Aug 08 The Essential Guide to Conversion Optimization
Today in 2016, the vast majority of consumers across ALL industries – especially retail consumers – are going almost completely digital, if they have not already. Companies failing to understand this basic concept, and failing to take advantage of the significant business opportunities presented by the new digital landscape, will suffer and risk dying out.
The challenge is, this digital aspect isn’t easy to understand and tack on, especially for small to mid-sized online retailers and emerging brands. But rather than getting discouraged by its incredibly steep learning curve, companies should embrace and learn to figure out how to overcome all the challenges come with this digital environment. The online market is simply too huge to ignore and has been growing exponentially at a very rapid pace.
Most online retailers focus on these three aspects:
- Customer acquisition
- Customer retention
- Brand development.
Here in this article, I’m specifically going to talk about the first aspect: customer acquisition. In general, there are two major elements on digital customer acquisition that you should pay attention to, Traffic Generation and Conversion Optimization. Every online retailer is always in need and search of more traffic. After all, it’s obvious that more traffic should mean more revenue and more profit. You don’t have to rely on intuition to reach that conclusion, however; WooCommerce offers an easy formula to determine what impact an increase in traffic will have on your bottom line:
(traffic * conversion rate) * average order value = estimated monthly revenue
(traffic * conversion rate) * average order value = estimated monthly revenue
You’ll notice there’s more than just traffic involved in this formula. There’s an important hidden gem in that formula: conversion rate is just as important as traffic and that’s why conversion optimization should be the top priority in your overall digital strategy. The higher your conversions, the more your revenue will grow – with your existing traffic and without spending a single dime on traffic generation. The impact of a proper conversion optimization can be shocking; just check out this easy-to-use conversion rate calculator from Entrepreneur.com.
Conversion optimization can often be done by making small website changes or by revamping portions of your online business model. We have a number of practical and powerful tips to boost conversions, which could send your profits soaring within days or weeks. Read on.
CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION STEP 1: SETTING UP YOUR ANALYTICS
You can’t start working on the conversion optimization without data just like you can’t run a race without knowing where the starting line is. But many online retailers are so busy with day-to-day operations that they simply use guesswork instead of data to determine their own “starting line.” If you’re serious about increasing revenue through conversion optimization, you need to know your current conversion rate. Many e-commerce platforms have conversion tracking capabilities built into their platform, and there are numerous third-party solutions as well.
It’s likely, though, that you already have Google Analytics set up on your website, and it offers powerful tracking tools to show you detailed conversion rates and a wealth of other information. Google Analytics can be intimidating, but conversion tracking isn’t too difficult to set up as long as you have a detailed guide like the one compiled by Search Engine Journal to point you in the right direction.
Once you know where you’re starting from, it’s time to take action to boost your conversion rates. Let’s start with your website itself.
CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION STEP 2: OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE
Take a good look at your site, viewing it not as a business or website owner but as a prospective customer – and try to be as objective as possible in evaluating the visitor experience.
Does your site overwhelm a potential buyer?
A study done for Google showed that visitors determine a site’s “beauty” in less than a second, and that simpler, more attractive websites encourage people to stay on the site. That confirmed findings by researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa that visitors form impressions of a website in an incredible 50 milliseconds. The reason is simple: Princeton psychologist George Miller has shown that the brain’s short-term memory is only able to retain an average of seven pieces of information. So the more “junk” you have on your page, the less likely a visitor is to absorb the most important information on the site or to continue through the buying process.
Action tip: Ensure that everything on your site is focusing attention on the buying process, rather than providing a distraction. For example, email solicitation boxes may seem like a good idea, but can complicate a page and divert a customer’s attention from the products you want them to buy.
Does your site look like the e-commerce site the buyer is expecting?
Many online stores try to differentiate a website from the competition, but end up confusing visitors as a result. Shoppers are accustomed to certain types of e-commerce layouts and navigations, and if they’re not sure where they should be clicking they can easily become discouraged and leave. The experience of a company called Skinny Ties, detailed by GravityDept.com, is instructive. The company had been using a blog-style website with a visual slider, which has been proven to hurt conversions as explained by ConversionXL. After switching to a standard e-commerce design, they improved their conversion rate by 13.6% in just two weeks.
