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Every entrepreneur wishes for more website traffic. But what if none of your visitors buys anything? That’s an e-commerce nightmare!
Remember, customers have a short attention span and an unlimited number of options to choose from. They need instant gratification and if they don’t get it from you, they will switch to the next tab without a second thought.
So, it doesn’t matter how many customers you can attract to your site if they aren’t buying. It is better to have five visitors who buy from you rather than fifty who won’t. That is what conversion is all about.
So, while traffic matters, conversion matters the most. If your conversion rate is not good enough, it means your site needs some tweaks. With little changes, you can fix the mistakes and increase the conversion rate of your e-commerce site.
Let’s start with number one.
1. Improve Your CTA
How many Call-to-Actions do you have on a page?
It is okay to have multiple CTAs but you need to make sure they are inviting enough to get clicked. Remember, quality and quantity are both important in this case. Use a different call for each button you place on a page.
A series of seven ‘Buy Now’ buttons on a single page seems a little overbearing. Think of something more enticing. Think of multiple options. Your strongest CTA should be placed somewhere where it is immediately visible without scrolling.
You can change the language of all the buttons on your page to turn them into CTAs. Experts recommend the use of more active language for this purpose. For instance, instead of ‘Read More,’ why not go for ‘View Product Details.’
An action-oriented approach will help you improve engagement, and conversion, on your e-commerce site. A weak CTA, however, can turn off your customers for good.
2. Create a Journey
It pays to understand how conversion funnel works.
It is naïve to assume that your customer would just jump to the buy button as soon as they see the product. Once you have generated interest in the product, your customers will still take time to decide if they want to buy.
Again, bombarding customers with ‘Buy Now’ buttons is never a good idea. Yes, you want action but you don’t make them feel you are forcing them to buy. That is too big a commitment to ask for. Instead, you can make their journey smoother by taking it one-step at a time. You can place a ‘Speak to Us’ or ‘Get Your Free Consultation’ button. This way you will encourage them to take the next step instead of scaring them away.
Research shows replacing ‘Buy Now’ buttons with ‘Contact Us’ can result in a whopping 73 percent increase in conversion.
3. Enhance Experience
User experience is the most critical factor that affects conversion for websites and mobile apps. You have just a few seconds to impress the visitors before they click that ‘x.’
There is a lot that goes into understanding consumer behavior to create a positive experience. Form colors and visuals to loading time and navigation menus everything matters.
Your website’s load time is the most important factor here. If it takes more than 3 seconds to load, you will lose a prospect. If it is difficult for any user to find the desired product within seconds, they will leave. Test your site’s performance on all the relevant platforms to identify UX issues.
Remember, your content is also a part of the user experience. Make sure you have an engaging description that is easy to read yet clearly describes the product. Use bullet points and create sub-sections. Use high-quality images so your customers can get an idea of how your product will look like. It is important for the text and design to be well-structured and clutter-free.
4. Add Visuals
Visuals are important. People won’t buy a product if they cannot see what it looks like. While images get the job done, customers now trust them less than they used to. We have heard many shopping horrors where a picture doesn’t always tell the right story. You can answer customer concerns by adding a video instead.
Make a video of the product yourself or ask your customers to send in a video of unpacking the product. Positive reaction videos will earn you more customers. With the chances of going viral, you can even post the videos on social media. These videos are likely to bring qualified leads.
5. Upsell and Cross-sell
If you haven’t considered upselling or cross-selling, you are wasting your leads. Remember, you can always make more money out of a single lead. You can use upselling and cross-selling techniques to create a shopping impulse.
Upselling and cross-selling are different. With upselling, you suggest your user buys a bigger, better version of the product they are buying. It can also be a bulk-buying offer with a bulk discount. It is kind of upgrade.
In cross-selling, you suggest other but related products that might interest the buyer. You can use an algorithm to predict their next purchase based on previous buying history. For instance, if a user buys a new phone, you might interest them in a mobile case or any other accessory for that particular mobile.
6. Foster Trust
Let the world see how satisfied your customers are. At the end of the day, their words matter more than yours. Make sure your website has reviews and testimonials right where they can be seen by other visitors.
There is a lot you can do to encourage positive reviews and testimonials. You can reward your customers with certain redeemable points in the future. You can offer them a discount code or voucher. As long as it gets them to write a review, it is a worthy investment.
Conclusion
If you want to improve your e-commerce conversion rate, you need to focus on the overall experience of your customers. Remove the obstacles that keep them from taking the desired action. Also, use good coding practices to help customers sail smoothly through the conversion funnel.
Author Bio:
Sohail Rupani is a senior SEO strategist at PNC Digital, a digital marketing agency based in Orlando. He specializes in SEO and SEM techniques. He is passionate about technology and loves to analyze the tech industry in his spare time and stay in touch with the latest happenings. He also writes technical articles about SEO and digital marketing. Follow @sohailrupani for more updates.
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