E-commerce is growing rapidly and is becoming one of the largest industries in cyberspace.
This is due to the endless increase in human satisfaction in the most easy, accessible and quick (one can also say lazy) way.
Online shopping is increasing as people are shopping online more than ever. In the United States alone, there are over a million e-commerce sites that you are or will be competing with.
Trying to get your product or content to the right people to engage and buy is no easy task.
So, the average conversion rate for e-commerce stores is 2-3%. This seems okay to some, but you don’t want to settle for average (I bet you don’t!).
In reality, you shouldn’t just wait for conversions to happen, you should optimize for them. The goal is not only to attract more traffic to your store, but to make more sales.
What is a Conversion Rate?
In the fiercely competitive world of ecommerce, increasing the ecommerce conversion rate is a top priority for any online store.
Understanding the shopper’s journey is vital to the success of an ecommerce business, as it allows for tailored strategies to increase conversions and improve the overall customer experience.
By offering enticing promotions such as free shipping on the landing page, potential customers are more likely to explore the ecommerce website and become online shoppers.
Conversion rate is the percentage of people who completed a goal (purchase in the case of e-commerce) on a website compared to the total number of visitors.
It is the most important KPI (Key Performance Indicator) of any company or brand. It’s definitely good if you keep at least at the average conversion rate in your industry.
However, it is much more beneficial to focus on improving your current conversion rate compared to the last time you measured it. It is essential that you do everything in your power to keep your conversion rate as high as possible.
The 12 Secrets to Improve the Conversion Rate of your E-Commerce
So, if you have an e-commerce site or plan to have one, these 12 actionable secrets can help you increase your conversion rate.
Faster Page Loading Time
Get this, 53% of visitors quickly leave your website if it takes more than three seconds to load, yes three seconds! I’m sure you don’t want that.
Just 1% increase in loading time directly reduces sales by 1% on e-commerce giant, Amazon. You can maximize your site’s performance by:
– Testing the speed of your product pages using testing tools like Google PageSpeed or GTMetrix.
– By using a more efficient version of your hosting plan. It may cost more, but it’s worth it in the long run.
– Optimize your images. Large photos increase loading time, but can be reduced using tools like CompressPNG or TinyPNG
Be SEO and CRO Oriented
Online visibility does not happen by chance. A website suitable for SEO search will help you increase your traffic and conversions.
SEO or search engine optimization involves optimizing your content for search engines so that your site ranks higher on Google.
It takes time and strategy to have an SEO-friendly framework with up-to-date search trends and algorithms. Constant efforts are required to stay competitive and relevant with SEO.
CRO, or Conversion Rate Optimization is a part of digital marketing which consists of increasing the proportion of visitors to a website who complete a defined action, such as filling out a form, purchasing a product or service, subscribing to a newsletter, etc.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO) optimizes content to motivate your users and customers to achieve the desired goal (through a call to action).
You need to change these three things that influence Google’s ranking algorithm if you really want to effectively optimize SEO and conversion rate optimization:
- Keywords and on-page SEO
- Content quality
- User and Usage Data.
Your pages should have relevant keywords, precise titles and appropriate meta tags.
You can improve your SEO and drive traffic to your site with these available keyword research tools:
- Google Keyword Planner
- Keyword research tool,
- Moz’s Keyword Explorer,
- SEMrush,
- KWFinder.
Now that you have enough traffic to your site, using these CRO tools will help ensure your on-page copy is designed to convert:
- Google Analytics,
- VWO,
- Adobe Marketing Cloud,
- Crazy Egg,
- Hotjar.
You should create really good copy, and then the conversions will come in droves.
Create a Detailed Product Description and use Quality Images and Videos
Product descriptions are essential in the world of e-commerce. They inform the customer about the product he wants to buy.
An attractive and detailed visual representation can make the difference between a simple visitor and a buyer.
Make sure the product name is the largest and most visible text on the page. Using H1 tags is crucial for optimal SEO.
On the one hand, detailed product descriptions provide customers with the information needed to evaluate whether the product meets their needs or not. These descriptions should be accurate, informative and engaging.
