The buyer journey in B2B isn’t linear. The complex journey spans multiple months, involves various stakeholders, and involves back and forth. Given the complex buyer journey of B2B SaaS businesses, social proof is an important element to build trust with your audience.

What is social proof?

Social proof is a concept that says people are more inclined to do things that other people do. It is a phenomenon that has long been known in psychology and is known by various names, including conformity, social norms, and other behaviors.

Did you know?

Companies that use testimonials on their website see a 34% increase in conversions!

Here are some easy-to-implement formats that you can get started with today:

1. Showcase customer testimonial videos in a consumable format

Humans attract humans. Out of all the noise you see across the internet, when we see humans like us giving genuine reviews about a business, we’re more likely to believe it. Just having this human face isn’t enough, having these testimonials in a consumable format is crucial. Your users aren’t going to watch a 30 minute video testimonial!

2. Display user ratings you've received on review platforms like G2, Capterra

When users land on your website for the first time they have no idea about your business. They don’t have any trust in your brand and most likely won’t convert immediately. What helps in this situation is to feature the ratings of platforms they trust. In B2B, rating platforms like G2, and Gartner are considered reliable. Adding ratings, reviews from these platforms can help build trust. 

3. Leverage User Generated Content (UGC) like case studies

How will your prospects believe in the impact you can create if they can’t see the results you have produced with other brands? A reliable way that all B2B SaaS businesses can use is case studies. Showcase the entire story of your client before they were introduced to your product, and how it changed their lives.  

4. Highlight your impact numbers or usage statistics

When you know your audience, you know what your users care about, what KPIs are important to them, and what metrics they measure. Showcasing the impact you have created in numbers can help the users visualize how your product will fit into their lives and what results they can expect. 

5. Feature your top customer logos in prominent positions

Adding your customers’ logos in prominent places on your website can help build better recall for your brand. Having global, leading brands as customers can make your website visitors believe that your product is used and is impacting a lot of brands across the globe.

6. Display real-time activity notifications

We are more likely to do what others are already doing. Adding real-time updates to your website can nudge your current users to convert better and know that other users find your website or product credible and are actively engaging with your brand. 

7. Highlight your top partners and integrations

B2B SaaS products normally are a part of a tech stack that your prospects are trying to build. When that’s the case, it is important to ensure that your product seamlessly integrates with all the current tools that they may be using currently. So this by showcasing your top integrations and partners that can handle any objections your users might have. 

8. Have a recurring display of your awards, badges, credentials

If you want your visitors to convert to your goals on the website, they must find your brand credible and are willing to be associated with your product. A good way to do this is to feature all the awards and recognitions that you have received as a brand. 

9. Support your important goal banners with ratings and logos to nudge conversions

Your visitors are bombarded with a lot of information when they visit your site. What is important is to help them focus on the primary goal and nudge conversions accordingly. A good way to back this up is to add ratings and logos to support these goal banners or pop ups. 

10. Create comparison charts to differentiate your offering from others

Visitors who visit your site are possibly evaluating your competitors as well. Try to make the evaluation process as seamless and effortless as possible. Since the journey in B2B buying is already complex, make easy to understand charts that help your prospect understand how you are the best choice for their business. 

11. Leverage your press releases and media coverage to enhance your brand recall

Anything that is in the news gets spoken about. Think about the thought leadership pieces we read in Forbes or Business Today. Adding relevant press releases and showcasing your media coverage and partnerships can help boost credibility for your brand. 

12. Create community forums, and comment sections on assets where people can discuss your product and help one another

We are more likely to trust what others say about products before we try them out by ourselves. In case your users are stuck, make community forums or discussion boards that are open to public to discuss your products, solutions, recommendations, etc. 

Leveraging these social proof formats on your B2B SaaS websites will not only build trust amongst your users but also significantly increase your conversions across all website goals and KPIs. Try it today!

Brand messaging is the set of practices that define how a company will deliver its value proposition and communicate its business values. Companies can define a specific way to convey their ideas to the public based on the tone of voice, language, and core message. This same tone is used to communicate across all channels like PR, social media, websites, etc. 

When brand messaging is taken into consideration, what is often neglected is the level of user awareness.

Every week, when I speak to prospects, I hear, "We want our new website to be like Slack." This suggestion to revamp their brand messaging keeping a global brand as a reference is an incorrect way to look at brand messaging. 

