Want to boost Your online sales? Look no further than the traffic You are already getting. Here are 5 easy eCommerce conversion rate optimization ideas.
1. Add a clear CTA on the homepage
The homepage is the most important page on Your store. You probably already know this. However, it is surprising how often I see bad homepages.
Bad homepages can dramatically reduce eCommerce conversion rates. A homepage should provide visitors with clarity and guidance. If it doesn’t, visitors become frustrated and leave. Yes, it is that simple.
Example: A good homepage from Ahrefs. It is clear what the website is about because there is a clear call to action, that provides both guidance and clarity.
Ways to add clarity and guidance on a homepage
Give a clear action You want the user to take!The best way to do that is by adding a clear call-to-action (CTA) to Your homepage. This way the visitor knows what is the next step.
The powerful Buy Now button
For example, a clear “Buy Now” CTA helps the visitor understand that the website is a store (clarity) and that You want them to buy (guidance).
Example: Samsung uses “Buy Now” buttons on their homepage. These button effectively put visitors straight on a path towards a purchase.
The versatile Explore button
The “Explore” button (also “Learn more” and “Discover”) provides guidance and helps the visitor understand that there is more to discover (clarity). However, don’t make the label vague. You risk not intriguing the visitor. Therefore make sure the headline above the button provides enough context.
Example: The homepage of Nike’s Women’s shop category features a banner with an explore button. However, this is not the best use, as it is unclear which is the main action.
Adjusting buttons is a really great and easy way to boost conversion rates. The recipe is simple. Just make sure buttons are as visible and clear as possible. Adding a clear call to action to Your eCommerce homepage is an easy first step for conversion rate optimization. If You’re looking for inspiration for you homepage, here is a list of 5 great website layout examples.
2. Check if Your store is mobile-friendly
In 2020 it is smart to assume that the mobile version of Your website is more important than the desktop version. That is because most people (including me, and, probably, you) mainly browse the internet on their phones.
Therefore, having a mobile-friendly website is very important. Otherwise, You’re providing a bad experience to the majority of Your visitors.
So, what is mobile-friendly?
Example: This is how the opposite of mobile-friendly looks. Try clicking on any of the links…
There is a very important thing to understand, when it comes to creating a mobile friendly website. Mobile-friendly requires more than a responsive design.
Even though Your eCommerce store may have a responsive design (that automatically adjusts to different screen sizes), it is not safe to assume that the website can be used on a small screen without problems.
A free and simple test for mobile
Lucklily, Google provides a free and simple tool to check if Your site is mobile friendly. The tool is called the “Mobile friendly test” and it is available here. Just enter the URL of Your website and press “Test URL”.
Example: If you see this after the test – congratulations! Your store is mobile friendly.
Remember, a mobile-friendly site ensures that a majority of Your visitors don’t have a bad experience. Therefore passing this test is really important, if You’re serious about running a successful eCommerce store in 2020.
3. Make important buttons stand out with colour
This conversion tip is actually quite straight-forward. If you want the user to click on a button, make it as visible as possible. Great colours to use are bright and contrasting. Red is the classic go-to option, but green and yellow convert well too.
Example: Colour plays a HUGE role in visibility of buttons. Which one did you notice first?
There is no one definite answer to which colour works the best. It depends on a lot of other factors. However, one is clear. The more Your buttons stand out, the better will be Your conversion rate. If you want to learn more about optimizing buttons, CXL Institute has a great article.
4. Remove distractions at checkout
The checkout page is an integral part of any eCommerce store. Therefore, is is critically important to make the checkout experience as simple as possible. Too complicated and customers get confused and lose interest.
So, here are a couple of tips on how to simplify Your checkout page.
Use a distraction-free layout
A great way to simplify the checkout experience, is by simply removing what’s not relevant. A distraction-free layout usually means simplifying the header and footer by removing stuff.
Try removing the main navigation from the header. This has the benefit of actually providing less opportunity for the shopper to go to another page. Additionally, there is just less information for the user to process.
You can optimize further by editing the footer and removing any popups.
Example: Distraction-free checkout on a website we buit for a client – buyaus40.com
Make the checkout form shorter
The recommended checkout form length depends on Your product. However, You always need to be extra critical about what to include in the form. Every additional field reduces the conversion rate ever so slightly. And this can add up to a significant drop.
Think about it. When was the last time you were looking forward to filling out a form? Never – that’s my bet! You have to face it, forms are boring. Filling them out feels like a chore. If you ask customers fewer questions, they have less to answer. And therefore, less of the boring stuff between them the exciting stuff (a purchase).
Example: Long checkout form vs short checkout form. Which looks more like the one on Your store? If the long one, think if there is anything You can remove.
Generally I stick to a simple rule. When it comes to checkout pages – the shorter, the better. If I’m not sure about the usefulness of a specific field, I leave it out.
5. Use product reviews to build trust with social proof
One of the main factors that stop customers from buying is lack of trust. This is true also in traditional offline sales. That is why there are many established strategies for building trust. However, there are none as effective as social proof.
Understanding social proof
Okay, but what does social proof actually mean?
Essentially, social proof is a fancy way of saying “other people trust me”. It is especially effective, if the people that already trust you are similar to the person making the purchase decision.
There are multiple ways to demonstrate social proof. The most popular are images from happy customers (think instagram) and text based reviews. If you can combine the two – that’s even better.
Example: A review on Amazon.com that includes both text and images. This combination helps readers gain confidence in the review.
How to get genuine product reviews
So how to get beautiful reviews?
Just ask Your customers! I’ll share a very effective method I used when starting my first eCommerce business. It generated over 100 reviews in just one month.
The trick was to send a personalized thank-you message to each customer via email. The message was simple. First, I explained that their opinion would benefit the future quality of the products. Second, I included a URL to a simple Google Form with pre-set questions. This way respondents don’t have to think too much about the format of the review.
An important thing to note – fake reviews actually hurt sales. So, be sure to build trust by being as transparent as possible about the origin of the reviews.
If you include good, trustworthy customer reviews in Your eCommerce store, you can use social proof to Your advantage (and to the advantage of your sales).
Conclusion
I just introduced You to 5 easy conversion rate optimization tips, that will help you get more eCommerce sales. Let’s recap:
- Add a clear call to action to Your eCommerce homepage and guide visitors to a specific action.
- A mobile-friendly site ensures that a majority of Your visitors don’t have a bad experience.
- If you want the user to click on a button, make it as visible as possible.
- Get more sales by making the checkout form as short as possible.
- Customer reviews help build trust.
If You have any questions about these ideas or need help implementing them, let me know in the comments!
