How well does your website convert users?
Posted in Design, Process, User Experience
Maybe you already have a website or maybe you are planning out a new one. In either case, you need to spend some time and thought on defining conversions.
What is a conversion you ask? A conversion happens when a user on your site takes an action that you intended. If you have an eCommerce site, and a visitor makes a purchase on your site, that’s a conversion.
Light vs Heavy
Now that we know what a conversion is, let’s talk about Heavy Conversions and Light Conversions.
A Heavy Conversion is an action that takes a lot from the user, such as a purchase, filling out a contact form, or becoming a member of your site. Typically, a Heavy Conversion requires the user to give something up, such as money.
A Light Conversion, in contrast, is one that requires very little from the user. Some examples of Light Conversions might be the time spent on the site or requesting a whitepaper.
Let’s face it, we all love the Heavy Conversions, but we need to remember the Light Conversions as well. If you pay attention to the Light Conversions, you can change your tactics and increase the amount of Heavy Conversions you get from your website.
The 3:1 Rule
As a rule of thumb, you should always have at least 3 Light Conversions for every 1 Heavy Conversion. The Light Conversions must back up or contradict the Heavy Conversion as well.
A Light Conversion that backs up the Heavy Conversion will show users are aware of your Heavy Conversion, but they need some more convincing. Whereas a Light Conversion that contradicts the Heavy Conversion will tell you that users are not aware or completely uninterested in what your Heavy Conversion is offering.