There’s one important thing that almost all prospects miss. This factor is the lifecycle of your user.

When you're starting, nobody knows you, does it make sense to have a brand messaging that doesn't resonate with your ICP?

It does not. Yet, not a lot of brands today think about stages of awareness of your users.

Lifecycle Stages of User Awareness

Understanding the lifecycle stages of your users is fundamental to crafting effective brand messaging. Here are the key stages:

1. Unaware 

At this stage, your users don’t realize that there is a problem. They are not actively looking for any solutions but they may observe some effects without realizing that there is an underlying cause. This is where you should create awareness for your product through messages and softly introduce problems in educational or relatable language. At this level, keep your messaging as broad and relatable as possible.

2. Problem aware

At this stage, your users identify a specific pain point and they start searching for information. Your users are aware of their problems but do not know about any solutions. Your messaging should go further into defining the relatable problem, provide insights, and then engage users through discussions and community building.

Here’s what Slack did for their users at the problem-aware stage - 'Be less busy'

3. Solution aware

At this stage, your users are aware of possible solutions and assessing various options available to them. They compare features, benefits, and costs to get all relevant information on which they can make an informed choice. For this reason, the messaging should highlight distinctive features, and comparative content as well as build credibility via testimonials and reviews. It helps to position your product as a credible solution for a problem they are familiar with.

Here’s what Slack did for their users at the solution-aware stage - 'A messaging app for teams'

4. Product aware

This stage comes after when people acknowledge your product as a potential solution but need more confirmation before committing themselves to your product. At this stage, it becomes important to give your users evidence from success stories, and interactive messaging to address each individual’s concern.

Here’s what Slack did for their users at the product-aware stage - "So yeah, we tried Slack..."

‍5. Most aware

At this stage of being most aware your customers know what you offer well enough to need a compelling reason for them to buy it. You need to focus on how your offering helps the customer. Look at how Slack conveys their brand messaging for their users at the most aware stage - 'Speed up work with external partners, using Slack connect'.

Each stage in the lifecycle represents the scale of your brand which should evolve to match the awareness of your users.

And that will automatically resonate with your users!

So before you choose which copywriting framework to implement for your home page messaging, think where your users are at! Turn this insight into relevant brand messaging and keep iterating as and when required. 

I talk to over 50+ SaaS clients every week, and the one thing I hear most of them struggling with is conversions. A conversion is any business goal you want to achieve on your website. It can be a free trial signup, demo requests, newsletter subscription, ebook or case study downloads, etc. 

So what can be done to improve conversions and boost business growth? I studied some of the top brands in the world of SaaS to see how they are nudging their website users to convert better. 

Here are 20 conversion tactics you can use on your website to boost your conversions:

SaaS Conversion Optimization Hacks

1. Use consistent CTAs across the website

I recently studied the top 100 SaaS brands to discover the secrets to creating a winning above-the-fold. Although there were a lot of learnings from the study, what struck me the most was the inconsistency in the CTAs. When you have several different actions you want the user to take, chances are they are going to get confused or overwhelmed and do neither of those actions. This then results in you losing the user. 

It’s important to identify what’s the primary action you want your users to take on the website and be clear in nudging them. You can also have a secondary CTA as long as the primary, most important one stands out clearly. 

Here’s how Gong focuses on one primary CTA - Book a demo. This actionable goal is simple for users to follow. 

2. Add conversion nudges that make your users tick

Now that you have your primary CTA sorted, the next thing would be to nudge your users to click on them. This can be done in various ways - state the benefits, solve objections, add social proof, etc. 

A witty way to do this is to state the individual benefit of doing an action that can appeal to your users. Let’s look at how RevenueHero is tackling this. 

3. Give an insight into your product with tours, interactive demos, etc

Asking for a demo directly without providing any information on your product can seem risky or high commitment to your users. The process can be made seamless by giving sneak peeks or insights into your product's appearance and how it works. The goal is to help your user visualize how their life would be by using the product. It primarily answers the questions - is it easy to use? Does the UI look appealing? Does it look interesting enough for me to go and request a demo?

See how Adobe does this for their Commerce product. 

4. Handle any objections that your users could have proactively

Even a free trial can seem like a huge risk and commitment, if your users have questions regarding your offering, or how much it can cost them. You must have seen a lot of websites proactively addressing these doubts under their CTA to assure the users that it is not a risky proposition.

Here’s how Monday.com accomplishes this.

