttons, they land on a site filled with distractions. They are unlikely to come back.

15. Write meaningful subheads

Vague subheads are everywhere.

Make sure that the big things are meaningful and helpful to visitors.

If your subheaders say things like “products” or “services,” ask yourself if a more descriptive term would be more helpful.


16. Avoid long line length

Long, lengthy paragraphs do not align with digital content best practices.

Short is better

17. Use simple words.

The easier it is the read, the more successful the website will be.

Use the common words that visitors expect.

Long sentences and fancy words force the temporal lobe to work harder. That’s not good.

18. List Order and “Serial Position Effect”

When ordering any lists within your copy, put the important stuff at the beginning and end.

The reader’s’ attention and retention are lowest in the middle of any list.

As visitors scan the page, the first and the last items are most likely to stay in short-term memory.

19. Answer the top questions of visitors

The main job of the website is to answer those questions.

Every unanswered question is a missed opportunity to build trust.

Unanswered questions also increase the likelihood that the visitor will leave.

20. Add evidence & social proof

The “conformity bias” is the human tendency to do what other people are doing.

So giving evidence that others have selected you makes choosing your company to seem like a good choice.

The goal is to make any decision other than using your company seem outside the norm.

21. Mention scarcity, trigger “loss aversion”

Humans are not efficient cost/benefit calculators.

We tend to overvalue losses and undervalue gains.

> Emphasize the costs of not using your product or service.
> Group costs together, list benefits separately.
> Emphasize immediate gains.
> Create urgency with limited-time offers. If the product is scarce, say so.

22. More than just a pretty site

Everyone loves cool new design features.

But as visitors, we need more than beauty.

We need information. And as website owners, we need results.

As web designers, our goal is to help your visitor find what they came for, and then give them what you want them to have.

If you need a professional website that converts prospects like CRAZY.

Send me a DM.

DM Me!