3 B2B Website Design Best Practices to Convert Leads

By Kyle Mani

Does your B2B website have high traffic and high engagement, but low conversions? The problem could be that your user experience (UX) was designed with consumers rather than businesses in mind.

Compared to B2C decisions, B2B decisions tend to be more logical than impulsive. Also, B2B buying decisions are often made by a diverse group of professionals, rather than one individual. Long, multifaceted buying cycles take the place of quick conversions, so a B2B design needs to be unique, starting at the drawing board.

Here are three B2B website design best practices that will help you avoid the common pitfall of having a B2B website that speaks the language of B2C.

3 key B2B website design best practices

1. Design for logic, not emotion

Most B2C purchases are emotional and fueled by feelings. Websites for consumers are designed with the consideration if a potential customer leaves a site without completing the call to action—whether it's a purchase event, newsletter enrollment, or other form of brand interaction—it's because they have gone with a competitor instead. Therefore, B2C design strives for dynamism, simplicity, and urgency, appealing to the emotional side of potential customers.

B2B engagements are the opposite. Business people want information, solutions, dependability, and validity. B2B clients are motivated by articles, webinars, white papers, pitch decks, and exhaustive resources that help them to understand your offering and provide them with the necessary information to share the offering with others in their company.

The opportunity for a B2B user to learn more should be only one click away. Open information is the language of trust, and trust turns a prospective company into a long-term client.

2. Design for groups, not individuals

When designing a B2B user experience, it’s best to think of your target audience as a group of high-profile decision makers. This group likely is incredibly diverse in their background, opinions, and authority. While a B2C user experience is, and should be, targeting a specific demographic, a B2B site needs to appeal to both the potential “user” of a product, as well as the potential “buyer,” who may be a boss, a founder, or an entire conference room of stakeholders with different thoughts and needs.

To design a site that's aimed at multiple users, there are some fundamentals to focus on. Clear and large search bars will allow users to easily walk through the user interface and feel like they have control of their information searches. Also, offering home tabs divided by user roles (e.g., for users, for executives, etc.) will welcome users with different priorities and make them feel like the UX has been tailored to them.

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• 6 Reasons Why Your B2B Branding Matters
• What Does It Take to Sell to the New B2B Buyer?

3. Design with a longer buying cycle in mind

Perhaps the most significant B2B website design best practice to keep in mind is that you're dealing with a longer buying cycle compared to B2C. Selling directly to consumers is usually quick; final conversion is a “buy now” button, a shopping cart, and a shipping address—at this point, the job can be assumed complete.

B2B buying cycles, however, can go much longer, as decisions are weighed and passed up and down through an extensive hierarchy. The average number of people participating in a B2B purchase decision is 6.8. In between each “OK” there is often a series of complex protocols and guidelines that must be followed, each requiring a different resolution to approve.

More nuanced contact options and calls to action are also critical. Rather than only having a "buy now" button, strong B2B design integrates “learn more,” “request a quote,” and “talk to a representative” options. Every decision maker visiting the website should feel confident they have a direct path to a high-level, competent sales agent who will help them learn more and guide them through the buying process.

The goal of the website is to demonstrate accessibility throughout the entire process, and not to pressure an individual to make an impulse decision.

Designing with a B2B audience in mind will yield greater returns

There are certainly design trends B2B can steal from B2C. However, marketing professionals need to work with the inherently different business process of a B2B audience. B2B users tend to be groups looking to solve complex and long-form problems, and they are looking for trust and verifiable results. If designers can find ways to include more information without sacrificing the visual appeal of the design, they’ll see greater returns.

B2B conversions tend to be longer and more difficult; nothing hurts more than losing a lead three-quarters of the way through the process. Elevated, information-heavy design that offers intuitive navigation and easy contact options for decision makers will create a UX that does what all good UX design should do—allow the company’s services to speak for themselves.

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