In this first installment of Revenue Magazine’s “By Design Makeover,” I worked with my team at Sostre & Associates to choose one site and give that lucky winner a visual redesign of its home page. After reviewing more than 50 submissions from readers like you, we finally selected – drum roll, please – OriginalDogBiscuit.com.

We chose this site because it serves as a prime example of a challenge website owners commonly face – designing an effective home page. I am convinced that online retailers could drastically improve conversions by redesigning their home page, and I am out to prove it. So stick with me as we walk through this makeover geared toward increasing conversion rates for OriginalDogBiscuit.com.

Before you design a website it is critical to thoroughly understand the product or service that you are peddling. That’s why we started the makeover process with a conversation with Elyse Grau, owner of The Original Dog Biscuit Co., to learn as much as possible about her products.

Grau says her company’s value proposition is quality. In other words, the biggest benefit of buying her biscuits is the ingredients. The Original Dog Biscuit uses all natural, human-grade, mostly organic ingredients, no preservatives, sugars or salts. The results leave dogs barking for more of this healthier snack.

Grau’s customers are health-conscious dog lovers. So it comes as no surprise that her best-selling products are regular and special diet dog biscuits, with dog gifts and dog supplements taking a backseat to these staples. The Original Dog Biscuit Co. also touts great incentives for frequent buyers, including discounts and free products.

Armed with this information, we needed to understand how users interact with the website. This is User Interaction 101. A first-time visitor has three primary questions: What is this site selling; why should I buy from this site; and how do I buy from this site?

Your website’s home page is charged with providing quick answers (sometimes in less than 10 seconds) before you require anything of the user.

Now let’s check out how the original design responds to those questions.

What is the site selling? The Original Dog Biscuit Co. may have a clear domain name and logo, but the website sends mixed signals. A quick glance at the home page screams of salmon oils instead of the company’s best-selling biscuits.

The three product categories – Dog Biscuits, Dog Gifts and Supplements – are each given the same weight in the navigation. That makes it confusing for customers who came to the site looking for dog biscuits with the best ingredients and best taste.

What’s more, the home page doesn’t display any images of the actual products being offered. This imagery is commonly referred to in the industry as a “hero shot.” And according to MarketingSherpa’s Landing Page Handbook, a good hero shot can increase brand recognition and response rates. That’s our goal!

Why should I buy from this site? As we learned from our business owner interview, the unique value of the doggy treats is ingredients that are far superior to your average grocery store brand. The problem is that the site doesn’t communicate that value proposition.

Well, OK, technically it does in that hard-to-find text blurb in the middle. But people don’t always read text, especially text that stretches across the page with no distinguishing characteristics. And the Our Ingredients link is sandwiched between the Frequent Buyer Program and Privacy Policy links, neither of which will draw much attention. This is where a good tagline comes in.

Wait ” it already has a tagline. Yes, and if you squint really hard you can almost see it right there under the logo. Can you see it? It says, “Best Ingredients. Best Taste.” It’s not the best tagline in the dog-biscuit world, but if it was visible, it might help.

How do I buy from this site? Now let’s assume that a user gets past the first two questions. They understand that the site sells dog biscuits and that the high-quality ingredients make this a much better brand for their canine friends. There’s still one more problem: How do they make a purchase?

Although not immediately recognizable, the phone number isn’t too hard to find.

Since there are no product images on the home page, we have to dig a little deeper to find the dog biscuits we want. But once we get there, adding them to the cart is fairly straightforward.

Bottom line: OriginalDogBiscuit.com could use a few improvements. I’ve pinpointed a few specific areas that need some immediate help:

  • Too much navigation
    When there are too many navigation options, it’s hard for the eye to pick anything out, much less see what’s really important.
  • Corporate identity inconsistency
    The logo is attractive and has personality, but it doesn’t flow with the rest of the page.
  • Missing unique value proposition
    The unique benefit for dog owners who buy from this site is that their pets are getting treats that are healthier than their mass-market counterparts. This value is not communicated on the home page.
  • Ordering phone number not prominent
    Many users still want to pick up the phone and call. The placement of the number is not prominent enough.
  • Wrong focus
    The first thing a visitor sees on the site is “salmon oil.” This is not the primary business of the website and, although there should be a place for news and announcements, it is taking too much real estate in the current design.

Now comes the fun part. Sostre & Associates art director Jason Graham spearheaded the visual aspect of this redesign. He was excited about the project because, “Their logo and packaging looks terrific. They obviously invested a lot into their brand identity, and we can capitalize on that.”

First we took the most important elements and positioned them right in the center of the page. Now their top products are prominently featured, along with their value proposition, and Add to Cart links allow customers to begin shopping right away. Then we surrounded that imagery with supporting elements, like testimonials, articles and frequent-buyer discounts.

“Everything on the home page supports the user’s desire to buy or learn more about the product and the person selling it,” Graham says. “The new home page gives users lots of reasons to feel good about buying the product.”

In the competitive world of e-commerce, online shoppers are always looking for reasons to not buy from a website. Having a less-than-optimal home page can give them what they perceive as a good reason.

Remember the saying, “On the Web, your competition is only three clicks away”? Well, it may be old (in Internet time), but it is still true. This By Design Makeover is sure to keep the competition at bay and dog owners happy with a user-friendly store to buy nutritious doggy treats.

PEDRO SOSTRE is principal and creative director at Sostre & Associates, a Miami-based consulting and development firm, which also promotes affiliate programs, including AudioBookDeals.com, BestCredit Solutions.com, EquestrianMag.com, iTravelMag.com and Look-Your-Best.com.