Sites like yours that are trying to get product and content in front of the right people, to get people to opt-in, engage, or buy. CRO (conversion rate optimization) optimizes content for users and customers with the goal of driving them to complete the call-to-action. Here are just a few: And now that you have more visitors making it to your site, you need to use these CRO tools to make sure that your on-page copy is built for conversion: Take the time to craft the best copy you can – you’ll be rewarded with conversions. Pages need to load quickly, and visitors need to be able to do what they want to do on your site on their mobile. Check out the difference: Start by targeting smartphone users over tablet users. On average, 30% of e-commerce site visitors will use the site’s search functionality. This can provide invaluable information about what visitors are searching for and how they’re navigating your site. Of course, you also have to make site improvements based on the data. Some people will buy things they don’t even want or need simply because they’re on sale. How do you improve the conversion rate on your e-commerce site?
I want to let you in on a little secret. Your e-commerce site is just one in a sea of 47 billion websites currently swimming around the Internet.
Billion. With a ‘b.’
This includes roughly 1.3 million e-commerce sites. And that’s just in the United States.
Sites like yours that are trying to get product and content in front of the right people, to get people to opt-in, engage, or buy.
Out of those e-commerce sites, just a little more than 650,000 earn less than $1 million from web sales.
I know, “less than $1 million” is an overly broad measure.
Given that average conversion rates are between 2-3%, I believe it.
So if you want to compete, you need to stand out.
These 17 e-commerce conversion hacks will help you double your conversion rates and have you fist-pumping with your sales department in no time.
1. The need for speed
Two seconds.
If your site takes longer than two seconds to load, 53% of your customers lose interest.
Even a delay of a single second can result in a 7% reduction in conversions. For an e-commerce site making $5,000 per day, a 1-second delay could potentially cost you $125,000 in lost revenue.
It’s true. There are few things more frustrating than waiting for a website to load in today’s age of instant gratification.
Here are a few things you can do to make sure that you’re not leaving money on the table because of your site’s performance.
1. Test your speed. Use Google PageSpeed or even something like Pingdom to figure out your site’s baseline speed.
If you don’t know where you are, you can’t go where you need to go.
2. Check your hosting plan. If your site host offers different hosting levels, make sure that you’re using a higher performing version.
The extra money it may cost will be worth it if you drop the load time and increase conversions, right?
3. Optimize images. There are so many tools out there – both free and paid – that can be used to optimize your images for web and mobile.
Kraken has plans that start at $5/month. TinyPNG is free.
If you’re not into online tools, you can download RIOT for a free desktop option.
No excuses. You have to make sure that your images aren’t killing your site’s performance.
2. Make SEO and CRO your friends
Keyword optimization does so much more than drive traffic to your page.
When you use SEO and CRO together, you can increase both traffic and conversions.
This is ideal for an e-commerce site. And you don’t have to sacrifice one for the other.
SEO (search engine optimization) optimizes content for search engines to get your site ranked higher.
CRO (conversion rate optimization) optimizes content for users and customers with the goal of driving them to complete the call-to-action.
But marrying the two isn’t always easy.
I’m sure you’ve seen some content that’s nearly unreadable due to SEO attempts. The sole purpose of sites like this is to drive traffic, forget user experience.
To optimize for both SEO and CRO you really only need to change three things that impact Google’s ranking algorithm – keywords and on-page SEO, content quality, and user and usage data.
There are a ton of keyword research tools available to help improve your SEO and get visitors to your site. Here are just a few:
And now that you have more visitors making it to your site, you need to use these CRO tools to make sure that your on-page copy is built for conversion:
Take the time to craft the best copy you can – you’ll be rewarded with conversions.
3. Go responsive
Responsive design means that your site will automatically “respond” to fit the device a visitor is using.
If done right this will enhance the user experience by minimizing the need to resize, scroll, or pan.
Pages need to load quickly, and visitors need to be able to do what they want to do on your site on their mobile.
Adopting a “mobile-first” site design strategy for your e-commerce site is key.
And, since Google is moving to mobile-first indexing, your site will have to take a mobile-first design strategy or be lost in the rankings.
In fact, it’s estimated that mobile e-commerce will account for 50% of the market by 2020. You simply can’t afford to ignore mobile users.
Despite this, conversion rates lag behind desktop conversion rates.
Why? Sites aren’t optimized for mobile e-commerce.
Check out the difference:
Start by targeting smartphone users over tablet users. Smartphones are the preferred device for mobile shopping and account for nearly 70% of all mobile transactions.
If you reach a crossroads where you have to choose between smartphone optimization versus tablet optimization – target those smartphone users.
If there are still tablet users who aren’t picked up in your mobile optimization for smartphones, you can get them later.
Don’t lose a customer to another site because they embraced mobile e-commerce and you didn’t.
4. Improve your copy
The Internet is a visual place.
But you still need to create some stellar copy.
Copy tackles three of the biggest challenges faced by an e-commerce site: informing visitors, driving action, and fostering relationships.
FreckleTime increased conversions 2.4x through stronger copywriting.
Of course, you need people to actually read your copy, which is apparently no small feat.
Based on an eye-tracking study by Neilsen Norman Group, it’s likely that the vast majority of your visitors will scan your site, and not actually read it.
The typical scanning pattern is an ‘F’ shape.
Your copy should be engaging and formatted in a way that will capture the scanners.
Keep pertinent information towards the top of your piece and use subheadings that allow your scanners to easily identify the sections that are important to them.
Another easy way to improve your copy is to write with your target customer in mind.
And if you haven’t created customer personas, you need to stop everything and do that right now.
You can also make some updates to your word choices for a quick copy improvement.
Use words that evoke a strong response and invite action from your visitors. Words like “stunning” or “mind-blowing” are much stronger than using a word like “cool.”
5. Go visual
Yes, I realize that I just told you to improve your copy, but I also said that the Internet is a visual place.
Include several high-quality images of your products. These images will provide perspective to visitors and so include shots of your product solo and in use.
If you really want to make an impact on potential customers, include video.
Kelty is outstanding at using videos in their product marketing and they double as product guides, provide useful information on how to set up tents, camp furniture, and other outdoorsy items.
A short product video gives customers a chance to see the way your product moves.
It also gives you a chance to use voice to convey genuine excitement and passion about the product without relying on exclamation points.
6. Smooth navigation
Do not reinvent the wheel when designing navigation for your e-commerce site.
You want your visitors to have a smooth, seamless experience on your site, and you want them to be able to find what they’re looking for.
Your search bar must be prominent.
On average, 30% of e-commerce site visitors will use the site’s search functionality. And, more importantly, visitors who find what they’re looking for become customers.
Site navigation is most commonly located along the top or along the left side of desktop sites.
For mobile sites, it’s common to see a “hamburger” menu (the icon with three lines) in the top left corner.
But let’s talk categories for a minute.
There shouldn’t be a single place to find a product that can fit into multiple subcategories.
If a visitor is looking for a Fitbit in “wearable technology,” but you only have it listed in “fitness trackers” then the visitor may assume that you don’t carry the product.
And, then they might leave and never come back.
Your e-commerce site builder or plugin should offer relatively painless ways to do this.
WooCommerce provides information about managing product taxonomies in their product documentation.
Different e-commerce site builders and plugins have different analytics included, so check out the documentation for the specific tool you’re using.
And…
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