- Contest Factory
- August 7, 2018
Conversion Rate Optimization: Watch the Digits Add Up
Any seasoned eCommerce veteran can tell you that traffic volume and conversion rates are often two entirely different things. Getting people to your site is one thing, but convincing them to make a purchase is something else entirely. Therefore, if you really want to make sure that your conversion rates are as high as they can be, there’s a few key things to keep in mind.
The Finer Points of Conversion Rate Optimization
One of the major factors that goes into proper conversion rate optimization involves taking a cold, hard look at the thing that matters most to your customers — your prices. Simply put, are you competitive, or at least competitive as that term relates to other businesses like yours that are going after the same audience?
If the answer is ‘no,’ that will go a long way towards explaining why A) you seem to have absolutely no issues generating traffic, but B) that traffic doesn’t equate to sales and revenue in the ways that you need.
Two other factors that directly relate to your products also impact conversion rates. Your shipping options play a crucial role in whether someone is willing to make a purchase and if possible, those options should be fast and free whenever it’s realistic to do so. Equally important is your product selection — do you have all the major products/brands in your category that your audience members want? If not, you’re not nearly as competitive as you may have thought you were.
When You Make It Easy to Convert, People Will Convert
Along the same lines, several factors that all lead back to the user experience of your site will play a vital role in your ability to convert. Chief among them is the speed of your site — how long does a customer have to wait for each page to load? Studies have shown that if someone has to wait longer than three seconds for a site to load, they’re very likely to leave your site and never return. Do NOT let this happen to you.
A shopping cart is also a great way to help people convert, as the cart is always accessible regardless of which page they happen to be viewing. They have no need to navigate away to close the cart or add more items, which makes them far more likely to stay engaged.
Something that can work against you in terms of eCommerce conversion rate optimization has to do with giving people too many options, leading to various forms of choice paralysis on behalf of your audience. Go over your landing pages and remove the options that don’t need to be there — your conversion rates will increase almost immediately as a result.
Finally, make sure that you’re testing your cross-sell opportunities early and often. Do your offers take away from someone’s ability to immediately convert, or do they help you towards that goal? If it’s the former, they need to go. If it’s the latter, you’re in terrific shape.