5. Leverage live updates that make your CTA actionable

What’s the best way to nudge your users to get them to take action? Tell them more people are doing it! Proof does this in a good way. The primary CTA on the website is ‘Try it for free’. Hence, the nudge below the CTA tells you that 1000+ people have signed up for a free demo in 30 days. If 1000+ people have signed up, you would think it’s at least worth a try!

Here’s how Proof does this to boost free trials. 

6. Set clear expectations of what your users get if they request a demo, sign up for a free trial, etc

Just plainly asking your users to take action without telling them what they will get after taking the said action. Take Freshworks for example, they want users to request a demo. As a demo request seems a high-commitment action, Freshworks explicitly sets the expectations on what the users can expect out of the 20-minute chat. 

7. Reduce form fields and friction for your users to make submissions easily

Taking any action on your website can seem high commitment to your users. So if you want to increase your website's conversion rate, you have to reduce the barriers to entry. What does that mean? Take Rippling’s website for example. 

The brand wants you to sign up to see Ripling in action. All you have to do is provide an email ID. Reduce the friction as much as possible for your users to convert and they will. 

‍8. Customize solutions for all your target segments

When a user visits your website, you must highlight how your platform or offering, fits exactly into their daily roles and responsibilities. A generic landing page focusing on the entire product and the use cases it offers might not influence users. 

Take the following example, Social Pilot has created separate landing pages that cater to each of their target segment, drilling down on their pain points and showcasing how SocialPilot is the way to go.

9. Quantify your customer base to showcase credibility

For your users to get into your funnel, they need to trust you first. Incorporating elements on your website to help your users build trust and make you seem reliable. Look at how Dropbox does this. 

The hero fold on the website days ‘Join over 700 million registered users’. Which indicates over 700 million people in the world use Dropbox. If such a huge customer base is adopting Dropbox, there might be something at least worth trying, right? And that’s exactly what you want your visitors to feel. 

10. Proactively list your security credentials

Physical products can be tested before purchase, but what can be done with software? Brands that use SaaS tools, mostly deal with a lot of number crunching, analysis, monitoring, etc. When data comes in the picture, an important aspect all users need to be assured of is security credentials. 

Look at how VWO, showcases their security badges to build trust and ensure compliance. 

11. Get your users to take a low-commitment action

There is a good chance that your first-time website visitors might not be completely convinced to sign up for a demo with you or a free trial. So should you let them bounce off without taking any action? No! While users are just exploring the website, a little curiosity about your platform can make them want to get updates, information on the latest trends, helpful content, etc. 

Against a demo form action, a newsletter subscription with just one input field seems harmless. This is also a good way to get your users into the funnel so you can nurture them.

12. Create interactive tools like calculators, and quizzes to get users into your funnel

It is a general perception that technical SaaS products are boring. Content marketing around interesting topics and the latest industry trends can only take you so far. What seems to be working for brands is creating interactive content. Interactive tools like calculators, quizzes, and assessments, capture the users’ attention and get them to participate in a fun way without being salesly.

HubSpot has created some helpful tools that can inform their users about key concepts like persona, website health, brand creation, etc.

13. Create consumable guides, case studies, and checklists and offer them for free

Getting your users interested in your product happens in stages. Your users will visit the website, see if they find something interesting, read content, maybe download and informative asset, and enter your marketing funnel.

To establish credibility, it is important to come across as an authority on any subject that your users are interested in. Create assets around subjects your audience is interested in and give them away for free!

14. Create relevant prompts to capture user intent and boost goal conversion

When a user comes to the website, your goal is to get them into your marketing funnel at least. If there’s no action they have taken, then a last way to get them in your funnel is to show them an exit intent pop-up when they are leaving your website. 

Take the following example, explain your offering clearly, and nudge the user to convert.

15. Leverage social proof like impact numbers, customer testimonials, ratings

The easiest way to get your users to build trust is to showcase the impact you have created on your customers and why they believe in you. Explore the metrics and KPIs your target audience cares about and showcase how you have been moving the needle for current customers like Leadpages does. 

16. Create FOMO with exclusive access to sign up for upcoming assets, product launches

Content marketing, especially good content marketing, takes a lot of research and effort. Not all the content your create on your website will get consumed by your website visitors. So how do you grab the attention of your audience and make sure your assets are consumed well? Provide exclusive access! Create interesting content and build a buzz around the release. 

