Why does this happen? Well, in the case of Google Shopping, those users are often in a comparison mode. When the product page was invented, the only way to get there was via the homepage and global navigation on your site.

But, users are now going straight to the product without even walking in your proverbial front door.

When our team looks at data and runs interviews with prospects, we hear that they are often net-new and they are trying to maximize by comparing your products to others.

So they are comparison shopping, and that can cause you to lose sales.

But, you can stand out from competitors and turn the challenges caused by users landing on PDPs into a strength.

This is the recipe for success to convert more of your product page traffic and make the most of the holiday visitors.

Step 1: Understand your customers

Before you do anything, you have to build your understanding of your audience through user insights. That means figuring out where they are coming from, how they are behaving, and what is important to them.

We categorize user insights into three buckets:

Foundational (Observation): Foundational user insights are observations, or facts about behavior that are foundational to understanding the user journey. On their own, they do not signify challenges or blockers to conversion, but they give context that is important to understanding the user and painting a fuller picture of a user experience.

Often, these are discovered through tools like Google Analytics and can help us understand:

• How the users are behaving on site
• What content they engage with
• Truths about users like age and location

Foundational insights will only shift slowly over time or with new campaigns.

Situational (UX Challenges): Situational insights are pain points that impede the user’s ability to navigate the site and reach their goals. While users are not necessarily aware of these UX challenges, the issues can delay or prevent positive outcomes like task completion, conversion, or user satisfaction.

These insights can help you understand:

• What works on your site
• How much effort it takes a user to convert
• If users are satisfied with their experience

These show if users can complete a task to their satisfaction when given a context and an interface.

Motivational: These largely qualitative insights are about mindset. Users may experience apprehension or lack motivation when the product or experience does not align with their wants, needs, or commitment level. So, motivational insights give us context to how we might better understand users.

Issues of motivation or apprehension represent a disconnect between what users want, the effort they are willing to expel, and the perceived payoff of that effort.

Motivational insights answer questions like:

• What motivates users to purchase?
• Are users connecting to our product?
• What is holding users back from purchasing today?

Conducting regular research to understand your users will help you pinpoint why users aren’t buying from you today and build a better shopping experience tomorrow. Beyond Google Analytics, use the below tools to collect user insights:  

• User testing
• Heat mapping
• Observational analysis
• Surveys

Step 2: Define the Opportunities and Solutions

After step 1, we should understand our users. We know:

• Foundationally, who they are and how they are behaving on-site
• If users complete desired tasks and if they are satisfied with their experience
• What motivates users and what demotivates them

But it’s one thing to have that insight; it’s another to know what to do with it.

Every site is different, but let’s take a look at some treatments that all aim to solve similar problems.

We mentioned that for Google Shopping or other paid traffic, the product page is likely one of the top entry points to your site. Let’s imagine that 60% of your sessions start on a product page and that you have a high bounce rate.

We know why: many users who land on your site from a Google product listing will be comparison shopping. They likely have multiple tabs open and they are going tab to tab comparing products.

So, the opportunity is to increase intentional browsing. It’s not enough to just slap a product page up with some generic copy and call it a day. What you want to do is encourage users to browse the parent category and explore more products rather than abandoning the site if the product doesn’t meet their needs.

You want them to stay on your website instead of going to your competitor’s site which sells the same or a very similar product.

A few ways you’ll notice brands encourage users to stay on-site include:

• Adding breadcrumbs that allow for easy on-site navigation
• Featuring more shopping pathways in the buy box area
• Show recommended products above the fold
• Establish trust and authority on the PDP

All of this increases the likelihood that even if shoppers don’t land on the perfect product, they can explore more like it.

Step 3: Validate Your Solutions

You’ve done steps 1 and 2: understand users and conversion barriers and define the opportunities and solutions. Now it’s time to validate your solutions.

We’ve gathered all this great data, and I recommend you don’t stop there. There’s a difference between being data-informed and actually data-driven.

That’s the real secret to leveling up against your competition: validate

Taking good ideas to your designers and throwing them on your site is a shotgun or spray-and-pray approach. Some of the ideas will work, and some won’t. Industry-wide, that percentage is only 10-20% of ideas actually convert better, so up to 90% of development effort is totally wasted.

So, instead of shotgunning, we recommend a systematic approach. Strategically validate some of the riskier decisions with rapid prototyping and tactics, including:

• A/B Testing
• Task Completion Analysis
• Sentiment Testing

There you have it. You’re losing sales to competitors on traffic you paid for because the users are comparison shopping. You can fix it by following our three-step approach: understand your users, identify opportunities and solutions, and validate your ideas.