They must include all relevant information such as features, dimensions, materials used, maintenance advice, etc.
It is essential that the price is instantly understandable to the customer. Methods like price anchoring can be used to boost conversions.
On the other hand, high-quality images play a crucial role in providing the customer with an accurate visual representation of the product.
Customers want to know what the item they are about to purchase looks like. They want to see the details, texture, color and size of the product.
Embed high-quality images and videos, showing your product from various perspectives.
Blurry or low quality images can sow doubt and lead to shopping cart abandonment. Therefore, investing in beautiful product images, possibly from different angles or in context of use, can significantly increase the conversion rate.
However, for a higher conversion rate, you can include videos. Studies have shown that videos have the highest ROI than other marketing tactics.
Video strategy is not suitable for all products. On the other hand, if your product has particular characteristics in terms of functionality and use, a video is the best option.
Videos resonate more with people because they remember what they watch more easily than what they read.
Have a Responsive E-Commerce Website
A responsive website is one that can adapt to all devices used to access it. This will be a top priority because, in reality, most people use mobile phones and smartphones to shop online.
It is essential to have a “mobile-friendly” design strategy for your e-commerce site , because it improves user experience and convenience.
Additionally, with Google moving to mobile-first indexing, you need a mobile-optimized site or risk being lost in the rankings.
Most ecommerce sites are not yet optimized for mobile because desktop conversion rates are higher than mobile. You can start by targeting smartphone users rather than tablet users because smartphones account for almost 70% of mobile transactions.
Simple and Easy Navigation
You can have the coolest website in the world, but if your regular customers can’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll leave.
Every user wants simple, smooth and easy access to your site and this will also be your goal.
Visitors should be able to find what they are looking for with just one click. Simple navigation requires the following:
- Mobile Responsive – 30% of e-commerce sales now happen on mobile devices.
- Cross-Browser Compatibility – Overall, users use different browsers depending on their preferences.
Your search bar and navigation bar should be at the top of the screen, so visitors can easily navigate to the product category page they want.
You should constantly update and better your website functionality and design, and remember to have a functioning search option where users will easily be able to find different products.
There are different plugins and ecommerce site builders that offer different analytics that you can use. Checking your site’s internal data can help improve it because it provides data and insight into how visitors navigate your site and what they’re looking for.
Personalize your Web Pages
Further customizing your webpage is another method you can adopt for your e-commerce site.
Knowing your target audience and their behaviors on the Internet is a very important tool for converting visitors into customers because you understand your customers and their values.
This will help you integrate the right dynamic content allowing you to display offers and products to their liking.
Customers like to be appreciated and understood. If you can do this, you will be able to keep your sales afloat sometimes.
Big brands (like Amazon) use it a lot to build customer loyalty by directing them to related “product collections,” but not necessarily in the same product category, using past purchases and browsing history.
There are “customer history” extensions and plugins that you can use to monitor customer purchases and history to offer more personalized suggestions, like the WooCommerce plugin.
Using geo-targeting personalization in your checkout form will display the most convenient collection point for your customers and help you provide appropriate service based on your customer’s city.
This can increase the checkout conversion rate by 96%. You should know that 75% of customers consider offering multiple delivery options important when purchasing online.
Accept Multiple Payment Options
There are many ways for the customer to make an online payment.
This doesn’t mean you need to have “all” of the payment options available, because chances are your customers will rarely, if ever, use these multiple options.
Some customers refuse to fill out their credit card information online. Even if not all of them are satisfied, you need to offer more payment options like PayPal (most used), Apple pay (for mobile apps), debit cards and many more. The cryptocurrency option can be considered if your customers are the tech-savvy type.
Don’t lose sales due to lack of multiple payment methods, because 50% of customers will leave your site if their payment method is not available.
Simplify the Payment Process
Even if your visitors have decided to purchase a product on your site, you risk losing their interest if the payment process is too complicated and too long.
Even if you want to get all the necessary details, try as much as possible to make your checkout process short and precise. Some guests just want to buy and leave, so you need to plan or create a guest checkout system.
A large number of abandoned carts are caused by complicated checkout processes, ranging from account registration to a multitude of details to fill out, which annoy, distract and scare customers.
