Con­ver­sion rate ((num­ber of con­ver­sions / total num­ber of vis­i­tors) * 100) direct­ly reflects a web­site’s abil­i­ty to make vis­i­tors take valu­able actions, whether that means mak­ing a pur­chase, sign­ing up for a newslet­ter, or any oth­er desired out­come. Con­ver­sion rate has a direct impact on rev­enue and prof­itabil­i­ty, and con­ver­sion rate opti­mi­sa­tion (CRO) tac­tics allow busi­ness­es to max­imise their return on invest­ment (ROI).

Since user expe­ri­ence is such an impor­tant fac­tor in con­vert­ing leads, UX and UI efforts are cru­cial for con­ver­sion rate opti­mi­sa­tion (CRO).

By analysing how vis­i­tors inter­act with a web­site and iden­ti­fy­ing bar­ri­ers to con­ver­sion, busi­ness­es can make data-dri­ven improve­ments that not only increase con­ver­sions but also improve over­all user sat­is­fac­tion. This, in turn, can lead to increased cus­tomer loy­al­ty, high­er life­time val­ue, and pos­i­tive word-of-mouth referrals.

This blog will dis­cuss how con­ver­sion rate inter­con­nects with aspects of UX and UI, pro­vid­ing tips for your new CRO strategy:

UX and conversion rate

User expe­ri­ence (UX) encom­pass­es all aspects of the user’s inter­ac­tion with a com­pa­ny, its ser­vices, and its prod­ucts. UX design aims to cre­ate prod­ucts that pro­vide mean­ing­ful and rel­e­vant expe­ri­ences. Its main con­cerns are:

• Usabil­i­ty – How easy and effi­cient it is for users to achieve their goals on the website.
• Acces­si­bil­i­ty – Ensur­ing the web­site is usable by peo­ple of all abil­i­ties and disabilities.
• Infor­ma­tion archi­tec­ture – Struc­tur­ing and organ­is­ing web­site con­tent for ease of use.
• Inter­ac­tion design – Cre­at­ing engag­ing inter­faces with well-thought-out behaviours.

At its best, good UX makes a well-designed e‑commerce site with a straight­for­ward check­out process, intu­itive nav­i­ga­tion, and quick load times. At its worst, a lack of UX design can make a web­site with clut­tered nav­i­ga­tion, slow-load­ing pages, and a con­fus­ing lay­out that frus­trates users.

Let’s con­sid­er how you can enhance your web­site’s con­ver­sion rate through dif­fer­ent ele­ments of UX design:

1. Ease of navigation

When users vis­it a web­site, they typ­i­cal­ly have spe­cif­ic goals in mind, such as find­ing infor­ma­tion, mak­ing a pur­chase, or con­tact­ing the busi­ness. If the web­site’s nav­i­ga­tion is well-designed, users can achieve these goals effi­cient­ly, which enhances their over­all expe­ri­ence and increas­es the like­li­hood of conversion.

A stream­lined and log­i­cal nav­i­ga­tion design helps users find what they need quick­ly, lead­ing to high­er engage­ment and a greater like­li­hood of com­plet­ing desired actions. Web­site own­ers should take an inter­est in some­thing called intu­itive navigation.

Intu­itive nav­i­ga­tion aligns with users’ nat­ur­al behav­iours and expec­ta­tions, mak­ing their jour­ney through the web­site seam­less and enjoyable:

• Users should not have to think hard about where to click next or how to find infor­ma­tion, because a reduced cog­ni­tive load will make things easier.
• A well-designed nav­i­ga­tion bar with clear, con­cise labels and a log­i­cal hier­ar­chy helps users under­stand the site’s struc­ture at a glance, allow­ing them to move from one sec­tion to anoth­er effortlessly.
• Fea­tures such as bread­crumb trails, search bars, and sticky menus fur­ther enhance nav­i­ga­tion by pro­vid­ing users with mul­ti­ple ways to find and access content.

