Conversion rate optimization practices keep changing with time. It’s therefore important that you keep yourself updated with newer conversion rate optimization best practices. If you do so, you will be able to drive more conversions each year.
Conversion rate optimization is the process of increasing the number of website visitors who turn into customers.
Optimization doesn’t just happen. You have put in some work to give your web visitors a reason to say, “Yes, I want to buy that.”
Let’s get right into it.
8 Conversion Rate Optimization Best Practices for 2019
Here are some of the best conversion rate optimization practices you should engage in this year:
1. Focus on Customer Experience
We are in an era where almost every brick and mortar business has a website. So you can imagine the kind of competition ecommerce businesses are facing. As an online store owner, you need to make sure that your website stands out.
Aesthetics alone won’t make your website stand out. Granted, its beauty will make people take a look at your website, but it’s the experience they get on your site that will make them convert into a customer.
Personalize your website and make it all about your customers. Know who they are, understand what they want and give them that.
Let your site visitors know that you understand them by the kind of experience they get on your site. The more they feel that you care about them, the more willing they will be to be customers.
A study by Accenture found that:
- 65% of consumers are more likely to buy from sellers that seem to know their purchase history
- 58% of consumers will more likely make a purchase when they get recommendations based on their past purchases
- 65% are more likely to buy from a store that offers them personalized promotions that are relevant to them.
2. Change Your Landing Page Layout
A landing page is one of the most important website tools when it comes to increasing an ecommerce site conversion rate. It is very important when it comes to collecting leads for your store.
To make your landing page more effective, use as few elements as possible and keep the information on it short, simple and relevant. Too many elements on the page may be a distraction and prevent visitors from opting into your offers.
3. Have an Ecommerce Conversion Funnel in Place
Not every site visitor will convert to a customer right off the bat. Some people need a little bit more convincing to make that purchase decision.
There are those who will show interest in buying your products based on their behavior on your website. Others will even fill their shopping carts but won’t hit the buy button.
With such people, there’s a great chance that with a little more effort, you can convince them to buy. They are not yet customers, but they are active leads.
For this reason, you need to have an ecommerce conversion funnel in place in order to start converting them from leads to customers.
Creating a conversion funnel for your ecommerce store is not rocket science. There are lots of effective ecommerce conversion funnel tools available that you can use to get started today.
One such great tool is HumCommerce CRO Tool to boost your percentage of converting traffic.
With the help of this powerful e-commerce conversion tool, you will:
- Better understand your website visitors
- Analyze visitor behavior using Heatmaps
- Create experiments to test which A/B version is working best
- Record visitor sessions and watch how they browse your website
- Setup e-commerce funnels to gather valuable information
- Optimize your web page based on solid results
- Convert your existing visitors into valuable buyers
4. Up Your Customer Service Game
People shop on ecommerce stores because it’s more convenient than having to walk into an offline store. The convenience of getting what they want from the comfort of their homes is what they are seeking. Whoever offers them that gets their credit card!
Make it easy for shoppers to find what they need on your site. Should they need any assistance, offer it to them in the shortest time possible. If you do this, you will have a happy shopper who will have no reason to hesitate to check out of the shopping cart.
According to Avaya, shoppers would rather communicate with a shop owner online via chat or contact form instead of calling them. You, therefore, need to meet them at their point of need.
Adding forms on your website is a great way to give shoppers an avenue to reach you whenever they need assistance.
Add a form above the fold on the right-hand side of your landing pages. Make sure that your forms are effortless to fill in.
5. Understand Your Website Traffic
Where are most of your web visitors coming from? Who are they? Are the majority of women or men? How old are they? What devices are they using to browse your website? Which of your pages are they spending more time on?
All these insights are important if you want to increase your ecommerce conversion rate.
By understanding who your web visitors are and how they interact with your website, you can create a good website that gives your potential customers exactly what they want in order to make the decision to make a purchase.
6. Optimize Your Page Load Times
Slow but sure doesn’t work when it comes to ecommerce website load times. Shoppers want it to move fast. The faster a page loads, the longer a shopper stays on your website and the higher the chances that they will convert into a customer.
Do you know how no Internet is better than slow Internet? The same rule applies to your website. A slow website with the “spinning wheel of death” will annoy the hell out of your website visitors so much so that they are willing to leave your site immediately no matter how good your offers are.
So make sure that your pages load quickly, or people will abandon your website before you even get the chance to convert them.
7. Write Content That Converts
Both the design of your website and the messaging on it will impact your conversion rate. We’ve focused on design in the last few points. Now let us see what you need to do about your website content:
- Make it simple: Don’t complicate things. Say things in a manner that your web visitors understand easily. Make your content clear, concise and readable.
- Address your buyer personas: Let your content address the needs of your target market. Let it radiate that you completely understand who they are and what they want.
- Use active voice: This will give your content some energy and excitement.
- Use bullet points and numbered lists: Short concise sentences make your website more readable. Bullets and numbers will grab your visitors’ attention and keep them interested.
8. Add Calls To Action
Add call to action buttons to encourage your site visitors to take the desired action. Use clear text and bright colors to make your buttons more visible and eye catching.
However, be careful not to use too many calls to action so that you don’t confuse your visitors. They may be confused about which action to take. Keep your call to actions to a maximum of two per page.
There you have it. Eight conversion rate optimization best practices that will help you turn more website visitors into customers. Try this out and see your ecommerce store sales hit the roof this year!
