Running an e-commerce store can be challenging, but converting visitors into paying customers can be quite the task if your site isn’t optimized for conversion. Conversion refers to the percentage of visitors that actually purchase items from your website; and while the ideal conversion would be 100%, this isn’t a realistic goal. You can, however, turn a large percentage of visitors into paying customers by following these five simple steps.
- Increase Site Traffic
By directing more visitors to your website, you’ll have a higher traffic rate, and therefore a higher chance of those visitors making a purchase. More site traffic means more attention for your brand as well, and a higher likelihood that those who made a purchase will mention your site to friends and family.
Increasing site traffic, unfortunately, isn’t as simple as posting links on social media. While social media is certainly a part of building brand awareness, it’s only a small part. Paid advertisements, optimizing your content for keywords (SEO), and referral traffic are just some of the ways you can boost your site traffic and increase your conversion rate.
If you’re curious on how to boost your site traffic, check out this post at wordstream.com on 25 ways to boost your site traffic. You’ll find that not only are the tips practical and effective, but many of them only require minimal work or changes to the site itself.
- Pay the Extra Money for Quality Design
The aesthetics of your website are vital to boosting conversion rates. Have you ever visited an e-commerce site that looked like it was put together by a novice? You probably didn’t feel too confident about purchasing items from the site, especially when the product images look like they were taken with a flip phone.
Ensuring your site has high-quality images, videos, fonts, and other aesthetics will help put your customers at ease and increase their curiosity about your products and brand. When a brand uses high-quality design, it not only tells the customers they care about their own image but that providing a high-quality shopping experience is important to them as well.
Recruiting a professional designer for your site will ensure that the site responds well to mobile use, which is the number one way in which consumers access websites. Smartphones and other portable devices have become not only number one in communication but also in surfing the web.
Ensuring your site is mobile-friendly will grant you access to a much wider customer base, and ensure that customers using your site will be satisfied with its performance on their mobile devices.
- Match or Beat Competitors
Part of having a successful site means beating or at least matching your competitors’ prices. This will drive customers to you since you’re offering the same products at lower prices. This is an excellent marketing strategy, especially if you know your competitors won’t go any lower with their own prices.
You can adjust prices for a few trial runs to see what customers respond the most too. Dropping prices too low can actually cause customers to be suspicious, as name brand items priced too low may seem fraudulent. Just make sure you’re at least matching the competition to give you that competitive edge.
Marketing your brand to the right audience with the best prices is a surefire way to drastically increase those conversion rates and keep the money rolling in. Never underestimate the power of a few dollars to sway a customer’s mind!
- Optimize the Checkout Process
Point of sale software can either increase the efficiency of your checkout process or make it painful and difficult to navigate. Having the best software for your e-commerce store ensures that the checkout process is simple and quick, which is something your customers will definitely want to see on your site.
Checkout lines aren’t a factor in e-commerce stores, but a long loading screen or difficult navigation can be just as frustrating as waiting in line. If your POS software crashes the site frequently, you’ll be losing customers quicker than you can replace them.
Be sure your site’s checkout process is optimized by choosing software that integrates easily with the site architecture and is mobile-friendly. The better your checkout process, the more likely your conversion rates will increase and you’ll have satisfied customers every time.
- Security is Number One
Letting your customers know your site is secure is probably the best way to earn their trust. You’ve probably seen those “encrypted with…” signs on e-commerce sites before. This lets customers know that their credit card or banking information is being submitted securely.
It’s never a good idea to take a gamble with other people’s money, so be sure to spend any extra cash you may need to ensure your site is updated with the latest security measures. The last thing you’ll want is a data breach, which for smaller businesses can often mean the end of the business itself.
When customers are confident their information is secure, they’re more likely to make a purchase. Think about the way you shop online. If you don’t feel comfortable with the website, are you going to submit a credit card number? Probably not! Make your customers feel at ease with current security measures.
Conclusion
While we only touched on a few conversion rate tips, these five are some of the most important. Be sure to always consider site design and security as top priorities, as these are often the deciding factor on whether or not visitors become customers.
