It’s pretty common these days for a business owner to feel like their website is mostly “fine.” Maybe it loads okay, it has your logo, it’s got a contact page and a list of your services, and someone’s cousin once said it looked “clean.” So, you’re probably good, right?
But here's the uncomfortable truth: “fine” websites rarely perform well. If your site isn’t converting visitors into customers, leads, calls, bookings, downloads—whatever outcome matters for you—then it’s not doing its job.
One of the most underestimated metrics for long-term online success is your website's conversion rate. That one number pulls a lot of weight. It’s not about vanity traffic stats or how many people click your blog posts—conversion rate is the percentage of people who take meaningful action on your site. Improving this metric can significantly impact your bottom line without necessarily having to drive more traffic in the first place.
In this post, we’re going to look at how to improve your website’s conversion rate in 8 steps. I’m blending technical strategy with psychology, real examples from clients I’ve worked with, and practical advice you can implement even if you’re not a coder. Whether you’re working in Webflow, Wordpress, Wix, or Squarespace, these principles apply across the board. So let’s get into it.
Before you make any changes to improve conversions, you have to define what counts as one. This may seem obvious, but I’ve worked with plenty of clients who couldn’t answer this when I first asked.
For some, it’s a sale. For others, it’s a form fill. For others still, it's an email signup or a phone call. If you're a local service provider, even directions on Google Maps might be a conversion.
One of my clients, an interior designer here in Franklin, TN, originally thought the goal of her website was to show off her portfolio. After some discussion, we realized her ideal users weren’t just browsing images—they were appointment-bookers. We refocused her homepage around getting people to schedule a 15-minute consult. With that mental shift, we could restructure her user journey to guide visitors toward that conversion clearly and intentionally.
This goes beyond web design. It’s about aligning what your business truly wants with what your website is currently built to do.
Until you nail that down, every tweak will feel like fumbling in the dark.
A website is like a store. If people can’t find what they’re looking for—or if they get lost between the entrance and the checkout—they’re leaving. You have about 5 to 10 seconds to reassure a visitor they’re in the right place before they mentally check out.
I worked with a real estate broker who had nearly a dozen links in the top nav bar, each going to pages like “Properties,” “Resources,” “Community,” and “Newsletter Archive.” Not a bad site, visually. But it was overwhelming to a new visitor who just wanted to find a home. We pared it down to three primary options: Buy, Sell, and Contact. Bounce rate on the homepage dropped by 18% in two weeks.
Think of each click on your website like adding friction. Every time a user clicks but doesn’t move forward, you lose a little momentum.
This one gets overlooked a lot, especially in DIY-built websites. The way your content is visually arranged has just as much influence on conversions as the content itself.
A common mistake I see even on well-designed sites is “floating” calls to action without visual anchoring. If everything’s bold or everything’s sized the same, then nothing stands out.
We took a Squarespace site for a yoga studio with pretty decent traffic but low sign-up rates. The class schedule and pass purchase CTA were buried under intro text and a photo gallery. We reworked the layout so that the top 50% of the homepage clearly showed class times with a contrasting Signup button.
Sign-ups increased by almost 30% within a month.
Remember: you’re designing for scanning, not deep examination. Your content needs to guide someone, not wait for them to hunt down what’s important.
I’ve seen buttons that say “Submit” more times than I can count. That’s a missed opportunity. A high-converting call to action tells the user what happens next—and may even remind them of the benefit.
For a legal consultant client of mine, we changed their primary CTA from “Contact Us” to “Get a Free Legal Roadmap.” Same form behind the scenes; different messaging. That one tweak improved click-through rates by 22%.
Good CTAs don’t nag. They invite.
It’s not just tech people who care about load times anymore. Everyone does. According to Google research, as page load time increases from 1 second to 3 seconds, bounce probability goes up 32%. At 5 seconds, that number jumps to 90%.
Mobile responsiveness is part of this as well. Users don’t just want a site that “loads” on mobile. They want something that’s navigable, readable, and interactive.
A photographer client came to me with a beautiful desktop site on Wordpress—tons of high-res images—but it was almost unusable on mobile. We rebuilt it in Webflow, optimized the image sizes with TinyPNG, implemented native lazy loading, and redesigned the galleries for tap-friendly navigation. Mobile bounce rates dropped by half.
Speed isn’t just technical. It’s emotional. A slower site feels outdated—and outdated experiences don’t convert.
Humans rely on social validation. We want to see that others have gone first and that it worked out well for them. Social proof is one of the strongest trust signals you can build into your site—but it has to be credible, not just token “testimonials.”
For a small business coach, we swapped generic praise with snapshots of real progress: “Before: $6K MRR, stuck on referrals. After: $18K MRR with consistent inbound leads in 3 months.” Combined with a photo, first name, and location, it turned fence-sitters into booked calls.
Place social proof near disruption points: after pricing tables, before forms, beneath feature lists. Think of it like hearing a second opinion from someone just like the visitor.
Not everyone who lands on your site is immediately ready to buy. That’s normal. But instead of letting those people leave, offer a lower-commitment step forward.
For someone in the e-commerce space, like a boutique skincare brand I worked with, we added a simple “Get 15% off your first order” popup in exchange for emails. We backed that up with a clear privacy promise and only showed the popup on exit intent. Email list growth tripled within two weeks.
If your business isn’t e-commerce, your version might be a free guide, an ROI calculator, or a mini-audit. You’re trading value for trust.
These touches keep the relationship going even if a direct conversion doesn’t happen today.
You can’t improve what you don’t measure. The most powerful optimization comes from real usage data—not guesses.
Yet so many sites today still launch without basic analytics properly configured. Whether you're using Google Analytics 4, Hotjar, or native Webflow Stats, make sure you're gleaning actual insights.
I once helped a local restaurant revamp their site’s reservation process based on Hotjar recordings. People were dropping off at the form step—not because it was hard, but because the button said “Submit” instead of “Confirm Table.” One tiny change, 15% bump in reservations.
Watch the data. Let it speak. Then take smart, specific action.
If improving your website’s conversion rate sounds like a big overhaul, that’s understandable. But the truth is, it's usually the result of a series of small, intentional changes—each one guided by a mix of empathy for the user and a clear understanding of your business goals.
To recap:
In my work, I treat websites not as brochures—but as systems. Good design is never just about making something look nice. It’s about maximizing clarity, removing confusion, and guiding people toward the decisions they already want to make. When that happens, conversions become inevitable.
Copyright © Zach Sean Web Design
