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The Problem
A SaaS start-up was using the very same website to sell their product that they used when they first launched. With zero refreshes in place, the site was not only looking a bit dated but it also failed to reflect the full value the development team had invested in the software since it first launched. Additionally, the site did not actively address the needs of the unique customer segments purchasing the company’s product. While the website was doing a decent job, the company new that a refresh would better engage site visitors and make them more likely to become leads.
The Approach
Though we knew the end product was a new website, we also knew that a proper redesign would require upfront persona research and a better understanding of best-practices in our client’s particular software category to make sure we got the details right.
Competitive Audit
We spent time reviewing several other competitors in the space, assessing how they talked about their products’ features and benefits, how they tagged their content for SEO purposes, and how they brought customers from the homepage down to the lead conversion step. With this intelligence in place, we are able to make pointed recommendations about what the new website should include, and what the customer experience should feel like.
Core Customer Identification
The best-performing sites feel like they are speaking directly to you and your unique needs. As a result, we took time to do 1:1 phone interviews with a wide assortment of the company’s existing customers to understand what drove them to seek out our client’s product and what encouraged them to keep using it. Reviewing this information led us to identify three unique customer segments (a.k.a. personas) using the solution. Armed with this information, we knew any new website needed to actively address these segments’ perspectives to increase the chance of getting them to test the product.
Site Map & Copy Development
A good website requires only one-to-two clicks between the homepage and a converting page (e.g. Contact Us Page, Free Trial Page)…but also includes the information prospects need so that they’ll want to try your product or service. We developed a site architecture that created simple conversion paths, but also made product information tailored to each persona easily available, to encourage visitors early on to request more product information.
Website Page Template Design
We worked hand-in-hand with designers to develop a flexible approach to site development. By designing unique page templates that could be re-purposed over time, we knew we’d have the site pages we needed out-of-the-gate for launch and also the back-end resources in place to publish new pages as needed.
CRM Integration
The client had a CRM tool running behind the scenes to track all prospects in their system. We not only integrated the site with the CRM but we also expanded on the contact database to allow for more robust automated prospect tracking. Doing so gave their sales team far more intelligence about what their prospects cared about, giving sales the ability to tailor direct conversations accordingly.
A/B Copy & Design Testing
Once the site launched, we weren’t done! We had to make sure key elements like the homepage headline and core designs resonated with their audience. By A/B testing different copy and design permutations we were able to see if any changes to the site would have a statistically significant impact on site conversions, and updated the site when we found ones that did.
The Results
Website Conversion Rates:
Before the new site launched, the client averaged a 2.9% visitor-to-lead conversion rate. Following the website launch and A/B testing, the average conversion rate rose to 3.6%. For a site that received over 4,000 site visits per week, this improvement yielded a significant increase in overall leads for the business.
Legitimacy With Enterprise Clients:
Because the original site was very simple in its execution, prospects would tell the sales team that they were unsure that the software could accommodate mid-size or enterprise clients. Following the launch of a more contemporary and robust site, these comments ceased entirely.
Did You Know...
Websites are a living marketing resource that should never stop evolving after a redesign. While it may be tempting to take your eye off your website once the redesign heavy-lifting is complete, don’t fall down that rabbit hole! Doing small refreshes as your product and service develops, or as you gain more information about your customer, will help keep your website relevant and lengthen the amount of time needed between a completely new redesign.
