The aim should be a page load time<\/a> of three seconds or less. If this can\u2019t happen, nothing good is going to transpire. Other technical features (opt-in boxes, for instance) should look good and perform flawlessly. Never forget about behind-the-scenes adjustments. They can make or break your efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You and your design team know all about your products, your offering, and your navigation. The sales path is obvious to you, but it may not be so evident to your prospects. Believe it or not, some ecommerce managers and\/or SEM managers have never personally walked through their own check out procedure. They think they know what\u2019s best for the customer, but they\u2019ve never been a customer of the company they\u2019re working for. There are tools available that will allow you to observe user experience testing in action. Those can get expensive and complicated, though. For help selecting the right methods, contact The Good<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s get clear on terminology. The \u201clanding page\u201d is where the prospect ends up after clicking on the link in your advertisement or other marketing message\u2014perhaps in your email campaign. If you\u2019re going to succeed at boosting conversion rate overnight, ecommerce landing pages should adhere to these fundamentals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be careful here. Many SEM companies focus only on ad design and messaging. They leave the landing page selection and preparation up to you. You might pay for an ad that\u2019s sending rush-hour-levels of traffic your way. Though if the landing page isn’t right, you’ll be sorely disappointed in the ad spend ROI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve seen companies hop from one SEM manager to another, when the real problem isn\u2019t ads that underperform \u2013 it\u2019s landing pages that don\u2019t follow the guidelines above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most designers love to draw. Give them a blank sheet of paper, and they\u2019ll fill it up with intricate patterns. The graphics you use should do two things: draw the prospect\u2019s attention and direct it to your call to action (CTA). The designer\u2019s job is to make your CTAs pop, not to fill the page with pretty pictures. Use plenty of white space. Limit the artwork and the sales copy. Keep it simple.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Much of the time, friction comes from a lack of clarity. Leave industry jargon for engineers and technical staff. When you\u2019re speaking with prospective customers, use the words they use to describe your products.<\/p>\n\n\n\n EXAMPLE:<\/strong> A Pacific Northwest logging supplier discovered that the steel cable, which the manufacturer referred to as “strawline,” was selling sluggishly to small companies in a certain region. As it turns out, small company owners refer to the product as “haywire,” creating a mismatch in terminology. Once the supplier changed the wording in the product bulletins to match the buyers\u2019 expectations, sales picked up immediately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Keep language clear and relative. Use simple statements. If you can describe the offer in a few concise sentences, do that and stop writing. Dense blocks of text with hard-to-understand terms can turn the sales temperature down to frigid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Buyers are skeptical \u2013 and for good reason. If an offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is; but you have something that provides real benefit. You\u2019re running a special, limited-time promotion (let\u2019s say), and you\u2019re supporting it with a pay-per-click campaign.<\/p>\n\n\n\n You removed the obstacles from your path to sales<\/a>, and your landing page or pages are in line with best practices. Your cake is ready, now you need some icing to make it even more tempting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One way to do that is to reduce risk. You want the buyer to feel like there\u2019s no way to go wrong by accepting your offer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are examples of how to do that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n It’s important to not only put risk-reducing benefits in place, but also make the prospect aware of them. Don\u2019t hide guarantees and return policies in fine print \u2013 bring them up and brag about them. Make them obvious.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your email list is your own private gold mine. It\u2019s your richest source of leads, and it\u2019s where you\u2019ll find your most loyal customers. Properly cultivated, it can give you a ready-made, instant way to increase conversion rate. Ecommerce without a robust list can be a difficult nut to crack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Note the \u201cproperly cultivated\u201d part. That means you do more than send \u201cBuy Now\u201d messages to your email list. You should be sending cart abandonment emails, reminder messages, win-back campaigns, and more.<\/strong> The graphic below depicts open rate effectiveness for different email marketing tactics:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your offer can\u2019t last forever. The price will go up. Stock will run out. These aren\u2019t contrived issues, they\u2019re true. The better job you do of reminding the prospect it\u2019s important to act now, the more sales you\u2019ll generate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Countdown timers, \u201cleft in stock\u201d indicators, and \u201cwhile supplies last\u201d messages can help get the point across. Tools and tactics like those are always important, but when your aim is to improve ecommerce conversion rate overnight, they\u2019re essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your product or service is the star of the show. If the images you use aren\u2019t high-quality and consistent with the message, don\u2019t use them. Show your shoes on a foot, your paint on a wall, your jacket being worn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Videos are an excellent way to display your product in its natural habitat. Even better, get existing clients to generate the videos (user generated content). Your copy and images must work together towards the same goals \u2013 generating desire, proving value, and moving prospects further towards the sale.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Special discount coupons, giveaways, and contests can help draw attention to your offer. Be super careful, though, to make sure you\u2019re bringing in qualified prospects\u2014not just click-throughs. Make sure the prize or free item is something your target audience would love to have, but isn\u2019t all that exciting to others. Otherwise, you\u2019ll end up with a whole lot of clicks, but few sales. That\u2019s the opposite of the outcome you\u2019re seeking.<\/p>\n\n\n'There are many things involved in a successful ecommerce business, but I\u2019ve yet to see a company fail that\u2019s putting resources into CRO' @ryangarrow <\/a><\/span>Share on X<\/a><\/span>\n\n\n\n Once you\u2019ve tasted what can happen when you pull together tips like these to get boosts in sales, you may wonder how to realize the benefits of conversion rate optimization on a more regular basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This is a starting point. To go deeper, you\u2019ll need to look at broader data-driven design techniques, expand user experience testing, and more. An excellent next step is to use our Stuck Score\u2122 assessment tool<\/a> to benchmark key conversion areas of your ecommerce website. It\u2019s a complimentary service by The Good. If you want to discuss your goals, just give us a call<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next time you need a quick boost in sales, try these tips. Then let us know how it went. We may feature your company in a case study or article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s do it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Resources:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Smart marketers understand the sure path to improve ecommerce conversion rate is through ongoing testing and incremental changes. Conversion rate optimization is a process, not an event. That said, many small and medium sized ecommerce businesses often have limited resources initially to invest in CRO. They need to earn some early wins on their own before taking the next step with adding a new team member or CRO firm. The good news is there are a number of proven ways you can increase your conversions on your own with limited resources. In this article, we’ll cover 10 step-by-step tactics you…<\/p>\n","category_list_v2":"","author_info_v2":{"name":"Jon MacDonald","url":"https:\/\/thegood.com\/author\/jonmacdonald\/"},"comments_num_v2":"0 comments","yoast_head":"\n2. Find areas of frustration<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\nDo your best to look at your offer through the eyes of a prospect. Buy your own goods. Enlist real prospects to interact with your offer and provide feedback on areas of friction where they found buying from you to be difficult or confusing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n3. Make each page serve one purpose<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Use a simple design, not an art gallery<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Edit for clarity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Reduce risk to increase motivation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. Leverage your email contact list<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"ecommerce-conversion-rate\"](\"https:\/\/thegood.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ecommerce-conversion-rate.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n8. Create urgency<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. Don\u2019t skimp on product presentation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
10. Use better bait<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How to Improve Ecommerce Conversion Rate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n