Take a look at this example from UserPilot. 

17. Enable chatbot assistance for users who are looking for help

You can populate your website with all the helpful information you think your customers will need, or address any questions they may have. There’s still a good chance that they may not find what they are looking for on your website. In situations where this happens, a chatbot comes to the rescue. Use a chatbot to assist your users, like Freshwork does. 

18. Highlight your USPs clearly

If you are in the SaaS industry, changes are more often than not, your users are evaluating your competitors simultaneously as they are going through your website and are in talks with your sales team. It’s important to stand out and differentiate yourself from your competitors and highlight your USPs to create a better recall. 

See how Shopify does this. 

19. Enable social logins to reduce barriers to entry

Your website is the first impression your users will form of your brand. It should include everything necessary to get your users excited about your platform. If the users get curious about your product after going through the content, they can book a demo, but what if they don’t want to take the effort to fill out an entire form?

Reduce the barriers that your users have to pass through before they can use your product and you will see an increase in conversion. 

20. Simplify and showcase the business impact your platform can create

Your users need specific information. If I onboard this platform, what results am I going to achieve in a period of 3, 6, or 12 months? Figure out the numbers that affect your business and how your product can help improve them. It is important to not get into the jargon of the business and keep it simple, focusing on the key metrics, as Buffer does. 

Website revamps are a way to redo your entire website for design, strategy, conversion optimization, illustrations, tone of voice, etc to accelerate conversions and create business impact. Your website content doesn’t have to change with the revamp, but the goals and content strategy can be relooked depending on the revised business goals. Website revamps aren’t to be confused with website redesigns. Redesigning a website can be an incremental process, and can be adopted as and when your brand needs to relook it’s identity, without thinking about business outcomes. 

Website revamps are an exercise almost every Marketer or entrepreneur has gone through at least once in their career. I talk to prospects about their websites every day and no matter how different these businesses are, their goals to revamp the website are similar.

But are they right?

You'll find out.

At ThunderClap, one of our services includes revamping B2B SaaS websites to build websites that are not only appealing but highly converting. After analyzing hundreds of sales calls that we have taken, here is how brands should not think about website revamps.

Here's where brands go WRONG about website revamps:

When brands go wrong about website revamps?

1. Change in leadership

Source

They have a new Marketing Manager who wants to execute different ideas. And the best way to show an impact for a newcomer is to take on a high-impact project and deliver value.

2. Competition 

They think their website has no feel, their competitors' is better. Digital peer pressure ensues when your competitor’s website looks better than yours. And then that develops a need for a revamp.

3. Misconception around conversion

Source

They think just a design revamp will boost website conversions. Yes, a visually appealing website is important but this factor doesn’t triumph over everything else.

4. Lack of clarity

A lack of clarity on business goals and the current state of affairs causes brands to think that it’s a website revamp that they’re lacking.

5. Inconsistency in brand identity

Brand identity is a function of the clarity inside the organization. If you don’t know what your brand stands for, what it represents, and how it should be communicated to your audience, your voice will always be flawed.

6. Immediate results

They think website revamps are a magical key to solving all their business problems. Once they implement the website revamp, brands think that the results and sales will start rolling in immediately.

7. The downside to a wrong decision

As complex as the website revamp process is, brands underestimate the cost of getting this process wrong. Your website is a snapshot of your business, the downside to doing a bad job goes unnoticed.

8. Neglecting user journey

Source

Website revamps are thought of visually more than strategically. Less focus on user experience or user journey will only lead to poor conversions.

9. Stakeholder management

Source

Website revamps are not a one-person job. It’s an asset that affects the entire business, but not all-important stakeholders are involved in the decisions. Not identifying the key stakeholders with critical buy-in can result in a lot of back and forth.

10. In-house bandwidth issue

Website revamp is a one-time exercise, but maintaining websites is not. The brand’s struggle to maintain the revamped website to the best of its ability can make or break the impact the revamp has. 

This is what brands get wrong about revamps. 

How should you think about revamping, instead?

1. Analyze current performance

‍Source

Analyze where you stand currently concerning goals, conversions, and other KPIs. Identify gaps by using tools like GA4, and Hotjar and build a hypothesis on what could be wrong.

2. Set realistic goals

Source

Once you have an idea of the current scenario, find areas of improvement that can have a business impact. Set 2 or 3 SMART goals before hunting for agencies and crafting strategies.