Dig Deeper

• Dive into the evaluative research methods you can use to support your effort to be a data-driven organization: What is Rapid Testing and How is it Different from A/B Testing?
• Explore strategies to convert comparison shoppers on your site and make the most of Google Shopping traffic: How to Optimize Your Google Shopping Traffic and Improve Your Ecommerce Bounce Rate  

The post Why am I losing sales to competitors on paid traffic? And how do I fix it? appeared first on The Good.

A minor inconvenience or delay in the user experience can make the difference between someone completing a purchase or losing interest and leaving.

While it can be a challenge to come up with the right areas for optimization, after a decade-plus in the business, we’ve identified patterns across our clients. There are specific areas of ecommerce websites that when optimized, consistently deliver results. And there are a few tests that we’ve had success with time and time again.

Our team analyzed our vault of patterns and these are 5 of our favorite data-backed tests to help you gather insights on your customers and increase conversions.

Let’s dive in and explore the test ideas we would run on (almost) any ecommerce site!

Test Idea #1: Quality Tiles

The Test Idea: Replace product tiles on the category page with “quality tiles” that feature different brand messaging.

Why We Love It: Testing product tiles with different key messages (brand values, free shipping, etc) teaches the brand what its customers care about… and increases conversions.

The Quality Tiles Test In Action

One of our clients, Beckett Simonon, an online leather goods retailer, needed a long-term optimization program to guarantee sustainable improvements to their sitewide conversion rates.

To identify potential conversion blockers, we analyzed Beckett Simonon’s website analytics and user experience flow through usability testing and heat maps to uncover lucrative conversion opportunities.

Our research revealed that users:

1. Relied heavily on product images to decide on purchases
2. Didn’t understand Beckett Simonon’s differentiated value

Our team hypothesized that focusing the company’s messaging throughout key image-driven moments would help users understand their product’s unique values, like ethical responsibility.

So, we A/B tested different messaging, Variant 1 focusing on the company’s ethical responsibility practices and Variant 2, focusing on the company’s enduring product quality.

We tested the product tile variations on the Category page. Below you can see the control with their original product imagery and the variant with our quality tiles.

Variant 2 includes language surrounding the company’s sustainability efforts, like ethical labor conditions and reputable suppliers.

We found that the Ethical Responsibility test variant produced a 5% higher conversion rate than the control, resulting in a return on investment of 237%!

Why It Works

Emphasizing sustainability aligns customers with Beckett Simonon’s values. It connects shoppers to the brand.

Other companies might offer high-quality leather boots but may not source their products from suppliers who care about the environment as Beckett Simonon does.

The test taught the brand what the customers care about and gave customers the extra confidence they needed to make a purchase.

A quality tile test could offer similar results for your brand.

If customers linger on your category pages but never commit to the purchase, try a quality tile test to reveal what your customers care about and how you can deliver that message through the shopping journey.

Test out various messages like:

• Your brand’s values
• Your USP (unique selling proposition)
• Special offers like free shipping

Test Idea #2: Categories In Your Navigation

The Test Idea: Add popular product categories as the items in your navigation.

Why We Love It: There is almost always a way to test something in the navigation and optimize for a better customer experience. Putting categories front and center reduces friction and propels visitors through the sales funnel.

The Category Navigation Test In Action

One client came to us with a menu listing items in their header navigation like Shop, Connect, Discover, Rewards, etc. On top of that, the Shop drop-down listed product categorization with labels like Collections and Themes.

This categorization wasn’t clear enough for new visitors. We had the opportunity to raise awareness of the product catalog by surfacing top categories in the persistent menu navigation.

So, we tested adding top product categories into the top-level menu navigation for better browsing opportunities, product catalog awareness, and increased transactions.

Our variant increased conversion rates over the control, resulting in over $100,000 of revenue gains.

Why It Works

Clear categorization helps visitors easily find the product they want. That means a quicker time between landing on the website and making a purchase decision… and a better customer experience.

Test by using your original navigation menu as the control and your categories for the variant. If you’re unsure which categories to feature in your top-level navigation bar, use Google Analytics to find your top categories and most-visited web pages.

An easily navigable website encourages visitors to explore various product category pages, ultimately reducing any friction along the way.

Test Idea #3: The Etsy Test

The Test Idea: Feature similar products or “other customers also viewed” items to inspire on-site comparison and decrease abandonment.

Why We Love It: Offering your customers alternatives keeps them interacting and engaging with your website, instead of going to a competitor for comparison shopping.

The Etsy Test In Action

Etsy displays similar products above the fold, encouraging shoppers to stay on-site even if the product they clicked wasn’t what they needed or wanted.

They also add the product prices below the image if customers want to shop for the best deal on similar products.

Why It Works

This test is excellent for brands that run a lot of Google Shopping ads. Most people who land on a site from a Google product listing will be comparison shopping. They know the product they are looking for, but don’t necessarily know or care about the brand.

This means the standard practice of surfacing add-ons on the product page to increase average order value won’t be relevant to their needs.