Action tip: Don’t “copy” competitors’ websites, but ensure that your website design immediately communicates to visitors that they’re on an e-commerce site, and lets them clearly and quickly understand where they should be clicking in order to browse or buy.
Do the headlines and written copy on your website speak to your visitors?
Do they explain why they should buy from you rather than your competitors? Even if your site’s copy is well-written, it may not encourage prospective buyers to explore the website and purchase your products. Remember, they’re forming opinions almost immediately, so it’s crucial that your copy immediately grabs them and leads them by the hand to your products. Two major copy elements can be optimized to increase conversions.
A number of words, such as “you,” “because,” “free,” “value” and “guaranteed” have been proven to engage visitors and increase conversion rates; VerticalResponse has compiled a list of the 30 top words and phrases that work best. Why these specific words? Prospects want to know what you can do for them, so using “you” and “your” is the key to addressing their needs and capturing their attention quickly. “Because” is a powerful word explaining why customers should take action and buy your products. The appeal of the other three words (free, value and guaranteed) should be obvious. Featuring engagement words in your headlines is particularly crucial; VWO.com tells the story of a company that added five words to a headline on their site, and three of the words were engagement words: order, bargain and easily. Conversions increased by 127%.
If the copy that’s on your website could be just as easily used on a competitor’s website, you have a problem: you’re not showcasing your Unique Selling Proposition, or USP. Optimizely explains in detail why this is so important. “High-quality products” or “outstanding customer service” don’t differentiate you from the competition or give customers a reason to buy from you. Concisely explaining why your products or services are unique – a value or benefit specific to your offerings, ease-of-use that can’t be duplicated, a lifetime guarantee – will intrigue visitors and boost conversions dramatically.
Action tips: Rewrite your website copy to focus on “you” instead of “we,” and include words which have been proven to help conversion rates. Identify your USP, and be sure that it’s clearly featured in all of your written copy and headlines.
Bonus tips: Be sure there is a clear call-to-action in your copy to tell visitors why they need to take action immediately, and don’t fill your product pages with duplicate product descriptions, which lower conversion rates while also hurting SEO efforts.
Does your website show that your business can be trusted?
If visitors don’t trust you after a quick look-see at your site, they’ll never be converted into customers. There are many websites vying for the same business you’re trying to earn, and most shoppers have enough online experience to realize that the web can be a “dangerous place.” Websites have green lights and red flags, commonly known as credibility markers, which communicate subconscious or visible signals about your company’s trustworthiness. SEMRush has put together a comprehensive list of them, but some of the most important credibility markers that sites can have are privacy policy, contact information, security badges guaranteeing the safety of customers’ financial and account information, and proof of having been recognized or honored by industry groups, by community or business organizations like the BBB, or by consumer websites like Yelp. Best of all are testimonials from customers or experts – as long as they’re honest, believable and can be substantiated. In fact, testimonials are often the best type of sales copy you can use.
Action tip: Add complete privacy policy and contact information (including a street address and phone number) to your site, as well as security, authority and honor badges, and be sure that honest and positive testimonials are displayed prominently.
Bonus tip: Talk to your web host about an SSL certificate so that your website shows as “secure” (the URL will start with // instead of //) to reassure potential customers.
CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION STEP 3: OPTIMIZE NAVIGATION
Your conversion rate doesn’t just depend on what’s on the pages that visitors see. Every time they move from page to page or try to place an order, you run the risk of losing them. You have to make it easy for customers to easily find “where to go next” – and make it simple for them to order – so they don’t get frustrated and try another site that’s more surfer-friendly. That calls for an honest evaluation of your site navigation.
Are you covering up your best attributes?
