You have a reasonable number of visitors to your website, but the conversion rate is not good enough (read: lower than 2%). How do you ensure that visitors to your website actually make a purchase? In this extensive blog, we explain how you can increase your conversion rate and thus generate more sales through your website whether it’s an eCommerce or any coupon site.
Part 1: Gain insight into your website
Before you start customizing your website, you need to take a step back. It is important to determine exactly where the problem lies, for that, you have to look at the data of your website.
You can collect data about your website in different ways, namely via:
- Feedback from real people
- Analytics
Collect website data through feedback
The idea is actually super simple: ask your friends and network to visit your website, and then give you real and honest feedback about your website.
Ask them about their first impression of your website and to give their opinion on as many aspects as possible. For example about the images, the text, the products, the amount of information, etc.
It’s even better if you have friends with a business background or marketing experience.
However, an honest ‘customer’ point of view can also be helpful.
If you have found people who want to evaluate your website for you, you can ask them to place an order on your webshop.
Try to get feedback from someone not involved in your project. Emphasize that you want to receive honest feedback from them, so it’s best to put your ego aside for a while.
Ask them to pay close attention to everything they see, but especially the user-friendliness. Is all information listed? Can they easily place an order? Are there enough payment options?
Collect the answers and see if you see a pattern. In this way, you may be able to find a pattern in the answers and thus identify problems.
Collect website data with Google Analytics
Google basically offers Google Analytics as a free tool to anyone who has a website. This tool contains so much information about how users interact with your website that it is a must-have for any business owner.
Google even offers free online courses so you can learn how to make the most of this free tool.
We have also written a white paper with the most important Analytics concepts. This one can be very useful if you are new to the tool:
Below you will find the most helpful statistics to optimize your website:
Conversion from new or unique visitors: Separating recurring and new conversions can be very useful when optimizing your website for new visitors.
Sources of Inbound Traffic: Do visitors arrive at your website after asking a query to search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.), or directly as a result of entering your website’s address into their browser?
Bounce rate: How often do new visitors leave your website without taking any action?
Exit pages: On which pages do people leave your website?
Average session duration: How long do visitors actually stay on your website? not even a second? A few minutes? A couple of hours?
There are, of course, many other helpful metrics, but these will give you an idea of how helpful Google Analytics can be for you.
All the above statistics provide a good insight into how the visitor behaves on your website and where they come from.
Part 2: Conversion optimization by website optimization
When you have collected all the data, it is time to start optimizing.
There can be a lot of reasons why your website still converts well, so we give several examples here where possible problems can lie. We also provide a possible solution.
See what applies to you and optimize where necessary.
But if you advertise online on Google or Facebook (or wherever) and have a lot of visitors but few conversions, chances are you need to pay attention to both your landing pages and your ads.
Also Check: 6 Proven Website Optimization Tactics To Boost Conversions
#1 – Design
To generate conversions you have to trust and radiate knowledge to the visitor from the first moment. You can do this by using the right design.
Visible Logic has created a neat infographic with several important stats about web design. For example, the research shows that 80% of the respondents choose a competitor if it has a more attractive design.
95% indicate that they want to quickly find the information they are looking for and therefore attach great importance to user-friendliness.
Put the focus of your web design mainly on mobile use. Make sure it works well on different devices because two out of five Dutch online purchases in Fashion & Luxury are made via mobile devices.
With so many professional-looking websites available today, it’s basically business suicide if you don’t have one. Look at what your most successful competitors are doing and use that as inspiration.
Don’t be afraid to spend some money on a website. Most shop software providers like Shopify and Magento have a number of free themes and templates available, and many for a reasonable price too.
Images must be sharp. The tricky part, however, is that the images should not be of too high a quality either. Otherwise, your page will take too long to load, which can also be a reason for visitors to leave your website.
Your texts should appeal to your target audience. Provide an interesting text. Sell a lifestyle. Make sure you provide sufficient product information, but also emphasize the benefits of the product.
For example, if you’re selling fitness products such as treadmills or any elliptical machines, you’re emphasizing ‘ Lose X kg in 3 months ‘ rather than ‘ great exercise for the abs ‘.
#2 – Payment Methods
By offering as many payment methods as possible, you can better meet the needs of the customer. The iDEAL is the most used payment method in the Netherlands. Afterpay is also a good option.
In addition, the option to pay with Paypal or credit card is a good addition to your webshop.
There are many more options, see which one best suits your target group. By offering the various options, you can be sure that there is something the customer is looking for.
#3 Be the expert
Show that you are the expert in your industry.
Share content about your products and show that you have a lot of knowledge about the subject. Start writing a blog with topics of interest to your target audience. This also helps with the findability of your webshop in search engines such as Google.
When writing content, it is good to have a buyer persona (or customer profile). This way you know exactly who your target group is and what you need to focus on for a successful content strategy.
Also, share testimonials and case studies that prove that your product works and that you actually have the knowledge.
And of course, product reviews work very well here. Make sure you display the reviews on your website so that everyone can immediately see that others rate your webshop well.
#4 Landing pages
If you use ads that get a lot of clicks, but visitors quickly leave the page without doing anything, your landing page may not be set up properly.
If your bounce rate (see Google Analytics) is above 80%, you should take a closer look at your landing page.
There are many things to consider for your landing page, below are the key points:
What does your page look like ‘above the fold’ (the part of the page that appears first on the user’s screen)? What is a visitor’s first impression of your website?
Is the image quality adequate – do the product images look professional?
Does the page radiate confidence?
Does it look like the LP was designed by a professional?
Does the product on the LP match the product in the ad?
Is the price of the product the reason for leaving the website immediately?
Is there sufficient product information on the page?
Is the text attractive enough to generate engagement?
Is the demand to take action clear (CTA)?
Are there too many questions to take action?
Is the LP loading fast enough?
Is the LP suitable for the mobile phone?
#5 Radiate confidence
Does your website immediately give a reliable impression? We briefly mentioned that exuding trust is very important for optimizing conversions.
Think, for example, of placing a quality mark on your webshop.
The Trusted Shops seal of approval also includes a 30-day money-back guarantee ( buyer protection ), ensuring that visitors are reassured.
Conclusion
As soon as you notice that you can get more out of your website, you should start collecting data to find out exactly where the problem lies. You can do this by asking for feedback in your network, or by looking at the numbers in Analytics.
Keep an eye on the stats and keep optimizing, there is always something to improve.
Author
Selena is a blogger and a guest contributor for a well-known brand that includes MESHEBLE & INTHEMARKET. In her leisure time, she plays tennis.
