6 Ways To Optimise Conversion Rate

Average website conversion rates are surprisingly low. Typically this figure sits well below 5%, meaning that for every 100 visitors a site generates, only around five users choose to purchase a product or service. Knowing this, if you have an e-commerce site, it’s important to discover new ways to optimise conversion rate in order to maximise your sales potential. In this blog post, we’re going to reveal six top tips on how you can optimise your conversion rate in 2022 and secure more e-commerce clients. So make yourself a cup of coffee and let’s get started.

1: Focus On Efficiency & Site Performance

A website is the first port of call for any potential customer, so making sure that this is as efficient as it can be is essential. For example, a poorly designed website can often result in a high bounce rate, as customers land on the site but rather than browse products and services, they quickly return to the search results. This means the e-commerce design and layout is impacting performance and this can have a detrimental impact on your ability to rank. A lower bounce rate means your target audience spends more time on your website, which increases your chance of making a sale. So, how can you make a website more efficient? Start by removing or updating slow loading images and videos. Then use a clean and simple e-commerce design, and make sure to compress any large files. This will help the website to load quickly and look far more professional to a new user. You can also run an audit to identify any issues in terms of SEO and UX that can be addressed to optimise conversion rate.

2: Start Blogging

Blogs are fantastic tools for implementing SEO (search engine optimisation). By creating content for SEO, using keywords and search terms that your target audience will likely by typing into the search engine, you can improve your visibility within the organic search results. Over time, this will have a positive impact on website traffic. Blog posts should inform, educate and inspire your audience and include links to products and services that relate to the content of the article. Maintaining a regular schedule of quality content on the blog will do wonders for a site’s reputability online too.

As well as being beneficial for SEO purposes, a blog is a great way for a company to promote itself to a certain audience online. Answer your customer’s top FAQs to position your brand as an industry leader and build trust. Demonstrate how your products and services can add value to your customers to encourage more sales.

3: Real-time Customer Service Plugins

Pop-up chat windows on e-commerce sites are becoming increasingly popular these days. They work by engaging with potential customers as soon as they land on a website, and act as a personal interaction. They also play into our social expectation of immediacy, which has become the norm nowadays with (almost) everything available at the tip of our fingers. Being able to get a quick response as an online user can entice a customer to stay on a site for longer and will help to convert them to a sale more than a customer enquiry form would. We do suggest, however, that this plugin should only appear once as a pop up to a new visitor once, so as not to overwhelm and annoy potential customers.

4: Include Customer Reviews Within Product Descriptions

A company is always going to sing its own praises, but it’s when customers do this that customer reviews become really effective for e-commerce businesses. Customer reviews and testimonials are incredibly powerful for generating new business, and they should be positioned within a product or service description. Customer reviews offer a sense of security and build trust for new customers, eliminating any reservation a user may have before placing an order online.

You could also include customer reviews as a rotating carousel on a site’s homepage so that they’re seen immediately when a new visitor lands on the website. Or, you could create an entire page dedicated to customer reviews on an e-commerce site instead to really show off positive reviews.

5: Develop A Sales Funnel

A sales funnel is the process prospective customers go through before they become fully-fledged customers. Each stage of the process works to build trust between consumers and the company, with the end goal being to convert to a sale. Consider it as a pitch and a way to prove why a company deserves a customer’s hard-earned money. Things to include in a sales funnel could be offering a free trial, signing customers up to a mailing list, or providing free teaser content. You will need to give something of value to a potential customer first, in order to educate them about your products and services. Once they provide their contact information, you could email them with a limited time offer, for instance.

A sales funnel doesn’t just help in the present moment, but it also helps businesses to learn more about consumer behaviour. With this information, a company can better tailor its offering in the future. The insights gained from how long consumers stay in the different stages of the sales funnel can help to improve digital marketing efforts and messaging for future campaigns and product launches.

6: Offer A Money-Back Guarantee

Similar to customer reviews, the offer of a money-back guarantee automatically gives a prospective customer a sense of security while shopping online. It shows that a company genuinely believes in their own products and services, and a purchase feels like a risk-free opportunity. Moreover, the guarantee promotes a better user experience, which in turn is likely to improve customer retention rates. Remember, happy customers will become loyal and highly valuable, repeat customers. So, even when a product or service falls short of expectations, a customer can still walk away from the interaction happy and content, open to giving a company another try in the future. This is the biggest benefit of a money-back guarantee for e-commerce businesses.

These tips only scratch the surface of what’s possible with conversion rate optimisation, but they’re a great place to start when trying to gain more e-commerce clients. While these are tried and tested methods, for each individual company, there’s going to be a certain amount of trial and error when it comes to implementing them effectively, so don’t be disheartened if results don’t come pouring in from the very first attempt. Enjoy the process and, most importantly, good luck!