2. Load time

A slow web­site not only frus­trates users but also dimin­ish­es their trust in the brand, mak­ing them less like­ly to con­vert. Fast load times, on the oth­er hand, enhance the user expe­ri­ence by pro­vid­ing imme­di­ate access to con­tent, fos­ter­ing a sense of effi­cien­cy and reli­a­bil­i­ty, which is cru­cial for keep­ing users engaged and encour­ag­ing them to com­plete desired actions.

You can improve page load­ing speeds by:

• Opti­mis­ing images – Com­press and resize images to reduce their file size with­out com­pro­mis­ing their quality.
• Min­imis­ing HTTP requests – Reduce the num­ber of ele­ments on a page that require load­ing, such as scripts, images, and stylesheets.
• Enabling brows­er caching – Store some data local­ly on users’ devices to speed up load times for return­ing visitors.
• Use a Con­tent Deliv­ery Net­work (CDN) – Dis­trib­ute con­tent across mul­ti­ple servers to reduce load times by serv­ing data from loca­tions clos­er to the user.
• Opti­mis­ing code – Mini­fy CSS, JavaScript, and HTML code to reduce file sizes and elim­i­nate unnec­es­sary code.
• Lever­ag­ing asyn­chro­nous load­ing – Allow some ele­ments, like JavaScript, to load asyn­chro­nous­ly so they do not delay the ren­der­ing of the entire page.

UX can fail on the page load­ing speed front if its design empha­sis­es heavy graph­ics, large images, or com­plex ani­ma­tions. Design­ers must bal­ance aes­thet­ic appeal with per­for­mance, opt­ing for opti­mised media and stream­lined ele­ments to ensure quick load­ing. It’s a good idea to imple­ment lazy load­ing (where images and con­tent load as they are need­ed rather than all at once) as this can improve load times with­out sac­ri­fic­ing user experience.

3. Mobile responsiveness

Mobile respon­sive­ness is cru­cial due to the sig­nif­i­cant num­ber of users access­ing web­sites via smart­phones and tablets. A mobile-friend­ly design ensures that a web­site func­tions well on small­er screens, pro­vid­ing a seam­less and intu­itive expe­ri­ence regard­less of the device being used.

Users expect the same lev­el of func­tion­al­i­ty and ease of use on their mobile devices as they do on desk­tops. A web­site that is not opti­mised for mobile can lead to dif­fi­cul­ties such as hard-to-read text, cum­ber­some nav­i­ga­tion, and slow load times, which can frus­trate users and lead to high­er bounce rates.

To achieve a high-qual­i­ty mobile UX, sev­er­al best prac­tices should be followed:

• Respon­sive design – Imple­ment a respon­sive design that auto­mat­i­cal­ly adjusts the lay­out and con­tent based on the screen size and ori­en­ta­tion of the device.
• Sim­pli­fied nav­i­ga­tion – Use a sim­pli­fied nav­i­ga­tion struc­ture, such as a ham­burg­er menu, to ensure easy access to dif­fer­ent sec­tions of the site.
• Opti­mised touch tar­gets – Ensure that but­tons and links are large enough and spaced appro­pri­ate­ly to be eas­i­ly tap­pable on touchscreens.
• Fast load times – Opti­mise images and code to ensure quick load­ing times on mobile networks.
• Read­abil­i­ty – Use larg­er fonts and suf­fi­cient line spac­ing to enhance read­abil­i­ty on small screens.
• Min­imise pop-ups – Avoid intru­sive pop-ups that can be dif­fi­cult to close on mobile devices.

Poor UX deci­sions, such as using non-respon­sive ele­ments or neglect­ing mobile-spe­cif­ic opti­mi­sa­tion, can result in a frus­trat­ing expe­ri­ence where users strug­gle to nav­i­gate or inter­act with the site, lead­ing to increased bounce rates and low­er conversions.

When users can eas­i­ly browse, find infor­ma­tion, and com­plete actions on their mobile devices, they are more like­ly to con­vert. This is par­tic­u­lar­ly impor­tant for e‑commerce sites, where a stream­lined mobile expe­ri­ence can direct­ly influ­ence pur­chas­ing decisions.

