Design isn't about looking Pretty
There's a world of people that think design is simply about making something look good. Thank God James Archer isn't one of them. Like many of my other designer friends, he proclaims (to any who will listen) that great design solves real (and challenging) problems.
On a recent project James worked on (as Forty has become part of Crowd Favorite), he designed several pages for a growing Boys & Girls Club. The site looks great, but that's not the important thing.
The important thing requires that you understand the goal of the site (and if you don't know the goal of your own site, you should get some help…more on that later). In this case, the goal was to raise funds. So there were lots of ways people could find the “donate” button.
James solved a series of problems using design, and the result was fantastic. Our client told us that they'd raised the most money they ever had on their first month after launch.
James is used to that, because another site he worked on, this time a resort, shared with him that their bookings were going thru the roof, after the new relaunch. And another quintupled their revenue after he was done with their design.
[Tweet “You need designs that do more than “look pretty”. You need them to convert.”]
You need designs that do more than “look pretty”. You need them to convert. You need designs that solve real problems.
Here are some designer recommendations…
I know a lot of fantastic designers. Here are just a few:
- Jennifer Bourn of Bourn Creative
- Chris Ford of Creativity Included
- CodyL of Mode Effect
- And of course James Archer with Crowd Favorite
Copy can do more than communicate.
It surprises me how many people leave the content creation aspect of their new site until the last minute. As if great photos will distract your intended audience from reading last-minute copy.
But the reality is that even those who wait until the last minute focus on only one part of the content on their site – normally the posts and page content. Not the little things – like the button text, the calls to action, the specifically chosen quotes and more.
That's why you need to think about your copy differently. You need to think about it as doing a job for you – and that job, the one often missed, is conversion.
Your copy could convert. The difference when you change a headline and/or button text can mean double digit growth in conversion.
Want words that convert?
Now on this front, I wish I could give you a list of four resources, but the truth is, one team stands out from the rest.
It's Copy Hackers – and they have all sorts of resources for folks who want words that convert all over their site. If you want to burn thru a few hours looking at and learning from a great site, it's theirs.
So go talk to Joanna Wiebe of Copy Hackers – asap!