Here are 10 simple tips to help improve your ecommerce site conversion rates. Most are common sense but it’s often the obvious things that we miss in the process of building an eshop.
1. Use your home page like a shop window
Please, please, please don’t make the first thing people see on your site “Welcome to Site Name Here” and then go into a spiel about how it’s a family run business blah blah blah. Unless it’s brilliantly written, it’s dull to look at, dull to read and smacks of a site run from the garden shed.
Instead, copy the big guns. Use the space to display your products – new stock, customer favourites, your favourites, lifestyle shots of your stock…it’s all good. Highlight offers. Entice people to come through the door with a slideshow of interesting images and easy to click image links to products or categories.
2. Have a search box in your site header
If visitors to your site are looking for something specific, make it easy for them to search for it. Make the search box obvious and clearly visible. If it’s appropriate, add in brand or category selections to allow them to narrow down the search.
3. Write unique and informative product descriptions
It may be quick and easy to copy a manufacturer’s description, but they are rarely written to engage buyers. They’re functional, dull and used by all of your competitors.
Write your own description based on your thoughts of the product. You chose to stock it so it must have caught your imagination or appealed in some way, so try and get this across in your description.
Firebox is an excellent example of how they make product descriptions fun and engaging to read. By the time you’ve finished reading it, you can’t wait to buy it.
4. Don’t hide your add to basket button
Don’t make your add to basket button hard to find. Make it obvious. Make it visible. Make it unmissable!
Many ecommerce software systems put add to basket buttons at the bottom of the product description. This is an instant fail. Make sure the button is in the top ¼ of the page and use a colour that stands out from the background and surrounding info.
5. Use the best product photos you can
Everyone knows the adage ‘a picture says a thousand words’ but it never ceases to amaze me how many sites use tiny, pixelated images that only get worse when you try and view the larger image!
Use large, clear professional images for your products. Try to include a lifestyle shot if you can – having a photo of a person wearing or using the product can help give a sense of size and help the potential customer ‘connect’ with the product.
If your suppliers don’t have professional shots for you to use, take your own. It’s pretty simple to take ‘pack shots’ using a light cocoon and digital camera. The initial investment could mean that you’re able to take photos that no one else has and will set your site apart from others that sell the same products.
6. When writing text copy of any sort, use short snappy sentences and stick to one point per paragraph
It has been said that you should use 75% less text on a website than you would in a brochure. That’s a good rule of thumb. Visitors don’t read online, they scan. Make sure you use bolding to highlight important words or sections and bullet points where appropriate.
7. Use website analytics to see what search phrases convert the best
There’s no excuse for not using analytics. Google Analytics is free and only takes a minute to set up.
Make sure you tell Google Analytics that your site is ecommerce based and ensure that your ecommerce software reports completed sales back to Analytics even if the actual transaction is off-site.
8. Always show delivery costs in the basket
Nothing puts potential customers off purchasing more than unexpected delivery charges. Show your delivery options and costs in the basket and don’t make your customers have to register an account to see them. It’s a sure fire conversion killer. If you charge VAT, make sure that is shown too.
9. Be upfront about returns and exchanges
Trust is the biggest hurdle for etailers to overcome, so it’s a great idea to have your returns policy clearly linked or placed in a tab on the product page.
Allowing customers to see and read a returns policy shows that you a) have one and b) that you are upfront about it.
10. Add a phone number to your header
Having a phone number reassures potential customers that they can actually talk to someone regarding their order. And if a customer is having a problem with a page, product or checking out, it makes it really easy for them to pick up the phone and call.
Here are 10 simple tips to help improve your ecommerce site conversion rates. Most are common sense but it’s often the obvious things that we miss in the process of building an eshop.
1. Use your home page like a shop window
Please, please, please don’t make the first thing people see on your site “Welcome to Site Name Here” and then go into a spiel about how it’s a family run business blah blah blah. Unless it’s brilliantly written, it’s dull to look at, dull to read and smacks of a site run from the garden shed.
Instead, copy the big guns. Use the space to display your products – new stock, customer favourites, your favourites, lifestyle shots of your stock…it’s all good. Highlight offers. Entice people to come through the door with a slideshow of interesting images and easy to click image links to products or categories.
2. Have a search box in your site header
If visitors to your site are looking for something specific, make it easy for them to search for it. Make the search box obvious and clearly visible. If it’s appropriate, add in brand or category selections to allow them to narrow down the search.
3. Write unique and informative product descriptions
It may be quick and easy to copy a manufacturer’s description, but they are rarely written to engage buyers. They’re functional, dull and used by all of your competitors.
Write your own description based on your thoughts of the product. You chose to stock it so it must have caught your imagination or appealed in some way, so try and get this across in your description.
Firebox is an excellent example of how they make product descriptions fun and engaging to read. By the time you’ve finished reading it, you can’t wait to buy it.
4. Don’t hide your add to basket button
Don’t make your add to basket button hard to find. Make it obvious. Make it visible. Make it unmissable!
Many ecommerce software systems put add to basket buttons at the bottom of the product description. This is an instant fail. Make sure the button is in the top ¼ of the page and use a colour that stands out from the background and surrounding info.
5. Use the best product photos you can
Everyone knows the adage ‘a picture says a thousand words’ but it never ceases to amaze me how many sites use tiny, pixelated images that only get worse when you try and view the larger image!
Use large, clear professional images for your products. Try to include a lifestyle shot if you can – having a photo of a person wearing or using the product can help give a sense of size and help the potential customer ‘connect’ with the product.
If your suppliers don’t have professional shots for you to use, take your own. It’s pretty simple to take ‘pack shots’ using a light cocoon and digital camera. The initial investment could mean that you’re able to take photos that no one else has and will set your site apart from others that sell the same products.
6. When writing text copy of any sort, use short snappy sentences and stick to one point per paragraph
It has been said that you should use 75% less text on a website than you would in a brochure. That’s a good rule of thumb. Visitors don’t read online, they scan. Make sure you use bolding to highlight important words or sections and bullet points where appropriate.
7. Use website analytics to see what search phrases convert the best
There’s no excuse for not using analytics. Google Analytics is free and only takes a minute to set up.
Make sure you tell Google Analytics that your site is ecommerce based and ensure that your ecommerce software reports completed sales back to Analytics even if the actual transaction is off-site.
8. Always show delivery costs in the basket
Nothing puts potential customers off purchasing more than unexpected delivery charges. Show your delivery options and costs in the basket and don’t make your customers have to register an account to see them. It’s a sure fire conversion killer. If you charge VAT, make sure that is shown too.
9. Be upfront about returns and exchanges
Trust is the biggest hurdle for etailers to overcome, so it’s a great idea to have your returns policy clearly linked or placed in a tab on the product page.
Allowing customers to see and read a returns policy shows that you a) have one and b) that you are upfront about it.
10. Add a phone number to your header
Having a phone number reassures potential customers that they can actually talk to someone regarding their order. And if a customer is having a problem with a page, product or checking out, it makes it really easy for them to pick up the phone and call.
