1. Start strong, end strong: Master your website’s entry and exit points
Most people leave a website at the very beginning or end of their journey. It’s crucial to focus a big chunk of your testing and optimization efforts on landing pages and, especially, on that final checkout experience.
Level up your landing page
Landing pages should match your marketing messages, but value propositions that address consumers’ needs and solve their pain points should be your main focus.
“To encourage action on your website, design landing pages around a narrow, well-defined group of people rather than a broad audience,” says Anna Potanina, founder of CTAD. “These should feature relatable, goal-based visuals, with a loading speed of three seconds. If you’re running multiple campaigns for different audiences, create dedicated landing pages for each and personalise messaging, imagery, and copy. This extra work can really pay off in engagement and conversion.”
Take a wall pilates landing page. It needs to speak to women interested in getting fit and doing at-home workouts. It should offer a simple value proposition, like a free personalised plan based on a quick quiz, and use relatable photos showing women doing wall pilates. To drive action, the site needs to address people’s pain points, for example, reassuring women that the quiz only takes a minute, and they don’t need a credit card. A clear, action-oriented button positioned before the first scroll at the top of the screen, what we call ‘above the fold’, also encourages conversion.
2. Choose the most ethical path to conversion
If you’ve shopped online recently, you’ve probably seen brands using fake countdown timers, misleading “was/now” pricing, and fake stock scarcity warnings. These manipulative tactics, known as ‘dark patterns’, are becoming less effective as consumer awareness grows and new regulations take hold. Relying on them damages people’s trust in your brand and makes your business model unsustainable in the long run.
“Applying behavioral science principles and storytelling techniques throughout the consumer journey can deliver comparable results without compromising your integrity,” Spence says. “For maximum impact, ensure at least two behavioural science principles are present during each step of the consumer journey, preferably above the fold.”
In addition to the behavioral science principles in Google’s research, these are particularly powerful on the ethical path to conversion:
Social proof
Good customer reviews persuade people to buy because we tend to trust others’ opinions. Research shows that this is the most powerful principle for counteracting discounting.
Endowment effect
This means giving people a sense of ownership through free trials, samples, or even customisation. This cognitive bias makes us value something more highly because we feel like we own it.
Customer as the hero
Make your customer the hero of the story instead of focusing only on product features. Position your brand as the trusty guide that helps people overcome a problem to achieve a positive outcome.
