Thanks to the Internet, there are now over a million ways to make money from your home today. From selling products to providing creative or marketing services without having to go through the laborious processes of seeking formal employment.
One of the most popular ways is starting a home business. Anybody with a product and access to the Internet can set up shop and start selling.
When it comes down to it, you only need products and a platform to sell them on. Your chances of being successful are greater If you are tech-savvy and have some digital marketing expertise.
But is it Really That Easy?
How many people who click into an online store actually end up making a purchase? Window shopping and price comparison are much easier when all you do is click on the back button.
Moreover, consumers can find plenty of other stores in their search results. This means that getting people on your website doesn't necessarily mean that you're getting customers.
Despite its benefits, conversion rates for eCommerce stores don't always turn out so great. Not everyone will find what they’re looking for and even if they do, they could become distracted and abandon their shopping carts.
In today's economy, each dollar made contributes a lot to your bottom line. It's so important to take advantage of every chance to close a sale.
That's why it's essential to optimize your eCommerce product pages to obtain maximum conversions.
Choose the Most Suitable eCommerce Platform
The eCommerce platform that you choose to sell your products on is integral to the success of your business.
You should look for a platform that's on par with modern technology. It must be easily customizable for you and user-friendly for your customers.
Using a Shopify theme, the company has designed a user-friendly, simple, and colorful home page to attract visitors looking for cool designs with a variety of themes, such as space, floral, and animals.
At the same time, the platform you use should be reliable and help you process sales as efficiently as possible.
Most platforms will also provide detailed statistics on how your business is doing. In turn, this information can help you win more loyal customers.
Some popular platforms include Magento, Shopify, and WooCommerce, although the latter is “only” an open-source WordPress plug-in that can transform your basic site into something more.
Shopify is a complete eCommerce platform, allowing you to set up your store and manage products, inventory, payments, and shipping.
Not only will you be able to sell your products through your website, but it also helps you with sales through social media and even brick-and-mortar stores.
Its online store builder, numerous themes, and abundance of available apps mean that you can create the perfect online store for your business.
In comparison, Magento and WooCommerce themselves don't provide hosting. This means that you need a certain level of competency in setting up a website before you can utilize these platforms to run your eCommerce business.
The great thing about these platforms is that they both work seamlessly once you get past the initial development stage. Additionally, they are free as opposed to Shopify.
Of course, there are many more eCommerce platforms to choose from, each with its pros and cons. The main thing is to know what you want and do your research before committing.
At the same time, don't let the initial price point discourage you from going for your ideal platform, as it can mean giving up long-term convenience.
No matter which platform you choose for your business, you should consider some of the strategies below to optimize your store.
1. Use Attractive Visuals
Online shoppers today look for products on visual sites such as Pinterest and Instagram. They expect to see clear and attractive images of the products they are interested in purchasing.
Be sure not to use stock images, but rather include visuals that will enhance the consumer’s shopping experience and help increase conversions.
The colors and scenic background are attractive and grab the eye of the visitor. In addition, the image makes it clear to the shopper that Revelry sells a variety of dresses for a diverse group of buyers.
A well-designed site can be a pivotal factor in building customer confidence, improving conversion rates, and increasing how much consumers spend.
While very few online shoppers will buy based solely on aesthetics, they subconsciously judge how items look on an eCommerce site.
As such, your store must have high-resolution photos that show off all elements of your products.
2. Write Convincing Copy
Engaging and informative product copy is vital for selling products. One of the most effective ways to improve your eCommerce conversion rates is by writing product descriptions that resonate with readers and relay important information about the benefits to the consumer.
Remember that you are trying to sell your products to real people, not search engines. Write descriptions that will persuade consumers who visit your site to buy.
Dog owners know that their pups often experience anxiety or stress for various reasons such as hearing thunder, being separated from their owner, or bringing a new family member (human or animal) into the house.
The written description explains why a dog owner needs the product, as well as how it helps a problem.
For dog owners who are concerned about the ingredients in anything they feed to their dog, the image part of the description serves as a source of valuable information.
The branding of your business serves as a sound basis for how you create your product descriptions as it helps inject personality into the copy.
3. Build Trust
There are countless scams on the Internet, from Nigerian princes to lost packages. You want your customers to trust that they will get their products safely and not cardboard wrapped in plastic packaging.
Build trust on your eCommerce site by doing the following:
- Posting pictures of company staff members and management to add a virtual personal touch
- Clearly stating shipping and return policy
- Adding links to your active social media profiles on platforms where customers can engage with your brand
- Including a physical address if you have one
- Offering at least one way to contact you such as a contact form, email address, or a live chat widget
- Making sure your site has an SSL certificate so customers will know their transactions are secure
Staying in touch with your current and potential customers will contribute significantly to increasing trust.
