It happens on websites, in product descriptions, on Instagram feeds, in email funnels people paid good money to build… Someone lands on a page, they look around, they scroll… and then they leave.

Not because the offer is bad.
Not because the brand isn’t “pretty enough.”
Not because the price is too high.

They leave because they don’t understand.

And if I can scream one thing from the rooftops at you loud enough that it haunts you in your sleep (dramatic enough for you?) let it be this:

Understanding is conversion.

Understanding is the real moment the sale happens

Conversion isn’t a button click. Conversion is comprehension.

It’s the second someone can confidently say:

• “Oh, this is for me.”

• “I get what this will change for my life.”

• “I know why this is worth it.”

• “I know what to do next.”

That is the cornerstone of every purchase decision you’ve ever made – and every decision your customers are making about you. 

Joining this email list will change the way you see marketing.
Buying that fencing product means you can finally stop feeling like you’re living in a fishbowl.
Buying this handbag means you don’t have to replace it in three years.
Installing this app will make sure your camera roll never feels like a place all your memories will go to die. 
This water bottle gives you cold water for 12 hours, no matter where you are.

Are you getting the picture yet? 

None of those are “features.” They’re outcomes. They’re understanding. They’re the part the brain needs before it can move forward.

Yes, even that can of Coke you bought at the Dairy (see also: convenience store) last Tuesday was rooted in some kind of life-changing clarity. 

Your website doesn’t have a design problem. It has an understanding problem.

Aesthetics absolutely matter. They build trust. They create emotional safety. They set expectations.

But aesthetics don’t convert people who are confused.

If someone lands on your website and they can’t immediately answer:

1. What do you do?

2. Who is it for?

3. What will it do for me?
   …what are they supposed to decide?

“Maybe they’ll click around and figure it out” is not a strategy. It’s gambling.

And we already know how people behave online: they rarely read your page like a novel. They scan. They hunt for meaning. They look for cues and anchors and proof.

So if the meaning isn’t obvious fast, you don’t lose a visitor – you lose a decision.

Let me put it to you this way:

Clarity is kindness.

It is kind to tell people what you do without making them decode you.
It is kind to tell people who you’re for without making them wonder if they’re “allowed” to be there.
It is kind to tell people what changes when they buy without making them stitch it together from vague language and pretty photos.

In UX research, “readability” and “scannability” aren’t nice-to-haves — they’re directly tied to usability (and usability is tightly linked with whether someone follows through).

When people can process what they’re seeing more easily, they’re more likely to feel confident about what they’re choosing – and that confidence translates into conversion.

The social media trap: likability without understanding

Some people would say I should hold your hand while I say this. I love you, but you’re an adult. You can hear this and not melt: 
A lot of people are building brands that are very likeable… and very unclear.

They post trends. They use the audio. They do the dance. They share vibes. They share aesthetics. They share “day in the life” content that makes them relatable and human.

And yes, that can endear people to you (especially in founder-led brands where trust is personal).

But if your content makes people think:
“I like her.”
“I like this brand.”
“I’d totally be friends with them.”
…and they still can’t tell you what you sell and what it does for them?

You don’t have a visibility problem. You have an understanding problem.

This is why you can have 10,000 followers and two sales last week.

Your audience isn’t confused about whether you’re nice.
They’re confused about whether you’re relevant.

Confusion is expensive

Confusion doesn’t sit politely on your website like an awkward houseguest.

Confusion creates friction. Friction delays decisions. Delayed decisions often become no decisions.

Even small changes that introduce confusion in high-stakes parts of an online journey can reduce conversion performance – which is why so much research and practice in UX insists on transparency and clarity in transaction-critical areas.

And it’s not just websites. The same mechanism shows up across marketing and consumer behaviour: when information is easier to process, people respond more positively to it. Researchers often describe this as processing fluency – the “ease” a person feels when they’re making sense of something.

When things feel hard to process, people often interpret that as risk. Or effort. Or “maybe not for me.”
They leave – and they don’t always know why.

The brownie lesson (or: stop selling what it is and start selling what it does)

You could make the best chocolate brownies in the world.

You can say that. Plenty of people do.

But “best brownies in the world” isn’t a reason to buy. It’s a claim.

Now imagine you say:

These brownies are for the day that chewed you up. The day you’re running on fumes. The day you need five minutes of ‘I can do this.’
They’re the kind of chocolatey, fudgy, ridiculous bite that makes you stop and breathe again.

That’s not fluff. (I mean, it’s a little bit fluffy, for sure) But it’s translation.

That’s turning “what it is” into “what it does for me.”

And that – that’s understanding.