3. Customer journey

Source

Your website is one of the most important touch points for your users. Think thoroughly about the customer journey, what they should be shown, how to guide them down the funnel, etc. Let this guide your website strategy.

4. Customer-centric

Your redesign should be based on customers' preferences, not the CEO's preferences. In the spirit of revamping your website, don’t forget who it is supposed to serve. Only when a user can easily navigate through the website and see useful content will they consider purchasing your product. 

5. Brand voice

Source

Realize that just visually upgrading your website won't result in conversions. Be clear about your brand voice and messaging. The same should be consistently communicated across ads, social media, content assets, events, etc. ‍

6. Take it slow

Often exercises like website revamps come with a predetermined deadline. Realize that it’s better to take extra time doing it right than wrapping up a shoddy job. Don't rush the process of ideation, strategy, and implementation. Keep your business goals and customer preferences in mind.

7. Be patient 

The results after your website revamps won't be immediate, factors like SEO, and stability in traffic will take some time to reflect. Identify the indicators that suggest an improvement for your KPIs and closely monitor them over an extended period. 

If we could give our clients and prospects a framework of how to think about website revamps, this would be it. These processes are granularly taken care of once a client signs up with us. Read more about our website strategy services.

Decoding The Above the Folds (ATF) Of 100 SaaS Brands [Backed by research]

ThunderClap helps B2B SaaS brands build websites that are not only appealing but highly converting. Our strategy to come up with a website and messaging strategy for brands requires a lot of research. Once such research is uncovered here. 

I did an analysis of 100+ leading B2B SaaS companies to uncover the elements above the fold on their business websites. The research unearthed some unusual insights. However common these elements may be, they aren’t adapted by a huge chunk of leading businesses. 

Here’s the ultimate guide for you to ace above-the-fold optimization.

‍1. Pre-heading‍

We go all creative on the copy and the essence of the brand goes missing. Add a short pre-heading or label mentioning what your product exactly does.

Almost 10% of the websites, topped above the folds with a pre-heading. Like Wistia - mentions 'Video Marketing Platform'. No matter how quirky you get with your headline, your primary offering still gets communicated to your users. 

‍2. Heading and Subheading

Your users should get a complete understanding of what your business offers after reading your headline. It should address the question - what your business is and why should they care. There are a lot of ways to write copy - highlight benefits, highlight features, make claims, mention how your users' lives will change after using your platform, etc. 80% of the brands mentioned their value proposition.

Websites with the best recalls had the following:

• A short copy (4-5 words) that played with words, and described the offering in the simplest way possible
• It was written in the second person and seemed like an interaction

Example: See how Typeform uses a short, catchy headline that highlights its primary offering.

3. Illustration/Visual

If you are going to use an illustration, choose one that supports the copy, or don't use one at all! Having an irrelevant stocky, illustration distracts your user and will lead to them bouncing off if they don't find it appealing. Illustrations should generate curiosity about your product. If you are a platform-based company, give a sneak peek of your dashboard, if you are a product company, give an inside view of your customers using the product. Around 20% of the brands we studied feature visuals that have nothing to do with the product.

Example: RevenueHero features a product illustration that shows users what the platform would look like and piques interest.

4. Call-to-Action

Before adding a call to action on your website, ask yourself - what's the one action you want your users to take? Not such a simple answer. Over 68% of brands have multiple CTAs or similar CTAs with varied text on their hero fold. This dilutes focus and leads to decision fatigue and inaction. If possible try to implement a no-friction CTA - sign in directly with an email field. Over 10% of the brands we studied do this.

Example: Gong maintains a consistent, Book a demo CTA across the website so the users are encouraged to take one focused action.

‍5. Social Proof

Social proof seems like such a no-brainer, but do all businesses utilize it above the fold? Our study says no! Only 60% of brands showed off social proof - testimonials, customer logos, ratings, and impact in the first fold. If you the user has to scroll to find social proof, you have already lost them as the drop-off rate between the first and second fold is a staggering 30%-50%

Example: Leadpages does this beautifully. Right above the fold, you can see their clients featured with the impact they were able to generate with the platform.

6. Objection handling

What can stop your users from taking the action you desire? Think about it and highlight it under the CTA. The trial won't cost them anything? Add free forever. They might have trust issues. Mention no credit card required and so on. Only 13% of the brands we studied proactively deal with obvious objections.

