It can be easy to obsess over conversion rates when you’ve just launched a new eCommerce site, and it’s perfectly normal. At the end of the day, it’s the sale that counts. You can have the best-designed site in the world and the best advertising campaign, but, at the end of the day, all of it will be gone to waste if you can’t convert visitors. In this article, we’re going to give you a few actionable tips that will allow you to increase your eCommerce site’s conversion rates.
Create Urgency
Creating a sense of urgency is a marketing method that has been used since the beginning of time. Rarity always boosts the value of an item, and by pushing the idea that a particular item is limited, or that a certain item is only available for a limited time, you’ll be able to boost conversion rates significantly. However, you can’t use this method all the time, or else your regular clients will start to catch on and won’t fall for the trick.
Make Personalized Offers
Offering personalized offers is also a great way to engage your new clients and encourage them to buy. For instance, you could offer a special discount or free shipping to your new email list subscribers. You could also offer free shipping to first-time visitors by using something like OptinMonster’s page level targeted messages and pop-ups. You’ll be able to identify people who just visited your website for the first time and send them an optimized message just for them. You could also use this feature to advertise some of your promotions more aggressively to lingering customers.
Attract the Right Type of Customers
The way you gather leads as well as where and how you advertise to customers will also affect your conversion rate. For instance, clients that come through targeted email marketing campaigns are usually much more inclined to buy then those you reached through display advertising or video ads. The more targeted the traffic, the higher the conversion rate. It’s up to you to choose which marketing methods suit your needs and budget best.
PPC usually is at the top of the list followed by SEO and social media and video ads. Methods like PPC will give you faster, better results, but your cost per click may not be worth it. SEO is a slow burner, but once traffic starts rolling it, it is one of the advertisement methods with the highest ROIs out there. Weigh your options and try to attract as many quality leads as possible if you want the best results.
Focus on User Experience
UX is the word on everybody’s lips right now, and for a good reason. User experience affects every interaction visitors have with your website. If you have a consistently bad user experience, and you do nothing to address it, your conversion rates will eventually suffer.
There are many things that you can do to improve your user experience. For one, you could simplify your checkout process to reduce cart abandonment. Simply allowing your new clients to sign up as guests could be enough to significantly reduce cart abandonment.
You could also check your product pages to see if they are easy to understand and navigate. Poor navigation can be a literate nightmare, and a sure-fire way to detract would be customers. The goal here is to make everything simple and clear. Don’t go overboard with the design, as your products should be the center point, and anything that diverts attention away from them will hurt your conversions.
Don’t be afraid that your site will be bland and strip it down as much as possible. Make sure that your products are at the center stage and that there is a clear call to action. Anything else will only serve as a distraction.
You should also make sure that the prices are visible, and most importantly, clear. Do not make the mistake of adding hidden shipping or handling fees at checkout. This might scare away some of your customers. Make sure that your customers can easily see the real price including shipping, and if there are taxes added, make sure to make it clear to your customers as well.
Go the Extra Mile to Establish Trust
Trust online is, and always has, played a major role in customer behavior. The more you can establish that you’re a trustworthy vendor, the better it will be for your brand image. You could start by having all the proper security certificates and SSL protection necessary if you’re processing payments through a merchant account. If not, make sure that you use trusted options, like Paypal for instance, and display it clearly on your payment page.
You should also consider registering with the BBB. The BBB, short for Better Business Bureau, is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the best eCommerce practices and protecting the rights of customers.
They also keep a tab on businesses with repeated offenses and businesses who are known for their good practices. So, if you do decide to register, make sure that you do everything you can to provide the best and most reliable service possible. Being in good standings with the BBB will work wonders when establishing trust among first visitors.
Provide Good Support and be Easy to Reach
When it comes to eCommerce, good communication is key. This is why it should play a central part of your eCommerce strategy. One of the best ways to establish a line of communication is by adding a live chat option to your website. You may think that this is just a minor addition, but live chat can have a direct incidence of your sales.
According to a recent study, 90% of all customers surveyed said that they felt like live chat was helpful and 63% said that they would be more likely to visit a site if there was a chat option. Furthermore, 38% of people asked said that the live chat was the very reason why they made a purchase. So, you can see how something as simple as live chat can make a huge difference in conversions.
Having a toll-free telephone number that your customers can call is also a must. Not only does it facilitate communication, but it is a great way to establish trust as well. Customers will be more inclined to buy from you knowing that they can call you at any time for support.
And contrarily to what you may think, a toll-free number is not that expensive. Many services offer a toll-free number that you can redirect to any phone of your choice for little more than what you pay for a regular landline. Having a clearly visible toll-free number on your front page will make your site look much more legitimate and professional.
There are many ways that you can increase your conversion rates without having to break the bank or revamping your whole site. Doing something as simple as using the user-specific message or targeting the right group of customers can make a whole world of difference on how many of your visitors end up being buyers. Make sure that you follow all the tips in this article if you want to increase your conversion rates efficiently.
