16 Oct E-Commerce Tips – How to Improve Your Conversion Rate
Loads of people visit a single website each day. However, not all these visitors are buyers – most people simply stumble upon a website, only to stay there for a few seconds. Then they close the tab and move on with their browsing. Why do they do that? This is a tough question with many answers. It may be related to design, to the functionality of the website, to the quality of the content presented – and the list goes on and on. So, in order to improve your conversion rates – the number of people that actually purchase something – go through the following tips.
It Is Not about the Number of Visitors
Most people try to solve the conversion rate problem by inviting more and more people to visit their site. They do this by sending various e-mails (which are usually marked as spam) and by utilizing some social media campaigns. However, this can turn out to be a great mistake. The key is not to pursue more people to visit, but to make the ones that do visit stay there, browse and purchase products. If that starts happening, everything else will come natural. So, it is best to start from the bottom up – work on your website.
Keep Track of Web Design Trends
As technology is advancing, so are ways in which you can design a website, but that does not imply that you should go wild. People are looking for simple, minimalistic, well-oriented websites, where their key focus will not be on flashy images and 3D animations, but on the content of your website. You can upload a video or something like that, but you shouldn’t overcrowd your website with unimportant things. If you do that, it will take more time for your website to load, and we all know that if you wait for more than 2 seconds for a page to load, you close it. So, when you are talking to your web development team, make sure you tell them that you want a simple, down-to-earth site that will look cool and user friendly. However, in order for you to create a website, you need to find a good platform for it, so you need a good web host that can provide you with services that best fit your needs.
Furthermore, people go to the net from devices other than PCs and laptops – mobile phones, tablets, smart TVs, etc. A web developer has to have that in mind and make the website responsive for all these devices. This is a very important issue – keep it in mind.
Never Tell a Lie
When you are selling something online, you have to provide exactly what you are promoting and put detailed descriptions of your products. Sure, you can fraud a couple of people, but the word about it will spread and you won’t be able to sell anything ever again. The best story that explains my point is the following. Someone put an ad that he or she is selling copper figurines of Abraham Lincoln and the price was, let’s say $5. People paid 5$ and when they received the package, they got a penny – which is, in plain words, a copper figurine of Abraham Lincoln. The ad was removed and this person was prosecuted. Do not be that person. Provide your viewers with truthful, honest info, followed by actual images of actual products. That will surely pay off!
Make Sure You Offer Various Payment and Shipping Options
Not every country has PayPal. Some people are not aware of that, but it is the truth. In fact, most online payment methods that are pretty common in the USA, for instance, are inapplicable in Europe. The greatest thing about e-commerce is that your business has no boundaries. You are not just a local shop – you are shipping products all over the globe. You don’t want the payment method, which is a pretty crucial part of every business, to be something that damages your conversion rates. So, make sure you provide as much as possible, since you can lose tons of clients who want to buy, but cannot.
Explain Why You Are the Right Choice
What makes you different than your competition? Why are you better? Why should some regular Joe pay money for your products/services? The answers to all these questions should be presented to the viewer the second he or she sees the site. You should leave a great and memorable first impression. Therefore, when someone visits the page, this person will want to click more, see more and ultimately purchase something naturally.
Connect Your Products
People go online to simply browse. But, if you have a “related” column on your site, loads of things are possible. Most times, people go click on the product just to see a bigger image. It might not be the thing they are looking for, but if they can see some related products somewhere on the page, they might be interested in them. Also, when they add something to the basket, you should maybe suggest some other products that go with the product they added to the cart. For instance, if you are a store that sells clothes and someone purchases an article which is part of a bigger collection, let the viewer know what else is in stock – but make sure that it really is related and you are not offering them some random thing.
Consult a Professional
A business owner cannot simply manage to do all the work in the company. The day isn’t long enough. If you are not familiar with online marketing and online trends, you should hire a professional company that deals with these issues and can help you promote your business online in the best possible way. There are companies that will aid you every step of the way.
To sum up, the Internet is a vast sea of opportunity. You can really make a brand out of your company far easier today than in the 50’s, for example, and you don’t even have to invest that much. The world of shopping is changing and you should keep up!