4. Content accessibility

Improv­ing con­tent acces­si­bil­i­ty means mak­ing web­site con­tent avail­able and usable for all users, includ­ing those with dis­abil­i­ties. This involves imple­ment­ing design and development

prac­tices that allow indi­vid­u­als with vary­ing abil­i­ties to per­ceive, under­stand, nav­i­gate, and inter­act with the web­site effectively.

Key aspects of con­tent acces­si­bil­i­ty include pro­vid­ing alter­na­tive text for images, ensur­ing suf­fi­cient colour con­trast, using clear and sim­ple lan­guage, and enabling key­board nav­i­ga­tion:

• Scal­able fonts, clear head­ings, and acces­si­ble forms ensure that con­tent is easy to read and inter­act with for users with visu­al impair­ments or cog­ni­tive challenges.
• Cap­tions, tran­scripts, and alter­na­tive text for mul­ti­me­dia con­tent enable users with visu­al and hear­ing impair­ments to access the information.
• Ensur­ing that all inter­ac­tive ele­ments are nav­i­ga­ble via key­board aids users with motor disabilities.

When users can eas­i­ly access and inter­act with con­tent, they are more like­ly to stay on the site longer, explore more pages, and com­plete desired actions, such as fill­ing out forms or mak­ing pur­chas­es. Improved acces­si­bil­i­ty also fos­ters a sense of trust and inclu­siv­i­ty, which can enhance user loy­al­ty and encour­age repeat visits.

As a result, web­sites that pri­ori­tise con­tent acces­si­bil­i­ty often see high­er con­ver­sion rates, as they effec­tive­ly cater to a wider audi­ence and elim­i­nate bar­ri­ers that might pre­vent users from com­plet­ing their goals.

5. Trust and credibility

When users feel con­fi­dent that a web­site is cred­i­ble and trust­wor­thy, they are more like­ly to engage deeply, share per­son­al infor­ma­tion, and make pur­chas­es, there­by increas­ing con­ver­sion rates.

Trust is fos­tered by cre­at­ing a web­site that is not only visu­al­ly appeal­ing but also reli­able, secure, and easy to use. To improve your web­site’s cred­i­bil­i­ty, con­sid­er the fol­low­ing UX design tips:

• Pro­fes­sion­al design – A clean, pro­fes­sion­al design with high-qual­i­ty images and con­sis­tent brand­ing helps estab­lish a strong first impression.
• Secu­ri­ty fea­tures – Vis­i­ble secu­ri­ty indi­ca­tors such as SSL cer­tifi­cates, pri­va­cy poli­cies, and trust badges reas­sure users that their data is protected.
• Clear con­tact infor­ma­tion – Eas­i­ly acces­si­ble con­tact infor­ma­tion, includ­ing phone num­bers, email address­es, and phys­i­cal address­es, enhances trust.
• User tes­ti­mo­ni­als and reviews – Dis­play­ing gen­uine cus­tomer reviews and tes­ti­mo­ni­als pro­vides social proof and rein­forces credibility.
• Trans­paren­cy – Hon­est infor­ma­tion about prod­ucts, ser­vices, pric­ing, and poli­cies reduces uncer­tain­ty and builds trust.
• Easy nav­i­ga­tion – Intu­itive and straight­for­ward nav­i­ga­tion ensures users can find infor­ma­tion eas­i­ly, enhanc­ing their con­fi­dence in the site’s usability.

A web­site with a clut­tered design, incon­sis­tent brand­ing, or dif­fi­cult nav­i­ga­tion can appear unpro­fes­sion­al and unre­li­able, caus­ing users to ques­tion its legit­i­ma­cy and aban­don the site.