Example: Look at Zapier. A major concern around a product is the cost associated with it. Zapier proactively clarifies this concern with their statement - Free forever for core features.

7. Layout and design

Visiting your website is an experience. Make it that way. Create an immersive experience that makes them want to stay on your website for a long time. Only 5% of the brands we studied did this. At the same time don't add so many elements that the users are confused about what to focus on. Keep it clean and simple for a better recall.

Example: Synthesia’s clean layout helps you focus on the core proposition - Turn text to video in minutes. 

You can incorporate all these elements to create a stellar hero fold for your website. But at the same time, don't forget the basics. A 1-second delay in mobile load time can increase bounce rates by 37%. Have your hygiene checks in place - ensure that the website loads fast, is easy to access, is mobile friendly, etc. 

You can find the screenshots of the hero folds here and our analysis here. 

If you work in B2B SaaS, you might have heard that the B2B buyer’s journey is complex and non-linear. B2B SaaS is a space filled with tools that can potentially impact your business and contribute to the bottom line. In 2024, there are said to be over 17,000 B2B SaaS businesses worldwide!

While the number is staggering, what it indicates is the market is huge and buyers today have ample choices to choose from. Your website design and user experience then prove to be an important factor that can influence their purchase decision. 

In this article, we’re going to deep dive into the B2B buyer’s journey and how to leave a lasting impact on your buyer to simplify their decision-making. Look for the examples we share and the best practices we talk about to see an uptick in your conversions and user engagement. 

What is B2B website design?‍

Before we dive into design, let’s understand the B2B buyer’s journey a little more clearly. As we’ve established before, the B2B buyer today has numerous choices to choose from. Then why are the sales cycles long and need numerous touchpoints? 

The B2B buyer requires a good mix of digital and human interactions throughout their journey. The process includes product adoption by the organization, considerable investment with an estimated ROI, buy-ins from multiple stakeholders across the organization, etc. All these factors make the buyer journey complex and with the increasing choices they have today and the frugality or effectiveness to spend their budget, the B2B buyer is more conscious today of making the right purchase decision than ever before. 

Research says, 90% of B2B buyers research 2-7 websites before making a purchase. The first action you’ll take after hearing about a business or a tool is to google it. What happens if the website design is unappealing or the site takes forever to load?

One misstep and you’ll be out of the consideration game. The B2B buyer’s journey, like every other marketing journey, goes through the same phases - awareness, interest, consideration, purchase, and advocacy. 

HubSpot seems to think that a B2B buyer will have around 8 touchpoints with your brand before they finalize the purchase.  Your website can serve them at various stages of their journey. Hence, it’s critical to think about your website design. 

Website designs differ significantly in B2B than they do in B2C. Unlike B2B, B2C purchase cycles are shorter, aim for immediate emotional engagement, and are mostly targeted towards individual consumers. 

B2B websites however need to appeal to multiple stakeholders, highlighting industry expertise, and feature in-depth content, with a design that focuses more on professionalism and functionality.

The goal of a B2B website should be to make the discovery and consumption of important assets as simple as possible for your B2B buyer. This includes simplifying navigation, having structure, well-informed layouts, social proof, case studies, and a high-performing website while maintaining brand differentiation.

Here are a few examples of B2B SaaS brands that have gotten it right. Grab your notes and write away!

List of Examples of B2B Web Designs:

1. Asana

A clean and user-friendly interface helps Asana’s users to easily find and consume the information they need. The intuitive navigation and the compelling visual storytelling elements featuring real customers only makes the user experience more authentic. 

‍2. MailChimp 

Mailchimp’s website reflects the brand identity with a strong focus on value proposition and credibility. A structured layout with key elements like social proof, impact metrics, and resources makes the content consumable for the users instead of overwhelming.

3. Unity

The immersive experience right on the hero fold never fails to hook the users when they first visit your website. Since it’s a creative platform, Unity has taken the liberty to showcase what using their tool can get you instead of overly focusing on content that talks about features and benefits. 

4. DocuSign 

Designed with clarity and simplicity, DocuSign's website is yet another inspiration for you. The simplified navigation just focuses on the one product they want to bring notice to while showcasing prominent CTAs. With an intuitive navigation to explore their website seamlessly, the website also features a chatbot to aid user’s journey. 

