One question that’s raised now and then by our clients is – “why we do, the way we do?” What they really want to know is – why most Webarro websites have certain elements in common, though each one is unique in its look & feel and business-specific functionalities. In other words, the question is pointed towards understanding if Webarro is following any standardized processes and templates? While the answer is both ‘yes’ and ‘no’, there’s a lot more it than it can be explained in a word or two. Here’s revealing the logic (rather secret) behind Webarro’s website anatomy.

1. In the world of web, left is right

Have you ever wondered why most websites follow a left textual alignment or the logic behind placing the company logo at the top left corner of a website? These questions may sound ignorable unless you are a passionate web developer or a businessman who is trying to get his online presence right. But these are matters of cardinal importance that determine the success and conversion rate of a website.

According to various studies, left-aligned text is the easiest to read as compared to centred, right, and full-justified text alignment. This is a big deal, as in most websites reading is what a visitor does primarily and what goads them to action. If a particular text alignment slows down the reader, it ultimately leads to higher bounce rates and lower conversion. Moreover, this is supported by eye tracking studies which suggest that when a user lands on a website, the area that receives foremost attention is the upper left corner. In other words, anyone landing on your website will start reading the website from the uppermost left corner and then moving downwards in a ‘F-shaped pattern’, that is – two horizontal strips from the left, followed by a vertical strip. Now that explains why most of the Webarro websites follow a left text alignment.

2. Content placement matters

It may be true that the ‘Above the Fold’ rule has become obsolete with the advent of Responsive Web Design technologies. What is above the fold in a 1024×768 monitor screen resolution will not stand out in a 320×568 mobile phone screen and therefore the rule has lost its significance, says most web developers. But before we completely write off this old mantra, it is important to understand that the content that is above the fold is ideally the most important content for your visitors. In other words, a website should be able to clearly convey what solution it offers to the customers’ problem, in a matter of few seconds. In fact, every second count, shows studies. Take a look at the below findings.

  • 55% of the visitors spend less than 15 seconds on a website, according to the study by Tony Haile of Chartbeat
  • It only takes less than 8 seconds for a visitor to decide whether to stay or leave the website, says another study
  • 2 out of 5 internet users will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load
  • Human attention span has shortened from 12 seconds to 8 seconds, says a recent study by  Microsoft Corporation

That explains why, at Webarro we follow the best practice of placing a banner/ slider at the top portion of the website. This banner is a placeholder for highlighting the key solutions offered by your organization or to place engaging content that prods the visitor to browse the website. This space can also be used to inform visitors about your latest offers, product launches or achievements. Right below the slider is where we highlight your key services or products, with one line description and a call-to-action button.

3. Action-oriented text and buttons

One website element that is often overlooked by both web designers and website owners is the call-to-action button (CTA).

Often businesses invest big in search engine optimization efforts in order drive traffic to their website. But only later do they realise that driving traffic to a website is one thing and converting them is another. Compelling content and call-to-action button are the two important factors that turn visitors into customers, apart from having a professional-looking website. To put it straight, CTA means conversion and business! That explains why at Webarro we insist on having a call-to-action button on every page and if possible at the end of every section or multiple times within a page.

Studies show that placing action-oriented text and buttons at various points on the web page drives more clicks, enquiries and transactions. The content leading to the CTA should contain specific action-packed words, conveyed with a sense of urgency. Take a look at these CTAs to understand how actionable words can be fused with urgency.

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Apart from the compelling text, CTA buttons should be designed to standout in a web page.  It should neither be too small to be lost in the content, nor too big to overpower everything around it. While the button colour should be contrasting enough to make it easily noticeable, the general rule at Webarro is to use a less prominent colour for larger buttons and a brighter contrasting colour for smaller buttons. Following this colour principle helps us easily settle on the CTA button size as well.

For ecommerce portals, it goes without saying that actionable buttons are nothing but obvious and inevitable part of the website, as failing to place an ‘ADD TO CART’ or ‘BUY NOW’ button next to every product is as good as having the business shutdown. However, when it comes to service oriented businesses, website owners often underestimate the power of CTAs and end up complaining about lower than anticipated conversion rates, even after investing in SEO.

As a full-service online presence management company, we understand the importance of placing call-to-action buttons at critical points on the web page and ensure that your visitors will not have to hunt high and low to perform the desired action, be it downloading a file, taking a free trial, subscribing to newsletter, signing up for offers or making an online purchase. After all, why drive visitors to your web page, if you can’t convert them into customers and business?

4. Images that capture attention

In this visual cultured generation, it would be of no wrong to rephrase the old adage as “images speak louder than words”. What instantaneously captures the attention of Millennials and probably everyone in this age is not the beautifully crafted words and captions, but visual media which is primarily made of moving and still images. This is especially true when it comes to websites, where the attention span is minimal.

Using high quality visuals, especially large images helps quickly capture the attention of the visitors. That explains why our design experts advises a web design which uses large slide images and background images at the opening portion of the website. The visual impact and attraction of large high quality images generates interest in the visitor and stops them from hopping to other websites at once.  Moreover, using the right images can send the desired messages and even have the capacity to tell stories or can give a fair idea to the audience what the website is all about. It is often that catalyst to the next level- content that converts!

5. Content that converts

While moving online, one mistake that’s often made by traditional businesses and retailers is insisting on a text-heavy website. Many conventional business owners are of the opinion that lengthy explanations and content filled web pages help visitors and prospects quickly arrive at the purchase decision. However, what they fail to understand is the contrasting purchase behaviour of online and offline customers.

Someone visiting your business establishment or your offline store would ideally like to go through your brochures and spend time understanding your service offerings before making the purchase decision. However, things work differently in the world of web. Online shoppers have very less attention span (as explained earlier in point 2) and hop between website to website with plenty of options available. Therefore online businesses have only few seconds to tell the customer what they offer and why they should go for it. That’s precisely the reason why the professional web copywriters at Webarro follow a content writing style that’s crisp, clear and concise.

Studies show that online users do not read word-by-word on the web, unless they find your content really interesting and directly answering to their questions. Most web readers only scan and skim through the website content looking for highlighted keywords and headings, trying to get the gist of what’s talked about. Breaking the content into short paragraphs is important here, as it makes it easily scannable and understandable for the visitors. In short, long text blocks, unnecessary descriptions, lengthy explanations and verbose content is a big no-no in the world of web, unless you are presenting a white paper or a blog.