By pri­or­i­tiz­ing UX choic­es that build trust and cred­i­bil­i­ty, busi­ness­es can cre­ate a pos­i­tive user expe­ri­ence that not only sat­is­fies cur­rent users but also attracts new ones, lead­ing to high­er con­ver­sion rates. A trust-enhanc­ing UX design is essen­tial for estab­lish­ing a cred­i­ble online pres­ence, fos­ter­ing user con­fi­dence, and dri­ving suc­cess­ful conversions.

UI and conversion rate

User inter­face (UI) refers to the visu­al ele­ments that users inter­act with on a web­site, includ­ing but­tons, icons, lay­out, and over­all aes­thet­ic. It focus­es on the look and feel of the prod­uct. Its main con­cerns are:

• Design – Visu­al appeal, colour schemes, and typog­ra­phy that cre­ate an engag­ing look.
• Lay­out – The arrange­ment of ele­ments on a page, ensur­ing a log­i­cal flow and hierarchy.
• Inter­ac­tiv­i­ty – Inter­ac­tive ele­ments such as but­tons and links that facil­i­tate user actions.
• Con­sis­ten­cy – Main­tain­ing a uni­form design lan­guage through­out the site for a cohe­sive experience.

When UI is done well, web­sites are visu­al­ly appeal­ing, with a clean lay­out, con­sis­tent design ele­ments, and intu­itive icons. When UI is done bad­ly, web­sites may have mis­matched colour schemes, incon­sis­tent font usage, and poor­ly designed inter­ac­tive ele­ments that con­fuse users.

Let’s con­sid­er aspects of UI more deeply to dis­cov­er how they can be har­nessed to boost con­ver­sion rate:

1. Visual appeal

The visu­al appeal of a web­site plays a cru­cial role in cap­tur­ing and retain­ing user inter­est. Aes­thet­ics influ­ence first impres­sions, which are formed with­in mil­lisec­onds of view­ing a site.

An attrac­tive, visu­al­ly pleas­ing web­site can make users feel more com­fort­able and con­fi­dent in the site’s cred­i­bil­i­ty and pro­fes­sion­al­ism. When users are visu­al­ly engaged, they are more like­ly to explore the site fur­ther, inter­act with its ele­ments, and ulti­mate­ly con­vert by com­plet­ing desired actions such as mak­ing a pur­chase or sign­ing up for a service.

While aes­thet­ics are impor­tant, web­site own­ers must bal­ance design with func­tion­al­i­ty to ensure that the visu­al ele­ments do not hin­der usabil­i­ty. Over­ly com­plex designs with exces­sive ani­ma­tions or intri­cate graph­ics can slow down the site and con­fuse users, lead­ing to frus­tra­tion and abandonment.

Con­sid­er the fol­low­ing advice:

• Select a cohe­sive colour scheme that aligns with the brand’s identity.
• Use fonts, colours, and imagery consistently.
• Ensure images and design ele­ments are high-qual­i­ty, clean, and professional.
• Opti­mise images so that they do not com­pro­mise load times or navigation.
• Use white­space effec­tive­ly to reduce clutter.
• Make CTAs obvious.

2. Consistency in design

A con­sis­tent UI rein­forces brand iden­ti­ty, mak­ing the web­site more mem­o­rable and trust­wor­thy to users. This fos­ters loy­al­ty and encour­ages repeat vis­its, con­vey­ing a pro­fes­sion­al and rep­utable brand.

Con­sis­tent UI helps boost con­ver­sions because:

• It pro­vides a sta­ble and pre­dictable inter­face, mak­ing nav­i­ga­tion and inter­ac­tion effortless.
• Famil­iar ele­ments reduce con­fu­sion and frus­tra­tion, encour­ag­ing users to explore and engage more with the site.
• Uni­form nav­i­ga­tion menus and lay­out struc­tures help users eas­i­ly find infor­ma­tion and com­plete actions.
• Incon­sis­tent UI choic­es, like vary­ing but­ton styles or dif­fer­ent font sizes, dis­rupt the user expe­ri­ence and appear unprofessional.
• A con­sis­tent UI stream­lines the user jour­ney, allow­ing focus on con­tent and key actions with­out distractions.

