f*ck your conversion rate [idgaf 032]

I was scrolling linkedin the other day and I saw someone posted about a new website.

Of course I’m a nosy bitch and wanted to see if it was any good (and also to see how it compares to my own stuff).

So I checked it out and it was… fine?

It’s like… there was nothing wrong with it, but I was just SO BORED looking at it.

Everything was typical. Everything was “best practice” or designed for conversions or whatever. Boring hero banner. Boring buttons. Boring copy. Bleh.

It felt like they’d just refreshed their old site a little, and made it a totally amazing website… if we were in 2020.

I know what they’d say if I ever challenged them on it (not that I would, I’m not a cunt).

And a bunch of other regurgitated crap they’ll say to justify being mediocre.

So what I’ve got to say to that is:

People are so worried about appealing to the masses, they’re forgetting that the main point of having a website is to appeal to a very specific subset of those masses.

They try optimise for the lowest common denominator and appeal to everyone.

That means scrapping all the cool shit that looks different, in case someone doesn’t like it. And taking away anything that could be confusing, or distracting, to anyone. And they end up making it exactly like the site “best practices” tell you to make.

Which is fine if you’ve got some heavy paid advertising funneling scrubs to a landing page so you can sell your latest magic bullet (with a price that ends in a 7) that’s going to solve all their problems. Sure, have the clear, soulless website in that case.

But when you’re trying to stand out?

When you’re trying to get people to connect with your personality?

When your leads come from your network, or sharing content on social media?

They’re there for you. They’re there for your personality. Going for max conversions just means failure, cause you‘re gonna end up hiding all the cool shit that just might make them care.

All cause you’re worried some random (who’d never become a client, but would be a nightmare if they did anyway) can’t figure out to click a button that doesn’t have the words “click me” on them. (thanks for that hilarious example Cass)

Nope. Instead you’ll look just like everyone else and land firmly in commodity land. And commodity land is where you get to spend lots of time answering the “how much do you charge” question (and arguing when they say “that’s too much”).

Forget about that shit.

Here’s what to do instead (ps. this applies to websites and content and anything else you’re doing):

Browse the net. Go to museums. Read lots of stuff. Watch some YouTube.

Get some exposure to different things, and take notice when you think something is cool. What is it you like about it? What made it stand out? Why did you notice it?

Start writing that shit down, or taking screenshots, or whatever. Just keep track of the cool shit you notice.

Now that you’ve got an idea of the stuff that grabs your attention, look at your own.

Are you doing the stuff that would get you noticed by you? (yeah that’s a bit confusing, sorry)

If not, what’s in the way of doing it?

Think about this: if you’re not creating stuff that you’d notice or care about, why would anyone else notice it or care about it?

I get a few compliments about this newsletter, and I’m convinced the only reason they do is because I don’t just write what I want to say, I write what I want to read.

I’ve had clients before that would send me every cool thing they noticed, and want everything to be added into their new site somehow.

The problem was the shit conflicted. They were all cool ideas, but for different reasons, and those reasons did NOT play nicely together.

So keep in mind, you can like and appreciate something without needing to adopt it.

Chasing conversion rates and best practices turns you generic. If you’re generic, you’re a commodity.

But if you go against the grain, you stand out - which makes you less of a commodity.

So… go against the grain! Fuck the conversion rate and have fun!

Cowabunga,
Nick Gulic