Using a content calendar is a powerful tool to remind you to follow up and communicate efficiently to let consumers know they are important to you. It will help you manage and coordinate all your publishing schedules.
Testimonials from customers, product reviews from verified shoppers, and ratings from previous buyers all help you gain the trust of new shoppers. Social proof from customer reviews is an integral part of eCommerce, and it pays off.
It’s good practice to utilize A/B split testing on your eCommerce site to see which variables achieve a higher conversion rate.
By showing half of your visitors an alternate version of an element on your site, such as a different CTA, you can increase conversion rates by using the most effective element.
To test which elements are better at building trust, we suggest you try different versions of social proof, such as reviews, testimonials, and ratings.
A recent survey of over 6,500 consumers finds that product reviews rank higher than free shipping, cost of the product, and discounts in driving purchase behavior and increasing trust.
4. Streamline Your Site
What's a cluttered product page? A messy product page contains numerous unnecessary elements, such as promotional content, distracting text, and excessive imagery.
Overly cluttered product pages prove detrimental to an eCommerce site's performance, as they distract consumers from the products themselves.
You should make it as easy as possible for customers to identify what they want and to order it with as little fuss as possible.
5. Optimize for All Devices
Customers are shopping more and more on their phones, even at 3 am. This means that your eCommerce site needs to look great on all kinds of devices, especially if you want to get an order in before bedtime.
It pays to ensure that your eCommerce store is optimized for various devices, from the smallest smartphone screen to the largest TV monitor. This allows shoppers to get the most out of your site whenever they choose to access it.
6. Engage Your Customers
To boost conversions, you need to ensure that your eCommerce product pages contain a clear call-to-action (CTA).
A CTA is a link or button that prompts users to start the buying process. If they're not there, you're cutting out a massive chunk of potential sales.
Let’s look at how SmileDirectClub uses a strong and relevant call-to-action for their prospective customers.
First, they use a compelling visual to draw website visitors in long enough to read the content. Next, they anticipate what a potential customer might be thinking and use that for a CTA.
One might think it sounds like a great offering but also wonder if it is right for them. SmileDirectClub is one step ahead of its potential customers. Using a blue button with the words “Am I a candidate?” compels the visitor to click the button and find out if they are or not.
After clicking the button, users are taken to a page for a free 30-second smile assessment.
Other options for calls-to-action include adding a powerful visual element with a contrasting color, a particular shape, or a textured background.
At the same time, you can use popups to catch the interest of potential customers before they leave.
Popups can feature sales, coupons, upselling and cross-selling techniques, newsletter sign-ups, or even a quick survey of why they're clicking away without purchasing.
7. Highlight Pertinent Information
While online shopping is popular, it's not preferred for all purchases. Deciding to buy goods online can be risky when brands cannot promptly provide shipment information or other details.
The biggest reasons for shoppers abandoning their carts are delivery time and shipping costs, which can be challenging to estimate without knowing the product specifics.
As such, you must make sure that important information like shipping costs and times, return policies, and FAQs are easily found on your website.
8. Decrease Page Loading Time
If you want to keep your website visitors happy and on your site, you must optimize it for speed. The faster a web page loads, the better the user’s experience. This in turn will lead to higher conversion rates and ultimately more sales.
Below are some of the ways to optimize your eCommerce site for speed:
- Choose a hosting platform with an infrastructure that speeds up load times
- Enable caching
- Optimize images without losing quality
- Use a content delivery network (CDN)
- Clean up and remove extraneous code such as code left behind from deleted plugins
- Reduce the number of redirects on your site
Every second counts when it comes to page loading speed. According to research, with each additional second it takes for a page to load, conversion rates are reduced by an average of 4.42%.
9. Ease of Contact
Personal contact is essential for any business, and it is even more critical when you do not see the person with whom you are speaking.
Online stores and marketplaces that build in multiple ways to connect with a human not only let customers feel like they're being heard but also give them the confidence to make purchases, build relationships, and share their love for your brand.
Final Thoughts
Although the eCommerce industry is growing rapidly, many business owners focus their time and resources on shopping carts and checkout pages.
However, too many shoppers never get to that point in the buyer’s journey because they are deciding whether or not to make a purchase while on your product pages.
Hence, the most important and effective way to drive more conversions for your eCommerce store is to optimize your product pages.
Be sure to focus on and include all the essential elements, such as calls-to-action, product descriptions, and engaging graphics to encourage prospective customers to make a purchase.
Also Read
- 50 online business ideas for total newbies
- Best dropshipping suppliers available in the market
- Best web hosting for small business websites
- How to create an online store using Shopify
- How to sell art online using Shopify
- How to start making money in affiliate marketing
- eCommerce shopping carts for home business
