Web Design Success Formula – Literally!

Web Design Success Formula: The primary goal of a website design is being able to get visitors onto the site and then convert the visits into leads or sales. We were thinking about a little while ago and after working on dozens of websites we read about a literal formula for successful website design and felt it would be funny and useful to share it with you.

The Web Design Success Formula was derived from a company called Marketing Experiments and is

C= 4M + 3V – 2(i-f) + 2A

The interpretation of this formula is as follows:

• C is for Conversion. This is the factor that a website visitor would convert from being a mere passerby to an active part of the business as a lead or a client. One of the ways a conversion happens is by filling out a form or going through one’s shopping cart. This is the totality of all the other factors put together to see if the visitor becomes a client in the long run.

• M is for Motivation. This is the consideration when pages are created to motivate the visitor into being engaged on the side. This is often done by providing tidbits of advice and information, especially in social media sites to bring them into your own site. This can also be done through banner advertisements or through content management activities such as article submissions or forum posting.

• V is for the Value Statement. This is the factor which measures how well the site communicates the product/service compared to other competitors. This is where the unique selling points and other product information is shared to inform the client of the qualities and benefits provided by the product/services.

• I is for Incentive. Incentivization is the act of providing benefit to the client to engage them to utilize the site and the offers provided. This is often done by providing freebies and other giveaways but the most effective ones are stating that this is a limited offer as well as having a specific time limit for the offer to be available for the market.

• F is for Friction. These are items found on the web page that can derail or hassle your site visitor. Examples of these would be very long contact forms, compulsory fields as well as a cluttered or slow loading website. Because of these factors, the visitor may decrease the likelihood of availing what is on the site and it offers. Thus it is best to remove the friction from the site as possible and retain useful and engaging information on the site.

• A is for Anxiety. This is often a security issue on the site, such as obtaining and handling sensitive information. These kinds of information include email addresses, credit card information and login details. Many site newbies would be mistrusting at first as to sharing such secret data, but a simple reassurance page can allay their fears and a promise that their information would not be used for any other purpose, then this anxiety can be put to rest.

The bottom line of the web design success formula

While this is the math involved in website design conversion, there is still a need to go back to the basics in website design.

1. The overall look and design must be clean and fluid. When the site is haphazardly done, the conversion rates would surely fall too as there is no engagement or even attention held by the unkempt website design.
2. The content, as well as the design, must be professional. This means that the suitability of the overall design as to the target market would determine if the same is professionally crafted. Depending on the taste, mood, and preferences of the target market, the overall website design needs to be attuned and professionally executed.
3. The content must be functional. The functional aspect of the content would be the usability of the buttons and links as well as having engaging and useful content on the site. When the content is non-functional, then expect the decrease in conversion rates, as well as the site visitor, hits in the long run.