5. Zendesk

Unlike a faceless product website that talks about its features endlessly, Zendesk decides to keep it simple. Featuring humans that don’t appear stocky, Zendesk includes important elements like social proof, interactive product demos, and resources in a structured way that can influence the B2B buyer while maintaining a consistent brand experience. 

6. Dynatrace 

The vibrant use of colors and clean and minimal interface make the website easy to play with. It also effectively uses real estate with transitions that justify-content without making it seem too much to read through. A clear sneak peek into the product sets the expectations right from the get go. 

7. BlackLine

A simplified layout with streamlined navigation aids user experience. A minimalistic color palette brings users’ attention to the content that is shown on the website. Focus on customer logos, impact metrics and reasons why user’s should consider Blackline ensure creating good recall for the brand. 

8. Datadog

An immersive animation of the hero can hook the user and make them curious to know more about the platform. A clear focus on a primary CTA and dynamic representations of the features only add to users’ curiosity. 

Now that you have an insight into what goes into building an effective B2B website, here are 10 best practices for you to get started today!

‍10 Best Practices for B2B Web Design:

1. Understanding Your Audience

Perhaps this is a no-brainer, but often gets missed out. If you are targeting CEOs and leadership of your potential customers, having casual messaging, with unprofessional elements might not be well received. Find a couple of ICPs (Ideal Customer Profiles) you want to target and chart out your visual design to appeal to them and appear functional and professional.

2. Strategic Planning and Goal Setting

Even though a website is an important asset in your arsenal, we’ve seen not a lot of thought and resources go into maintaining it. What good is a website if it is not serving a purpose? Once you have your target audience decided, finalize what goals they care about and create a website strategy on how you will influence and achieve these.

3. User Experience (UX) Design

The B2B buyer’s journey is complex as it is, your only job is to make exploring your website as simple as possible. Keep the navigation easy to browse through, and improve discovery for assets they care about like testimonials or case studies. Don’t add a lot of content that can be overwhelming to read, or don’t use over-the-top colors or transitions. 

4. Visual Design Principles

An important factor to consider is your brand identity and consistency. Your website is one of the numerous touchpoints where your potential buyer interacts with you. Creating a completely different visual identity can hamper the recall of your ads, events, or offline collaterals. Ensure visual design principles like hierarchy, simplicity, readability, and accessibility are well executed.

5. Content Strategy

Content is important to your buyer at all stages of the user’s lifecycle. When they aren’t aware of your product, your feature pages and solution pages give them the necessary insights. In the consideration and interest phase, they would like to read more about the impact you have generated for other renowned brands. Finally, to solidify their decision, they might look for credibility symbols like reviews, media coverage, and awards. Ensure that all these pieces are easier to find when they are needed. 

6. Technical Consideration

Over 60%of website traffic comes from mobiles. If your website isn’t optimized for mobile or appears distorted, it might sully the impact of all your marketing efforts. Create a website that is fast to load, passes all the vital checks, and keep optimizing for performance.

7. Lead Generation and Conversion Optimization

Along with all the efforts you take around visual design, there are significant strategies to be made around conversion. If you are not clear on what you want your users to do, a beautiful website is still not going to influence your sales pipeline. Identity goals like demo requests free trials, and asset downloads that you want to push and align other elements of the website accordingly. 

8. Building Trust and Credibility

As B2B purchases require significant investment and buy-ins from multiple stakeholders across the organization, it’s important to showcase trust signals across the website that build credibility. Got featured on renowned platforms like Gartner, Forrester, or G2? Show them on the website. Feature top customer logos you serve, what your customers say about you, security credentials, and everything that your users care about.  

9. Integrating B2B Tools and Platforms

If your users are evaluating your tool, there must already be some tools that they use in day-to-day operations. Your job then becomes to convince them that your tool will not create further hassle and will integrate with any other platforms or systems they have in place today seamlessly. Feature these integrations in a separate section and talk about the joint value proposition you provide. 

10. Ongoing Maintenance and Updates

Creating a B2B website is not a one-time job. You have to continuously monitor if the website is delivering results as expected and keep fine-tuning as and when you find areas of improvement. Use tools like Google Analytics, Microsoft Clarity, or Hotjar to dig deeper into user behaviors.

‍Final Words

The goal of your website isn’t just to appear beautiful, it also has to deliver results on the metrics you set up to represent user engagement and conversions. Using the tips mentioned above coupled with the leading brands using them in practice can help you take your website ahead of your competition and be effective as a touchpoint. 

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