Convert!: Designing Web Sites to Increase Traffic and Conversion [Kindle Edition]

Ben Hunt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Solve your traffic troubles and turn browsers into buyers

When web design expert Ben Hunt set out to quantify the difference between an ordinary web site and a great one, he expected to find the key in design simplicity. But when his team more than doubled the conversion rates for a wide range of sites, they identified simple yet powerful solutions involving design, copy, appropriate analysis, classic optimization techniques, and targeted testing. You'll find the fixes easy to implement, and they're all right here.

• Understand the essentials - your market, your proposition, and your delivery.
• Create a site that is seen by the right people, provides a compelling experience, and generates the desired action.
• Learn how to use testing to improve your site's conversion rate.
• Discover the holistic nature of web site optimization and why multiplicity matters.
• Examine dozens of simple techniques for building traffic, engaging your audience, and crafting effective calls to action.
• Combine creativity with analysis for the best possible results.

Ben Hunt is Principal Consultant for Scratchmedia Ltd. He operates webdesignfromscratch.com, which provides tutorials and advice to over 120,000 web developers each month. Ben has been designing, coding, and producing web sites for clients worldwide for more than 15 years, and is considered a leader in the web usability industry.

Forewords by Ken McCarthy, founder of the System Seminar, and Drayton Bird, Drayton Bird Associates.

From the Back Cover

This advice can transform your web site's success

When web design expert Ben Hunt set out to quantify the difference between an ordinary web site and a great one, he expected to find the key in design simplicity. But when his team more than doubled the conversion rates for a wide range of sites, they identified simple yet powerful solutions involving design, copy, appropriate analysis, classic optimization techniques, and targeted testing. You'll find the fixes easy to implement, and they're all right here.

• Understand the essentials — your market, your proposition, and your delivery
• Create a site that is seen by the right people, provides a compelling experience, and generates the desired action
• Learn how to use testing to improve your site's conversion rate
• Discover the holistic nature of web site optimization and why multiplicity matters
• Examine dozens of simple techniques for building traffic, engaging your audience, and crafting effective calls to action
• Combine creativity with analysis for the best possible results

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 5236 KB
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (February 8, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004OC06AE
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #24,974 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #14 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Computers & Internet > Web Site Design
  • #86 in Books > Computers & Technology > Programming > Graphics & Multimedia
  • #98 in Books > Computers & Technology > Graphic Design > Web Design

More About the Author

I have been creating websites since 1994. I have always looked beyond the thrill of sexy graphics, being interested in usability, SEO, and now conversion!

To me, web design is all marketing. It should support powerful communication, whatever it is you need to communicate. So graphics are important, but getting the right message to the right people is even more so.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncommon commonsense - easy to read, lots of examples, solid advice, January 31, 2011

By 

Diana M. Ratliff (Columbia, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Convert!: Designing Web Sites to Increase Traffic and Conversion (Paperback)

I've been building websites for 12 years and have long believed that most sites are a waste of money; they look pretty but don't generate profits for the client. I tell prospects that if no one can find your site - and they don't do what you want (buy, donate, sign up, order) when they get there - it's money down the drain.

Still, web design courses have focused on how a site LOOKS ("graphic design") or the technical aspects of building a site. Ben Hunt goes beyond that. He marries technical knowledge with solid marketing fundamentals in a clear and compelling way. And best of all he provides examples of sites he's redesigned, explaining the reasoning behind each revision.

If you design websites, if you do copywriting for websites, if you simply want to understand how "online marketing" is SUPPOSED to work - get this book!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this before you hire an 'expert' (who may not be an expert), April 28, 2011

By 

Dan Bobinski (Boise, Idaho) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Convert!: Designing Web Sites to Increase Traffic and Conversion (Paperback)

(What's this?)

As a small business owner who's been involved in several website designs -- and paid thousands of dollars to 'experts' on upping the conversion rates on web visits -- I say "read this book before you hire any experts." The reason? After reading this you may not see a need to spend thousands of dollars on 'experts.' In fact, I was in the middle of a website overhaul at the same time I got this book, and reading it saved me plenty of hours (read: $$) with my designer.

What I liked:
- Hunt acts as a consultant/advisor, not a theorist or artist.
- Hunt's "if/then approach makes his advice easy to grasp. No fluff.
- Photos showing the nuances and how little changes made big differences.

What I didn't like:
- LOL ... Nothing. I liked it all.

Take this book and Jakob Nielsen's "Prioritizing Web Usability" and you have a wealth of information for designing websites that bring results (read: $$).

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great resource that is to the point, January 28, 2011

By 

Joshua Martyn - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Convert!: Designing Web Sites to Increase Traffic and Conversion (Paperback)

I've been developing web application for 10 years and the one area that I have always been weak in is reliable conversion rates for my clients. I can deal with the complexity of the software, but the presentation and flow of the message for the audience is a different animal all together. For those of you who work in the online industry, you are probably aware of the wide array of skillsets required to take a concept through the entire lifecycle to completion. I've only read through a portion of this book, but so far, Ben is conveying the right message for professionals in my field. Having to deal with servers, development frameworks, existing applications (cms/ecom), design opinions and copy can make any web project way more complicated than it has to be. The focus on simplicty in design, copy and analysis that Ben has put together will definitely help bring me into the minds of the visitor for a better conversion rate and ultimately successful projects.

I highly recommend this book to all online professionals of all backgrounds.

-Josh (Bend, Or)