8 Tips On How To Improve Your Ecommerce Conversion Rates

8 Tips on How to Improve Your Ecommerce Conversion Rates If you’re running an online store, topping your list of to-do’s is figuring out how to improve your Ecommerce conversion rates. Check out these 8 tips.

Ecommerce web development is an ongoing process for any business and conversions are key.

You want to get as many as you can but need to do it in an elegant and consumer-friendly way. If your site is too pushy and appears to be interested only in making a sale, customers will run in the other direction.

Surely there must be some sophisticated ways to improve your Ecommerce conversion rates without spending a fortune?

The answer to that is ‘Yes there are’ and we are going to share 8 of them with you so that you can incorporate them as part of your ecommerce website development process.

1. Make your product images outstanding

Put yourself in the shoes of your customer.

They want to see exactly what they are buying before they commit. This is of paramount importance when it comes to improving Ecommerce conversion rates.

It is so true that a picture paints a thousand words and whilst text can act as a support, images alone can sell. Think of them as your secret conversion weapon and don’t cut corners when it comes to making them of great quality. Use big clear images, high resolution and with plenty of white space in the background so that the image pops out from the screen. Don’t rely on just one image but use several, showing different aspects. Include a zoom-in function for close-ups. You can get them shot professionally but if you have a good camera, you can do them yourself with a little practice, taking a few tips from commercial photographers.

2. Get your product descriptions expertly written

These days a short one-liner just doesn’t cut it.

Make your sales copy detailed, accurate and tell a story.

Don’t fill it up with fluff or words that mean nothing.

Provide plenty of information and point out the value.

Break text up into paragraphs with relevant headings so that the reader can scan through quickly if necessary and provide a final short summary for those that like to window-shop.

Tell your would-be customers why they need your product, why it’s so good and how many benefits it will provide them with.

You may also want to include a Q&A for the customers that like to do a detailed analysis.

Never use the description provided by the manufacturer as this immediately reduces your SEO and puts you into the category of ‘couldn’t be bothered to do it properly’.

Make your product descriptions personal and appealing.

With so many similar items out there, you need to make it clear to buyers why yours is the best.

3. Use videos as well as photos

Don’t freak out and think that a good video is going to blow your budget.

Ask consumers to send in their testimonial videos and top up with your own carefully shot video using a good quality smartphone.

Whereas static images do one job, moving images can do a lot more. Don’t think that this is only restricted to fashion or clothing; all products can benefit from showing a whole 360 degree walk around. Think about how estate agents are using this to sell houses and you will see what we mean. You can even add a voice over or some suitable soundtrack/music that matches the brand. Your ecommerce web designer can add this function for you.

4. Make delivery all-inclusive

Show free delivery and you will be joining the throngs of more than 50% of ecommerce stores.

If you wish, you can make this only applicable once the shopping cart value shoots over a certain value. Whether you have built the cost into the price or not, consumers will only see it as a perk.

Studies have shown that free delivery is a critical deciding factor for 73% of shoppers.

93% more said that if free delivery were available, they would buy more.

Often, buyers get to the shopping cart, see the added delivery charges and abandon. This is the number one reason for shoppers ditching their carts and heading to the high street. If there is no way that you can include free delivery, opt for a flat rate instead and show this before they get to the cart.

5. Make product reviews a big thing

Don’t be bashful.

Ask customers for feedback and display it. Most shoppers expect to see this. In fact, if feedback and reviews are not shown, it can work against you as 61% of shoppers like to read reviews before committing to purchase. If your ecommerce platform does not have a built-in reviews section, ask your ecommerce web developer to add a plugin or widget, like Yotpo.

Optionally, you can show testimonials as text within the body of the product description. Don’t be too freaked out by negative reviews as long as the majority are positive as this shows you are not faking.

6. Make your CTA button a good one

Changing your call to action (CTA) text or button takes little effort but can create a positive change.

Make the checkout button easy to find and prominent. There is nothing more annoying than wanting to buy and not being able to find the checkout. Make the ‘buy it now’ button bright and bold, making sure that it identifies with your brand.

Not sure how to do this? Get help from your ecommerce designer.

7. Don’t hide your contact information

Have you ever gone to buy something from an online store and then realized that there is now way of contacting it?

Does this instill confidence? Maybe they stay incognito because they don’t want to deal with a rush of complaining customers? Don’t let your store fall into this box. Making it easy for customers to contact you builds trust.

Show telephone numbers clearly as well as an email address.

You’d be surprised at how much a little thing like a phone number can improve your Ecommerce conversion rates.

In fact, you can find several studies that clearly show how much it affects Ecommerce store on this blog post by Neil Patel.

Here’s a snippet of one of the case studies:

Test Conditions

• Test Duration: From September 9, 2011 to October 24, 2011. (approx. 6 weeks)
• Test Item: Website home page of Flowr vs. home page variation.
• Test Type: A/B Test (only difference between variation was a phone number and associated call-to-action).
• Test Goal: Increase software sign ups from home page.

Results

• 53.96% of sign-ups originated from the home page variation with the phone number.
• 46.04% of sign-ups originated from the original home page without a phone number.
• Conversion Increase: +.5% (half of a percent increase)

8. Chase those abandoned carts!

Every online store gets some abandoned carts with statistics showing that 89% of customers have abandoned their cart once.

This can be due to many reasons such as delivery charges, comparison making, slow site speed, being unsure or distracted. But you don’t have to just sit back and accept this. If you obtained an email address during the checkout procedure, send a follow up email.

Triggers like this can be built into ecommerce sites, meaning that the would-be buyer gets an email soon after they ditch their cart. Ensure that the email is personalized so that they just don’t see it as more spam and show them exactly what they left in the cart. You may wish to send one or two emails, even including a discount code. Check your analytics to see how powerful these emails are and tailor the content if needed to boost conversions further.

In summary, there is no one-way of boosting the conversion rates on your ecommerce site but take heed of all of the above and keep a close eye on your site analytics, asking for help from your ecommerce website designer. Making changes is good but you have to track and test them in order to see how well they are working. No matter how good your current conversion rates are on your ecommerce site, they can always be improved.

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by Chris London of Pixel Productions Inc. The Everything Design Company