The priority should be to help them get through checkout quickly.
You can simply allow new customers to “buy as guests” and ask for their contact details (email address) at the end of checkout.
Offering a “one-time purchase” to registered members to allow them to avoid the tedious checkout process is another way to simplify the process.
The checkout process is the final step in converting your customers and you don’t want it to be messy. Helping your customers pay easily and efficiently will keep you afloat in the world of e-commerce.
Have a Clear and Engaging CTA
Call To Action (CTA) is the most important button on your site. This is the “send”, “buy” or “register” button. It should stand out from the rest of your content.
On product pages, your CTA should only have a few options like “Learn more” or “Add to cart” . You want to guide your customers through the purchase funnel to successful competition of the purchase.
When in the purchase funnel, your CTA tells visitors exactly what they should do and where they should go, from the moment they add a product to their cart until the end of the checkout process. payment.
So it must be distinct and strong enough to encourage your customers to continue.
Your CTA should be able to grab your customer’s attention without being extreme or obnoxious. You can use Google Analytics or set up UTM codes to track and see if the different colors in your CTA are performing well.
Your homepage is a good location for the “Subscribe” CTA button, as it’s a great way to get email addresses from customers who may not be purchasing at the moment. Optimized email marketing strategies can then be implemented to attract them back to your site.
This is a good marketing structure that will help increase your conversion rate.
Re-Engage Abandoned Carts
Abandoned carts are one of the challenges you face when running an e-commerce business, but how you respond to these abandoned carts can increase or decrease your conversion rate.
Customers fill their cart with products, then leave without completing the checkout process. When this happens, you should always try to see what the causes are and how to fix them.
Your site design and optimization, checkout processes, product content, and links are some of the factors that can contribute to these cart abandonment, so you’ll reexamine each one of them and make the necessary adjustments.
You can send “follow-up” emails to follow up with customers and remind them to pick up where they left off in the purchasing process.
Offering them a discount to encourage them to complete their order is a strategy that can convert them into loyal customers.
There are different tools like Road ID, Criteo, Target2sell available for cart recovery processes. Some are even free ones that are part of your store’s features.
Social Proof
Social proof is an opportunity to showcase the excellence of your brand and can take different forms such as user ratings, comments, photo shares and testimonials. These varieties encourage and help the credibility of your products and site.
Various studies have shown that people read, trust and rely on online reviews, personal recommendations and testimonials before making a purchasing decision.
Showing your visitors that real people are already using your product is a great way to break the barrier of caution and get conversions.
You shouldn’t ignore the fact that people want to buy products that others already use and love. Showcasing your best-selling or most popular products can also provide social proof that other people are buying them.
That said, positive social proof will not only lead to an increase in conversion rate, but will also improve average order value and customer retention.
One powerful way to boost conversion rates is by actively collecting and displaying positive customer reviews.
When potential customers see the experiences of others, it builds trust in the ecommerce business and encourages them to complete their purchase rather than abandon their cart at the checkout page.
Ultimately, in the digital landscape, building trust and delivering an outstanding customer experience are essential steps to increase ecommerce conversions and drive success in the online retail space.
Ensure Security
With the news of cybersecurity, people are overly cautious and concerned about putting their private information online. No one wants to shop on a sketchy, unreliable e-commerce site.
Today, it is imperative for e-commerce businesses to have adequate security measures in place, and this should be obvious to your audience. Trust is necessary before customers disclose their private information online.
Obtaining SSL certificates is a good way to start, as it reassures your customers that their data is secure. Making other relevant security certificates visible to your audience is another way to build their trust in your site.
Conclusion
As you have seen, increasing your conversion rate comes from a good analysis and implementing many changes in your e-commerce website, as well as monitoring what your users like and don’t like.
Sometimes there is a lot to do, but you don’t know where to start. Starting with a few of these steps will provide a boost to your conversion rate.
A clearer study and understanding of your metrics will help you analyze your site data to see where to adjust these tips and monitor the impact of changes made.
If you need help improving your conversion strategy, please contact our web marketing agency. We run the best web agency in Montreal and we can help you for sure!
