Maybe you've mastered the functionality of selling stuff online, but if you're not constantly seeking CRO improvements to your website, it's pretty safe to say you're losing sales opportunities.
What is CRO?
Most eCommerce newbies think success consists of only two ingredients:
- an eCommerce website that works
- lots of traffic
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) means thinking beyond those fundamentals in order to get more from the visitors you have. In essence, it's what you do with the visitors you have once you've managed to get some traffic flowing to your site.
Here are 2 proven ways to do just that.
1. Consider User Experience
At the heart of every highly successful eCommerce store is a fantastic user experience (UX). How your visitors feel during the first few seconds on your website is only the first step on a journey they embark upon when they come to your online store.
Cleaning up your homepage to make it more focused towards your conversion goal is one way to improve the UX of your visitors. Use compelling copy, organize your page visually so that it's clear to the eye where to focus, and use a clear design that's simple which won't distract your visitor from what you want them to do.
In a case study, one company used these techniques on their product comparison page and increased sales by 40.81%. Here's what they did:
- They visually reorganized their selling points to make them easier to read.
- They added more detail about product features.
- They reduced the number of call-to-action links.
- They reconsidered how they were using white space and ended up improving aesthetics of the page.
If your product pages are cluttered with free shipping offers, too many links, or more than one CTA, then clean it up and you too may see a bump in sales. Remember: once a visitor is on the product page, they're more likely to buy, so don't distract them from putting something in that cart.
2. Focus on Product Pages, Too
Optimizing our home page is important, of course. But what if your visitors enter your site through a product page? It's crucial to optimize the user experience on your product pages, too. Think of them as landing pages too, and your conversions may see a bump.
If your goal is to increase the instances of visitors adding things to your shopping cart, then your product pages should have just one CTA, and that should be your "Add to Cart" button.
Make the button large, above the fold, and make it stand out visually with a color that draws attention. Don't distract the visitor with other CTA buttons, offers, or design elements that compete with the main CTA.
Recap
If you're not continually convincing visitors to stay on your eCommerce website at every possible juncture, you can kiss them goodbye because somewhere out there another eCommerce site is doing a much better job at CRO.
That includes:
- Cleaning up your homepage to improve UX.
- Thinking of your product pages as landing pages.
If you want to survive in online commerce, it's time to start thinking beyond simple functionality and incorporating CRO into your game plan. With these 2 tips, you're well on your way.
Main image via Jim/Flickr