Instead, it aims to keep people on-site by surfacing appealing alternatives to the product they are already viewing. Let them comparison shop the products on your site rather than comparing your brand to other Google Shopping listings.

Etsy displays similar items above the fold to encourage shoppers to stay on-site even if the product they landed on wasn’t quite the right fit.

Test Idea #4: Instructional Search

The Test Idea: Test a friendly, instructional search prompt.

Why We Love It: Instructional search encourages intentional browsing, improves UX, and boosts conversions.

The Instructional Search Test In Action

During research for one client, user tests and session recordings revealed that customers primarily navigate through the search bar. We also found that customers only engage with select menu categories.

Our team hypothesized that adding friendly microcopy and enhancing search bar visibility would encourage the use of search and in turn, increase transactions.

We put it to the test. We visually emphasizedthe search bar with a white background and updated the language to “Try ‘search term.’”

It delivered over $3,000,000 in revenue gains.

Why It Works

According to Comprend, 59% of web visitors frequently use a website’s internal search navigation, and 15% would rather use the search function than the hierarchical menu.

You don’t want your customers to zombie scroll through endless products to find what they need. Internal search encourages customers to easily locate what they need.

If you run this test on your site, you could try:

• Adding friendly microcopy to your search bar (include a key product or category for inspiration)
• Exposing the search bar on mobile
• Adding a white or light background to the search bar

Test Idea #5: The Buy Box

The Test Idea: Dig into the content in the buy box area to find areas for optimization. Test the buy box layout, product descriptions, or reviews.

Why We Love It: When you optimize the buy box, you improve how quickly and easily customers can understand your product… and make a purchase.

The Buy Box Test In Action

For one client heat maps and session recordings showed how customers interact with the mobile product pages. Users struggled to see product images, which led to a lack of engagement with other elements in the buy box.

We decided to test out a new layout. Instead of placing the product image first, we prioritized the product name and description, placing the product image below.

Decluttering and reorganizing their buy box resulted in a 26% increase in conversions.

Why It Works

Moving around the content in the buy box helps us understand where and what the customer needs to see to make a purchase decision.

Putting key product information above the fold, especially on mobile, removes any guesswork for the customer.

If customers are getting stuck on the product page, test variations of your buy box layout to optimize the user experience. And remember, oftentimes less is more, so don’t be shy about testing our reductions in the amount of content or text you feature.

The ultimate goal is to optimize everything on your product page, but the buy box can be a great place to start.

Understand Your Customer & Boost Conversions With 5 Of Our Favorite Tests

In this article, we unlocked our secret vault of test ideas to help inspire your optimization efforts.

While every website is different, these are 5 of the tests we’d run on almost any site to learn more about the user and deliver a better customer experience.

1. Replace product tiles on the category page with “quality tiles” that feature different messaging to educate customers about your brand.
2. Test categories in the homepage navigation to reduce hangouts on your website, propelling customers further down the funnel.
3. Optimize content in the buy box area to improve how quickly and easily customers can understand your product and complete a purchase.
4. Test a friendly, instructional desktop search prompt to encourage intentional browsing and improve UX.
5. Try the Etsy test to cross-sell similar products and encourage customers to comparison shop on your website.

If you don’t have time to optimize your own site, we’re here to help.

Our services dive deep into your site to uncover areas for improved customer experience opportunities and opportunities to maximize conversions.

The post 5 Tests We Would Run On (Almost) Any Ecommerce Site appeared first on The Good.

Studies show that 68% of online shoppers search Google when they’re considering the purchase of a specific product. Users are information hunting, but when they see the variety of results and prices, they quickly go into comparison mode.

Our own research and user testing for clients confirm that the majority of users browsing the Google Shopping product listing ads are comparison shopping.

But your ecommerce business doesn’t have to be just a research pitstop before users go back to their Google search results, Amazon, or a competitor site to purchase.

In this guide, we’re sharing how you can optimize your Google shopping traffic. 

Our 7 strategies will help you better connect with shoppers to lower your bounce rate and help them find what they’re looking for.

7 strategies to optimize your Google Shopping traffic

If you are spending money on product listing ads in your Google Ads account, here are some strategies you can use to increase your conversion rate and return on ad spend (ROAS).

1. Understand what is important to your audience

While it might be tempting to start running Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords) without doing any customer interviews and user testing, that’s a guaranteed way to:

• Create a subpar bid strategy
• Waste a lot of your ad budget
• Have underwhelming metrics, like a low target ROAS

Conducting customer interviews and doing user testing allows you to pinpoint why users aren’t buying from you today and build a better shopping experience.

At The Good, we use Think Aloud protocol in our user testing. We find users with similar characteristics to the ideal customer profile, and ask them to talk us through their shopping experience. So, they might enter a specific search query, browse the Google Shopping results, and click through to a product page.