Con­sis­ten­cy in design involves using uni­form visu­al and func­tion­al ele­ments across all pages of a web­site, includ­ing colours, fonts, but­ton styles, and lay­out structures.

3. Effective call-to-actions (CTAs)

A well-designed CTA is visu­al­ly strik­ing and clear­ly com­mu­ni­cates the action users should take. Key design ele­ments include:

• Con­trast and colour – Use colours that stand out against the back­ground to make the CTA but­ton eas­i­ly noticeable.
• Size and shape – Ensure the but­ton is large enough to be eas­i­ly click­able but not over­whelm­ing and use shapes that draw atten­tion, such as round­ed corners.
• Text clar­i­ty – Use clear, con­cise, and action-ori­ent­ed lan­guage that tells users exact­ly what will hap­pen when they click the but­ton, such as “Buy Now” or “Get Started”.

The place­ment and word­ing of CTAs are cru­cial. For opti­mal results, web­site own­ers should consider:

• Above the fold – Plac­ing key CTAs in the vis­i­ble area with­out requir­ing users to scroll enhances vis­i­bil­i­ty and encour­ages imme­di­ate action.
• Prox­im­i­ty to rel­e­vant con­tent – Posi­tion­ing CTAs near rel­e­vant infor­ma­tion or prod­uct descrip­tions ensures users can eas­i­ly take action after engag­ing with the content.
• Use of urgency and val­ue – Incor­po­rat­ing words that cre­ate a sense of urgency (e.g., “Lim­it­ed Time Offer”) or high­light the val­ue (e.g., “Free Tri­al”) can moti­vate users to act quickly.

Thought­ful UI choic­es in the design, place­ment, and word­ing of CTAs are essen­tial for max­imis­ing their effec­tive­ness and boost­ing con­ver­sion rates. By cre­at­ing visu­al­ly appeal­ing, strate­gi­cal­ly placed, and clear­ly word­ed CTAs, web­site own­ers can effec­tive­ly guide users towards com­plet­ing desired actions, enhanc­ing the over­all user expe­ri­ence and dri­ving high­er conversions.

Common UX/UI mistakes

To ensure your new strat­e­gy goes off with­out a hitch, con­sid­er the fol­low­ing com­mon mis­takes. These errors will be noticed by site vis­i­tors and dam­age your oth­er efforts:

1. Over­load­ing with visu­als – Using exces­sive images, videos, or ani­ma­tions that slow load times and over­whelm users.
2. Incon­sis­tent design ele­ments – Fail­ing to main­tain uni­form fonts, colours, and but­ton styles across the site, lead­ing to a dis­joint­ed user experience.
3. Poor nav­i­ga­tion struc­ture – Design­ing com­plex or unclear nav­i­ga­tion menus that make it dif­fi­cult for users to find infor­ma­tion quickly.
4. Neglect­ing mobile opti­mi­sa­tion – Not ensur­ing the web­site is ful­ly respon­sive and func­tion­al on mobile devices, result­ing in a poor mobile user experience.
5. Weak CTAs – Using low-con­trast, vague, or poor­ly posi­tioned call-to-action but­tons that fail to grab atten­tion and encour­age user action.
6. Lack of acces­si­bil­i­ty fea­tures – Over­look­ing acces­si­bil­i­ty needs, such as alt text for images, suf­fi­cient colour con­trast, and key­board nav­i­ga­tion options.
7. Slow load times – Not opti­mis­ing images, code, or serv­er per­for­mance, lead­ing to slow page loads that frus­trate users and increase bounce rates.

UX and UI design real­ly suc­ceed when user needs, behav­iours, and pref­er­ences are at the cen­tre of the strat­e­gy. Make sure you con­sid­er what will feel good and com­pelling for them, and you can’t go wrong.

Giv­ing your web­site a makeover is a sol­id strat­e­gy if you wish to boost its con­ver­sion rate. Don’t for­get to keep things sim­ple and be con­sid­er­ate of your audience.