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When running an eCommerce store, increasing your conversion rate is what will ultimately make or break your business and help you stay afloat in today’s oversaturated market. However, you’ll need to approach it strategically to move the needle on your conversions, drive significant revenue, and turn traffic into tangible profit.
We’ve done the legwork for you and put together a list of 6 simple and easy-to-use tactics you can leverage right away to skyrocket your conversions and set up your eCommerce store for success.
Your competitors might already be reaping all the conversion-driving advantages of this eCommerce secret sauce, so there’s no time to waste – let’s get right to it.
6 Simple & Effective Tactics to Increase Your eCommerce Conversion Rate
A “conversion” is the action you want your ecommerce visitors to take, like signing up, adding a product to their wishlist/cart, or the one that puts the biggest smile on your face – buying a product. Your conversion rate is the percentage of your visitors who complete the desired action, whatever it may be. When running an ecommerce site, your ultimate goal is maximizing your conversion rate, which is often easier said than done.
Luckily, we know what makes your potential eCommerce customers tick. From tried and true ecommerce SEO tactics to savvy tips and tricks based on the very essence of human psychology, these easy-to-use hacks will boost your ecommerce conversions in no time.
1. Provide a Seamless User Experience
Your consumers are busy people – they don’t have time to waste dealing with a slow, confusing, and bad-looking website and won’t stick around long enough to complete a purchase. Time is money and at the heart of eCommerce conversions – even a single-second delay can hinder your conversions. You need to speed up your website to run like a Tesla – fast and smooth and create a positive and inviting shopping experience.
Ensure your site’s visually appealing and persuasive, as modern-day consumers are more likely to engage with a sleek and easy-to-use website design that focuses their attention where it matters, making understanding information and acting on it a piece of cake. If your visitors aren’t able to navigate your website smoothly and find what they’re looking for in a few clicks, they won’t hesitate to run off to a competitor. So, make information easy to consume and actionable.
Customers will also want to access your site from different devices, so adopting a “mobile-first” design strategy for your eCommerce website is vital. Ensure your site is responsive, accessible, and easy to use on desktops, tablets, mobile, etc., to enhance the user experience and help maximize customer engagement, retention, and conversion rate.
2. Marry SEO with CRO
SEO (search engine optimization) deals with optimizing content for search engines to rank your site higher, while CRO (conversion rate optimization) is all about optimizing content for users to compel them to complete a call-to-action or, in other words, convert. Luckily, you don’t have to choose or sacrifice one for the other as they go hand in hand and can work together to drive eCommerce conversions.
Yes, websites that don’t rank will miss the mark on conversions and revenue. But if the sole purpose of your efforts is to rank, you’re doing SEO all wrong. Leveraging the best of both worlds is a match made in heaven for eCommerce sites. By fusing SEO and CRO, you can kill two birds with one stone – increase your traffic and conversions. It’s a win-win!
3. Hone In on the Power of Visual
High-quality, creative, and well-thought-of product images are one of the main tools in your eCommerce arsenal. The secret ingredient to increasing eCommerce conversions is using product images that do more than capture the product. But, put it in context to spark your online customers’ imagination and give them an idea of how it will fit and be helpful in the real world.
We’re talking image close-ups, photos of the product from different angles and in various settings, and the belle of the ball – in context photography and videography. For example, pictures of running shoes being run in on track or a short video of the product, such as an electric grill being used to make delicious BRBQ during a cozy family gathering, will make your visitor’s mouth water.
Another pro tactic and advice for increasing your eCommerce conversion rate? Avoid carousels. Yes, they help you showcase more products, but they annoy visitors and slow down your site. Sticking to good old, appealing, high-quality static images is better.
4. Craft Killer Copy
Although users are primarily visually motivated, you’ll still need an exceptional copy to appeal to your customers and increase your eCommerce conversions. Three of an eCommerce site’s significant challenges can be successfully tackled with excellent copy: educating and informing visitors, encouraging them to act, and nurturing strong, long-lasting relationships. After all, it’s not just about what you sell – it’s about the stories you tell.
Create your buyer persona if you haven’t already, and write with your target customers in mind – solve their key pain points, offer a solution for their problems, and make your offers compelling but not pushy to avoid sounding too salesy. Make your copy short and sweet, engaging, persuasive, and formatted in a way that will best capture users’ attention and personalize their experience.
5. Serve Value on a Silver Platter
Although your instincts might urge you to go on and on about how great your brand and products are, quality over quantity ultimately wins the eCommerce race. Humans generally crave value, honesty, and simplicity and want to do business with brands they can relate to and trust.
Avoid hidden costs or information that come as an unpleasant surprise later down the road, hoaxing your customers by making things seem shinier than they are or making empty promises you can’t keep. Simplify your messages by making them transparent, clear, and concise, and offer unbiased information to your visitors to foster consumer trust and increase your eCommerce conversions. If your visitors trust you, they will likely buy from you.
6. Leverage Reciprocity and Freebies
Give before you take – win over your customers with kindness and selflessness. It’s always easier to give after receiving something because it subconsciously creates this feeling of “indebtedness” in our minds. Savvy and high-converting ecommerce websites use this simple tactic to make their prospects more open to conversions and boost their goodwill, as gifts tend to connect people emotionally to brands and make them feel appreciated.
Leverage the reciprocity principle to boost your eCommerce conversion rates. Offer something valuable to your potential buyers with no strings attached before selling to them. They can be powerful incentives for customers. Make them sweet deals.
Rev Up Your eCommerce Engine: Convert Your Way to the Top
Take the time to adjust and tweak these simple tactics for increasing eCommerce conversions necessary to cater to your unique eCommerce business and test them to see what works best for your brand.
The secret ingredients are now at your fingertips – it’s up to you to perfect the recipe, use it to win over your prospective customers, leave them asking for more, sell more, and earn more!
You’ll be rewarded with a flood of traffic and conversions coming your way to launch you in front of your competitors and take you right where you’ve always hoped to land – on top of the SERPs and your industry.