Below are my 50 tips for increasing conversion rates. This thread is for ProStores merchants. It discusses techniques for increasing a site's conversion rate.
First, some backstory...
I have been building and maintaining web business since 1997. Initially, my focus was on:
1. how to register a domain name
2. how to transfer dns
3. how to get traffic to the site
4. what to put on the site
5. how to hire quality contractors (designers, copy editors, photographers)
6. what the users were doing once they got to my site - were they finding what they were looking for? were they being compelled to order?
i had a very niche site and was the only 'good looking' site in my space. 'Everyone SHOULD be ordering this product,' i thought. i calculated the conversion rate, which seemed to be a mostly-linear relationship between traffic and orders. i saw visits coming from referral sites yeilded a much higher % of buyers.
I didn't yet know the term conversion rate and i didn't have processing power to run the databases necessary to track at precise enough a level to spot variances in subtle site changes. however, i did have access to the web marketing manager at Heinken Beer, a high-traffic site backed by marketing dollars, - she pointed out all sorts of things.
had not idea how to increase the conversion rate - so i flooded my sites with traffic. lots and lots of traffic. i worked over-time for several years,
1. increasing avenues to the site (links, press releases, emails)
2. adding links from related sites
3. forging relationships with the related sites
4. getting to the top of the search engines for my keywords and related terms, and my competitors terms
5. improving the look of the sites - figuring 'if it looks great...people will be more likely to: tell their friends about the site, revisit the site, buy at the site
three more points before we get to the 50 tips to increase conversion rates.
1. i run several high traffic sites
2. over the past 6 months i've been learning how to improve conversion rates - interviewing the major analytics providers (omniture, coremetrics), interviewing web marketers and web masters of high revenue online stores (sales over $10 million)
3. i have seen substantial improvements in conversion #'s.
here is what i've found:
1. page load time is a major factor. you lose 10% of your visitors for every second over 1.5 seconds it takes your site to load
2. inconsistent advertising is worse than no advertising. if you are submitting feeds to the shopping engines, current, accurate pricing is paramount
3. ugly design = ugly numbers
4. keep the site simple to navigate. the navigation must be intuitive, logical, easy to read, easy to find.
5. checkout process must look professional (this is of particular interest for ProStores users. see footnote 1)
6. add the following information in highprofile positions on the product pages: tax, shipping, availability, expected delivery time, product price
7. have your text edited by either a professional editor, or your peers - typos reduce the likelyhood of a sale
8. add to cart button must be clear, and easy to spot. likewise with the checkout image - review the checkout processes at amazon.com and overstock.com for ideas
9. show the site's phone number within the design. add an 800 number, with "ORDER NOW - TOLL FREE..."
In conclusion...
10. minimize the checkout process. automate data entry wherever possible. make the default behavior of the billing address a replication of the shipping address.
11. tie to fed-ex/ups's address verification modules
12. make the buy now button stand out
13. make the price big and bold
14. remove all clutter from the store and especially from the checkout process
15. Develop a good succinct list of FAQs from the inquiries you get from your new #800 and otherwise. No matter how hard you try, customers will be puzzled about certain things. Cover those things in your FAQs. Keep the FAQs short or no one will read them.
16. make sure your site doesn't have ANY POPUP WINDOW ERRORS! during the checkout process, or other places - check this in various browsers
17. Find a net newbie and watch him/her navigate and make a purchase.
18. Provide shopping instructions in an empty cart. Don’t just say “your cart is empty”
19. Don’t make the user specify a choice when there is only 1 “choice”.
20. Use a custom 404 page to link people to the important areas of your site
21. Provide a way for customers to compare details of similar items
22. Attract quality traffic - advertize/target specifics not general categories
23. Use an ssl cert with a nice logo, place the logo in very noticable spot at the begining of the checkout process, or even on the cart
24. Include your physical address on your site.
25. Offer a 100% Money Back Guarantee,
26. Clearly define your return policy
27. Don’t make people type their e-mail address twice.
28. Feature a functional search box on your site and review what users are looking for, finding, not finding
29. No purchase should be more than two clicks away
30. Offer free shipping
31. Advertise that you have free shipping on everything
32. Avg conversion rates of the big sites is about 1.8%, aim to match this
33. Remove all unneeded data collection - customer fax #, etc
34. Keep your copy compact. make sure it reads fresh
35. Find your top entry pages and work hard at improving them. make the design strong, confidence inspiring, and traversable
36. If you don't carry an item, remove it from your site
37. Make checkout available from any page
38. Read www.grokdotcom.com
39. Don't stand between the user and the sale - i.e. don't clutter their mind with alternative, cheap items. keep their eyes on the prize
40. Include an 'enlarge image' javascript which pops up a high resolution img. if the user clicks anywhere on the popup box, it should close
41. Put all the important info about a product above the fold
42. Don't make them Scroll
43. Put all important 'checkout' info about the fold
44. Include clear, immediatly discernable, category headings in site's navigation
45. Respond quickly to customer emails
46. Use forms, phone or live chat, for customer communications - not a link to a mailto: email address
47. Craft the page load sequence and watch this on a slow (modem) connection - 10-15% of my users are still using modems
48. Offer a simple, intelligable buying process from every page
49. Write in an active voice. Aviod long or complicated sentences.
50. Include product names and model numbers in your page titles - this makes your site show up better in the search engines for these ultra-specific terms. these searchers are ready to buy
Having never before been to your site, if the user can figure out what to do, where to go, how to shop around; if the prices are right, if the shipping is free, if there is no tax, if you give them an extra little something with the product; they'll buy more often.
good luck,
Jesseo
footnotes:
1 - in working on 35 different ProStores sites, and reviewing several hundred others, i found most did not design: the checkout process, the cart, add to cart buttons. Present the user with images showing what each step of the checkout process is and which step their one.
Offers web site merchants 50 ways to increase their percentage of visitors which convert into sales.
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