In this process, we can identify pain points, confusion, and anything standing in the way between desire and conversion.

For a more in-depth analysis of your customers’ journey, check out this video:

2. Use breadcrumbs to give users another place to go

Most people who land on your site through a Google Shopping ad will land on a product page. That means they aren’t familiar with your brand, your site navigation, or how to find other products you might sell.

Sites will often try to encourage people to continue shopping by adding breadcrumbs at the top of the product page. However, that doesn’t help people achieve what they really want, which is typically to go to the main related category.

In this chair example, Target creates more emphasis on site hierarchy and current product’s brand through font weight/proximity to product title. Providing better visibility into the breadcrumbs for a site with a large product catalog may help improve navigation for users landing on a product page.

‘Shop all Sierra Designs’ provides better information scent for users looking to shop more from that brand.

3. Run the “Etsy” test to offer meaningful alternatives

Remember: most people who land on your site from a Google product listing will be comparison shopping. They know the product they are looking for, but don’t necessarily know or care about your brand at this point.  

This means the standard practice of surfacing add-ons on the product page to increase average order value won’t be relevant to their needs.

Instead, aim to keep people on your site by surfacing appealing alternatives to the product they are already viewing. Let them comparison shop the products on your own site rather than comparing your brand to other Google Shopping listings.

One test that we run for brands doing a lot of paid search is the Etsy Test. Show similar products or “other customers also viewed” items to inspire on-site comparison.

Etsy displays similar items above the fold to encourage shoppers to stay on-site even if the product they landed on wasn’t quite the right fit.

4. Improve site speed and UX

Most people landing on your site from paid search won’t know a lot about your brand, so making a good first impression and matching user expectations can do a lot to decrease the likelihood that users will bounce from your site. Make sure the content in navigation aligns with user expectations, loads quickly, is scannable, and is easy to understand.  

This is particularly important for mobile. Review your Google Analytics, product data, and heat maps to see what users are doing on your online store:

• What content are they actually engaging with on your product landing pages?
• When was the last time you updated your Google Shopping feed to ensure the most up-to-date local inventory and prices are showing up?
• Are you using negative keywords? Hopefully! If so, when was the last time you reviewed your negative keywords list?
• Are they scrolling and seeing all of your product attributes and reading through reviews?
• Are there any key browsing differences between people who find this product from organic SEO vs. paid search ads vs. remarketing ad campaigns?

If most shoppers only see what’s above the fold, you may want to maximize above-the-fold visibility of the essentials like product name, price, any savings, star ratings, number of reviews, and images.

5. Display social proof to build trust

If you’re a lesser-known brand, you need to establish trust with shoppers immediately. Product ratings and reviews right on the product page are a great way to do this because they:

• Allow shoppers to see what customers think about the product and shopping experience—in their own words
• Prove this is a legitimate brand, not just a great product
• Demonstrate why people should buy from your site vs. a competitor

In the example above, Leatherman features a review snippet below the product image to improve visibility and draw attention to review highlights and star rating.

6. Incentivize folks to purchase from you through meaningful differentiation

Another key to converting more Google Shopping traffic is emphasizing meaningful differentiation through incentives.

Make it clear why shoppers should buy from you. This could be by making the quality clear, offering lowest price guarantees, longer warranties, priority support, etc. If not, they may use your site as a research guide, and ultimately buy a similar product on Amazon.

Backcountry counters this objection by offering a lowest price guarantee right at the top of the product page.

Pro Tip: While price matching or price guarantees can work well, you don’t have to always compete on price. You can also use special offers like free shipping, free gift with purchase, loyalty programs, or priority support. 

7. Demonstrate shared values

What’s your secret sauce?

Do you have a specific mission that your company stands for?

And why should people buy from your brand instead of from Amazon or a competitor?

Getting clear on your unique value proposition and then surfacing that strategically on your website, including in your product page copy, can help you convert more visitors into paying customers.

Ten Trees uses tiles and copy on the category page to demonstrate shared values (e.g. sustainable essentials, goodbye fast fashion), which activate in-group bias and reciprocity bias.

Optimize your Google Shopping traffic and convert comparison shoppers

Most people who come to your site from paid search are comparison shopping.

Their first impression of your brand will most likely come from clicking on one of the Google results and going right to a product page.

This means you need to meet them where they are. Consider ways that you can deliver a better user experience on your landing page to encourage comparison shopping your products rather than leaving to compare with a Google shopping competitor result.

This might include surfacing related products in the same category, displaying social proof, or communicating shared values.

By implementing the right tactics, you can lower your bounce rate and increase the likelihood of shoppers buying from you.

The post How to Optimize Your Google Shopping Traffic and Improve Your Ecommerce Bounce Rate   appeared first on The Good.