How to Increase the Conversion Rate of a Brand New e-Commerce Site
Here are essential steps to boost your new e-commerce conversion rates
Being successful at driving traffic to your website is one thing but working on your conversion rate is where the money lies.
There are many tactics that can help you attract visitors to your new e-commerce website.
If you are already familiar with them, then it is going to be even easier to learn how to increase your e-commerce conversion rate.
Of course, there is some research that has to be done before you can successfully turn those visitors into customers.
We are here to help you, as we have already prepared a list of tips for you on how to boost your conversion rate.
A low conversion rate does not mean that your website is doomed.
It only means that you are not taking the right approach when it comes to improving the design, content, CTA placement, and other important factors on your website.
Below, we are going to show you our step-by-step process on how to improve your e-commerce conversion rate in a straightforward way.
Step 1 — Set a Realistic Goal for Your Ecommerce Conversion Rate
What is the exact percentage for an ideal conversion rate for your new e-commerce website?
No one knows exactly.
The average conversion rate for websites is 2.35%. Besides that fact, all we can say is that a conversion rate of 1% is pretty low, while 5% is what you should probably aim for.
This might not seem like much but when it comes to high numbers, it is what experienced entrepreneurs expect realistically.
In order to estimate the percentage for your own site, you need to delve a bit deeper into your own niche and product categories.
Doing such research and taking a look at the conversion rate of your competitors can help you set a realistic goal.
If we take a look at e-commerce sites in general, a conversion rate of 2% or below usually means you better start to focus on optimizing your site.
In case you have reached the magical 5%, on the other hand, then you can lay back a bit and focus on micro-optimizations.
Read More: How to Increase Conversion with an Explainer Video.
Step 2 — Improve the Discoverability of Your Website
Whenever users type something into the search engine, they want to find that thing as soon as possible.
If you have something to offer that can solve their problem, then you need to make it easier for them to find your site.
Your e-commerce conversion rate can only go up if customers can actually get to your product.
Here are a few tips on how to make your products more discoverable to your target audience:
- Once people land on your site, there has to be a search bar where they can smoothly find everything they need based on keywords.
- Design your website in a way so that every one of your products has its own web page. Make sure to include a neat description, product or explainer videos, a few images on that page. Also, choose the right tags in order to improve your organic SEO and to make navigation easier.
- Optimize the whole navigation of your site so that potential customers can easily find your products, services, or any information they might need.
- Include a so-called social gallery where users can not only share their feedback but also photos of being satisfied with your products.
Read More: Effective Methods to Create Product Videos for e-Commerce
Step 3 — Create a Straightforward Checkout Process
Online entrepreneurs often fall into the mistake of creating a complicated checkout process.
This creates confusion and as a result, customers leave right before buying the product.
Identify those barriers that get in their way and reduce the chance of them leaving their cart.
The information displayed throughout the checkout process has to be clear and short.
Don’t ask for too much information from your customers.
Also, make sure they don’t need to go through too many steps. Instead, they should be able to finalize their purchase in a couple of clicks.
If you have to add a form, then make it as short as possible so that it does not take too much time and effort to fill it out.
The checkout process should not ask for more information than shipping details, payment info, contact, and product requirements.
Make this process very simple and you are going to see your conversion rates go up shortly after. Oh, and don’t forget smartphone users and other possible devices.
Optimizing for them as well will ensure that your e-commerce conversion rate will go up for an even wider audience.
Keep in mind that people are well aware of the fact that there are easier checkout processes if they face a confusing one.
They might decide to leave instead of buying in a couple of minutes.
Also, customers are going to remember it if the checkout process is quick and easy on your website.
This means that there is a higher chance for them to come back for more in the future.
So, make sure to optimize your checkout process.
Investing in an extensible e-commerce platform can be useful, as it offers the flexibility to customize and streamline the checkout experience to meet your specific business needs.
Step 4 — Optimizing Your CTAs (Call to Actions)
If your website suffers from a low conversion rate, then maybe you should start focusing on the basics. Online entrepreneurs tend to sometimes overcomplicate their CTAs.
Every CTA on your web pages should be clear and concise while their placement should also be on-point.
Once you have introduced your brand to your visitors, you need to tell them what to do next.
That is where CTAs enter the picture.
A good call to action on a product page, for example, indicates to customers that they should add the product to their cart.
That is all that CTAs do. You can use them in blog posts as well. Once you have finished talking about your brand or product, just include a call to action that advises viewers to buy a product related to the content.
It is all about setting a clear path through the landing page all the way to the purchase.
Don’t shy away from adding a CTA to every piece of content you have. Otherwise, you might leave your viewers hanging by not showing them where to proceed to the service or product they might be interested in.
Focus points for CTAs can be identified by running tests and figuring out which parts of your web page do users focus on the most.
For this, you can use website analytics tools such as heatmaps or session replay.
Based on the results, it will be crystal clear for you where you should place your CTAs. In case you already have some CTAs that seem complex, try to simplify them.
A CTA should also stand out from the overall content, layout, and design of your website.
By utilizing a call to action the right way, you can give a significant boost to your e-commerce conversion rate.
Read More: 5 Best Call-to-Action (CTA) Designs [Infographic]
Step 5 — Use Website Analytics Tools for Testing
If you truly want your online business to grow, then you should never stop testing. Ecommerce conversion rate optimization is based on testing.
It is based on using website analytics tools to analyze visitor behavior and apply changes accordingly.
Based on the results you get from testing software, you can draw conclusions and come up with hypotheses on how to improve your website.
Then, A/B testing enters the picture which helps online entrepreneurs figure out what works and what does not.
But the process does not end there, as you can always do it better. You can iterate your website towards a more perfect version every single time, micro-boosting your e-commerce conversion rate on the way.
As a result, your customers will be increasingly more satisfied with what they see, which will encourage them to buy.
You can run tests on every single detail including your content, layout, different elements, and the overall design and style of your website.
Sometimes, all you need to do is to write more engaging content.
Running tests eliminates the random factor so that you can stop guessing and start focusing on things that actually make a difference.
Make your website perform better day by day by using website analytics tools such as heat maps and session replay.
It also helps a lot to look at the actual numbers every now and then by checking the statistics of your site.
Every single detail of your site can be responsible for either selling your product or causing viewers to leave.
Final Thoughts
Ecommerce conversion rate optimization is basically the main factor that is responsible for the success of your online marketing.
Paying ads and reaching your target audience are both important. However, then you still didn’t figure out how exactly to sell your product.
You should start by analyzing the market and estimating the percentage for the conversion rate you want to achieve.
Then, you can come up with a comprehensive plan on how to improve it. The online market is competitive and every niche has its own competitors.
This is why you need to take advantage of every potential tool that is available for testing and improving the performance of your site.
Taking a strategic approach and focusing on one smart change at a time will pave the road to success.
This post is written by Tündi from Capturly