Are you covering up your best attributes?You probably don’t need proof to know that good photos help convert potential customers, but the Nielsen Norman Group and many others have done studies confirming that fact. It goes without saying that your photos should be high-quality and shouldn’t be tiny. But many e-commerce websites inadvertently cover up their product photos because of a very common design flaw: drop-down menus! Those menus may seem like a good idea because they quickly present visitors with numerous choices. Unfortunately, you don’t see photos on the menus, only less-enticing text links. Even worse, the often-huge drop-downs often obscure the conversion-increasing photos that are on the page. KissMetrics gives one compelling example: a diet product e-commerce company which removed its drop down menu and saw an increase in average revenue per conversion of $43, and an overall revenue jump of 56%!
Action tip: If you use drop-down menus, do A/B testing on your website with and without the menus and measure the effect on conversion rates.
Can you see me now?
One of the most important buzzwords in the online marketing world has become “responsive.” It simply means that a website recognizes the device a visitor is using, and will display properly and consistently whether they’re on a phone, tablet or computer. If you’ve been resisting implementation of a responsive website design because of cost, you should see the results of a test performed by design firm ElectricPulp. It showed that a clothing store’s online iPad/iPhone conversions increased by 66%, and Android conversions soared by 407%, once the site implemented a proper responsive redesign.
Action tip: Make your site responsive. With Internet Retailer reporting that nearly a third of all 2015 e-commerce transactions were made on a mobile device and that percentage predicted to grow rapidly – there’s no other choice.
Are you turning away potential customers by making them jump through hoops?
UIE.com tells the amazing story of a major e-commerce site that not only increased conversions, but boosted its yearly revenue by $300 million dollars by changing ONE button on its website (yes, you read that correctly). After selecting products and trying to check out, customers were required to either log in to their existing account or register for a new one. After extensive testing, the company found that existing customers often couldn’t remember the email they’d used to sign up or their password, and new customers didn’t want to jump through extra hoops in order to buy. The solution? Replacing the “register” button with a “continue” button, letting people get to their shopping cart and make their purchase quickly. That one change boosted conversions – and revenue – dramatically.
Action tip: Go through your checkout process with a critical eye to ensure that the user experience is as simple as possible; usability tests by third parties (the process used by the e-commerce retailer we’ve mentioned) can be a huge help.
CONVERSION OPTIMIZATION STEP 4: TEST PRICING AND DISCOUNT STRATEGIES
It goes without saying that product pricing has an enormous effect on conversion rates. But in the e-commerce world, there are opportunities to improve conversions and sales which are impossible to replicate in the “real” world.
Are you offering what today’s online consumers expect?
According to Wiser.com, 84 percent of Internet buyers say price is the major factor when they’re making an online purchase. However, The Wall Street Journal reports that an increasing number of Internet shoppers won’t buy products online unless they also receive free shipping. Many also expect lightning-fast delivery, thanks to the effect that Amazon Prime and other online retail operations have had on the marketplace. Amazon can offer those benefits thanks to the bulk discounts they can negotiate on shipping, and it’s unlikely you can compete on their level. However, the strong correlation between free shipping and vastly increased conversion rates cited by Practical Ecommerce and many others suggest that it’s worth shaving margins in order to offer this benefit to visitors.
Action tip: Negotiate the best shipping deals possible, and conduct A/B tests to determine whether offering free shipping in exchange for slightly lower margins or small increases in retail prices will boost conversions.
Are you being creative with your pricing, discount or other strategies?
Some brick-and-mortar retailers have long offered “red light specials” or other incentives in order to boost conversions during off-hours. Others have made a science of selling “close-outs” to create the impression of scarcity. And it’s easier to take those types of approaches in e-commerce, where there are no real-world logistics to deal with. Dynamic pricing models can allow you to boost conversion rates by quickly changing prices when traffic is low. Readily-available software can help you create the impression of scarcity and increase urgency to buy (which airlines, travel sites and even Amazon have turned into an art form, as explained by Granify. And there are many other approaches which can convince online visitors that they’ll miss out without acting immediately. E-commerce is uniquely suited to creative pricing and discount offers.
Action tip: Blue-sky creative ways to price dynamically, create the impression of scarcity or implement time-sensitive discount policies, and then discuss implementation with your Internet designer or IT department and A/B test the options you’ve decided to try.