7 Conversion Optimization Tricks for Retailers to Boost Sales

Conversion rate is the health indicator for your online business, showing how well it is flourishing and if the strategies implemented are successful or not. Conversion optimization naturally improves  conversion rates which directly affect other aspects of business, so opting for a conversion oriented approach benefits all parts of the business.

While improving user experience, site performance and implementing strategic business plans may seem like a painful task, in reality they can be achieved by developing a checklist and following it systematically.

Invest in Data Analytics

Data is among your biggest assets in rising above competition and improving on your business. It can be used to develop an overview of the business and identify areas that need improvement. Conversion optimization data analytics can be divided in two steps for ease:

Selecting and Deploying your Analytics Software

Improvement in your online business begins with selecting and installing a web analytics software for tracking data, which will be the deciding factor for implementing business strategy.

Take your time in learning the tool which you have implemented to familiarize with it and utilize its potential to the maximum. For starters, Google Analytics is the best option since it is open source, provides all necessary features and user friendly and

• Research your Customers

Rather than prioritizing the product, it is better to research target audience for which it is being developed. It allows you to direct marketing efforts towards real goals whose outcomes are statistically proven to be beneficial.

Revising your online website with the simple notion of standing in the customers’ shoes and optimizing according to their demands may seem like a sure way to integrate effective changes, but in reality, it is a very risky strategy. This leaves you at the mercy of probability, which can be altogether eliminated with some research.

By utilizing data gathered from online traffic using analytics software, customers of interest can be located and target audience identified. By optimizing according to their trends, your business can provide exactly what they are searching for and boost conversion optimization rates.

Choosing your Testing Strategy

With data streaming in from the analytics software and traffic elements of the website categorized, choosing a suitable testing strategy is the next step. Draft multiple strategies for problems that have been identified and rate them according to the investment of resources, constraints and the quality of solution they offer.

• Accuracy through A/B Testing

A/B testing involves designing multiple online webpages and subjecting them to real traffic rather than to a number of controlled viewers. The results generated are accurate, represent real feedback and can be used to design the perfect e-commerce website for your online business. The elements to stress upon during A/B testing are:

• Developing Call to Action (CTA) Buttons: Modify the CTAs to suit your webpage content. From content to color, size and text, check every element involved to draw out the best result.
• Varying and Continuous Themes: Contrasting themes may seem flashy but often end up confusing the viewers. Choosing a single theme on all your webpage with slight variations according to contents is commonly accepted among viewers. However, depending on the type of products and services being offered, themes can play a variable role and requires testing to determine the best possible option.
• The Dilemma of Images: Images convey much more information than text and can become powerful elements if utilized correctly. Their success rate is highly dependent on how they are perceived by viewers, so testing the best combination of image types, quality, position and metadata is necessary.

You can add pictorials that reflect your brand perspective and highlight your product.  In the image shown above Evernote displays a woman happily using a laptop to emphasize the importance of their product in terms of customer satisfaction and adds a CTA,” Sign Up for Free” to engage the user.

Through A/B testing, favorable trends can be pin pointed and added to the webpage. This way, both the overall site functionality and conversion rates can be increased.   

Real Time Feedback

Your onpage viewers will definitely have queries related to products and services you offer, so having customer support ready to respond to queries ensures they do not abandon page if the FAQs and content do not resolve their issue. With a customer satisfaction rate of 71 percent, support can become your biggest ally for improving conversion optimization by stopping potential customers from seeking alternate webpages due to unresolved queries.

Create FAQs that Really Help

Creating FAQs can mean a great difference in conversions. You can create FAQs as shown above and add relevant answers to the most frequently asked questions.

Instead of answering generic questions, seek analytics to check commonly encountered issues and provide answers to these questions in your FAQs. Keep your products and services in mind and create solutions which will benefit your on-site visitors.

Instead of keeping FAQ content to just a designated area, provide related information during selection process so that the customer does not have to navigate to product FAQs every time they encounter an issue. By facilitating customers in this manner, you can be assured to have them purchasing from your webpage rather than competitors.  

Increasing Traffic through Web Personalization

Developing a uniform strategy for your webpage is just not enough to appeal to your target audience – they require specialized content that provides solutions to their queries. This can only be achieved by analyzing real time behavior through data analytics and developing content, products and services based on them.

Data analytics can be used to separate incoming traffic and their preferences, and web development can be used to add the site features according to it. Elements such as cookies, user location, shopping cart history and behavior during site visit are involved in web personalization.

For example, Amazon automatically offers product preferences based on previous choices. This allows users to search for the best possible solutions through your platform, which ultimately increases the conversion optimization rates.

The Checkout Process

The checkout process seals the deal between customer and your ecommerce webpage, so optimize it to ensure leads turn into conversions. Following are a few tips that can facilitate users in their checkout process and consequently increase conversion optimization rate.

• Email Reminders if cart has been abandoned. Save their history so they do not have to reselect items.
• Allow addition and removal of items in the shopping cart during checkout process. Customers tend to have second thoughts about purchases and by facilitating them during this process, they become more inclined to finalize checkout.
• Provide alternative payment methods so customers can finalize transaction at their convenience.
• Display total charges including taxes, shipping and service charges clearly so customers are aware of the final price. Out of 67 percent cart abandonments, 56 percent said the ambiguous charges were the main reason they refused to follow through to the end.

Conversion Optimization – Your Webpages Health Indicator

Conversions signify the health of your ecommerce webpage and directly correlate with performance. By implementing these 7 pointers in this optimization checklist, you can increase your conversion rate and push past competitors to win your target audience and turn leads into conversions.