34 Conversion Rate Optimization Tips for eCommerce Websites
Are you driving traffic to your website but not getting the sales or conversions you want?
It might be time to think about how your customers respond to your website and refine your conversion rate.
Conversion Rate Optimization is a technique for increasing the percentage of your website traffic that makes a purchase, also known as a Conversion. So, for every 100 customers who land on your page, how many are actually completing a purchase?
The average eCommerce conversion rate in the U.S. in 2020 is 2.63%. If your conversion rate is less than 2%, you need to optimize your website for a higher conversion rate.
Here are 34 tips to optimize your website and eCommerce shop for higher conversions and better customer experience.
Your Main Homepage
· Think like your customer. Make sure your website and eCommerce shop are designed with your customers in mind. Get to know your customer well.
· Simplify the user experience and flow on your homepage, whether your customers are on a laptop or a mobile device.
· Offer coupon codes!
· Use real-time social proof purchase apps like Fomo or Proof
· Add testimonials and reviews on your product pages and home page
· Add certifications to validate your products or services
· Use attractive photos that are optimized for loading speed
· Have a detailed page about yourself and your business with contact info and customer service contact page. Make sure your website tells the customer exactly what your product is.
· Update your social media accounts often and post at least 2x per week to build trust with clients who have never shopped with you before
· Include footer links to your privacy policy page, shipping info, returns, about, contact
Website Performance
· Make sure your website speed and performance is top-notch. Sign up with Google Webmaster Tools
· Optimize your website's load time. The easiest way to check how long your website takes to load is by using Google’s Pagespeed Insights tool. Pagespeed Insights will give you a detailed report of how fast your website loads, along with any issues that you can resolve to improve your load times.
· Connect your website to powerful insights like Google Analytics to observe traffic flow and your customer’s behaviors. With Google Analytics, you can see when and where your customers leave your website. Having insights allows you to correct areas of your website where exits and cart abandons are happening.
· Make sure your site is responsive for mobile devices and tablets. You can test your site’s responsiveness in Google Search Console.
Product Discovery
· Use Intelligent Search to make finding your products on your website easy. Allow your customers to search for what they’re looking for based on color, size, diet, categories, scents, services, tags, keywords, filters, etc.
· Organize your categories effectively. Place lower-tier items under top-tier categories such as: Shop By Season>Fall>Sweaters or Shop>Men’s>Pants.
· Customize your 404 pages and redirect your customers to promotions or products they may find helpful or relevant
· Add a Shoppable Instagram Feed to your IG account and website
Your Product Pages
· Use high-quality product images. Whether lifestyle or curated images from Instagram users. Showcase your products in detail with clean images on white backgrounds.
· Include an ‘add to favorites’ button for your customer if your shop has the capabilities
· Include social sharing buttons for Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, and email
· Be transparent about prices, delivery time, sizes, items’ availability, etc.
· Have verified customer reviews on each product page
Your Customers Checkout Experience
· Allow customers to create an account, save favorite items, check the status of their order, save cart, see past orders, etc.
· Prefill Your Customer's Information for easy checkout
· Send Abandoned Cart Emails
· Send and Optimize Your Thank You Emails. This is a great time to build that relationship with your customer. Offer them a bonus incentive on their next order, ask them to join your newsletter, or share feedback about their buying experience.
Shipping and Returns
· Offer free shipping
· Make sure your refund policy is easy to find and concise
· Include any additional information on shipping times, delays, carriers, tracking info, etc.
Build Customer Loyalty
· Offer bonus points, loyalty points, refer-a-friend program
· Create affiliate programs and collaborate with brand ambassadors
· Create and BUILD a newsletter that offers your customers value, not sales pitches. A store with a loyal email list of 100,000 hot leads and loyal customers will see far better conversions than a cold lead from Facebook. Create a pop-up sign up form on your website and follow up emails with bonuses or coupon codes off their first order.
· Continue to always offer value, transparency, excellent customer service, and products to your customers. It is much better and cost-effective to retain and grow your customer base rather than bring in new ones every month.