Ecommerce CRO | 6 Actionable Conversion Rate Optimisation Tips & Tricks

If you own an e-commerce business, then you know that conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is essential to your success. CRO is the process of maximising the number of visitors to your website who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or subscribing to your email list. In other words, it's all about turning casual browsers into paying customers. 

There are a number of factors that contribute to a high conversion rate, including the attractiveness of your website, the quality of your product or service, and the clarity of your call to action. But no matter how great your product or website may be, you won't make any sales if visitors to your site can't find what they're looking for or don't understand how to buy it. That's why having a well-optimised website is so important. 

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What is Conversion Rate Optimisation?

Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the process of increasing the percentage of visitors to your website who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter. In other words, it's all about getting people to do what you want them to do when they come to your site. And it's important because even a small increase in your conversion rate can have a big impact on your bottom line. 

Consider this: if your website currently has a 3% conversion rate and you're able to increase that to 4%, that's an extra sale for every 25 visitors. Doesn't sound like much, does it? But if you get 1,000 visitors to your site per day, that's 40 extra sales per day, which adds up to 14,600 extra sales per year! 

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Why is conversion rate optimisation so important?

There are a few reasons. 

If you own or operate an e-commerce business, then you know that generating website traffic is only half the battle. Once you've got people to your website, you need to make sure they're actually doing what you want them to do.

Firstly, if you can increase your conversion rate, then you'll see a corresponding increase in revenue, and also ROAS (Return On Ad Send). More conversions mean more sales, and more sales mean more money in your pocket. It's as simple as that. 

Secondly, a high conversion rate is a good indicator that your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate. If visitors to your site can't find what they're looking for or if they get frustrated with the purchase process, they're likely to click away and never come back. A low conversion rate could be a sign that there are some serious problems with your website that need to be fixed. 

Finally, conversion rate optimisation can help you acquire new customers at a lower cost than traditional marketing channels like paid advertising. Once you've optimized your website for conversions, you'll be able to get more mileage out of your existing traffic by converting more of it into paying customers. This will save you money in the long run and help you acquire new customers more efficiently - Establishing a sustainable and profitable path to successfully scale your business.

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What is a Good Conversion Rate? 

Before we dive into how to improve your conversion rate, it's important to first establish what a good conversion rate looks like. Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all answer to this question; the answer depends on factors like your industry, your product or service, and your target market. 

Generally speaking, however, most e-commerce businesses have a conversion rate between 1.5% to 3%. If your conversion rate falls below 1%, that's usually an indication that something on your website needs to be fixed. If it's above 3%, congratulations! Although, in some cases, a high conversion rate isn’t always as it seems, and can in fact be due to a lack of traffic being generated and the business may not be seeing any substantial growth due to this reason.

7 Ways to Improve Your Conversion Rate 

Now that we have an understanding of conversion rate optimisation, let's take a look at some specific ways you can improve yours.

1. Make Your Store Easy to Use

If your store is difficult to navigate, people will leave and likely never come back. That's why it's important to make sure that your store is easy to use. One of the first things we recommend doing is making sure that your navigation is easy to understand and that visitors can find what they're looking for with ease.

It’s also crucial to make sure the same ease of use can be achieved on mobile devices.

These days, more and more people are using their mobile devices to navigate online and make their purchases. In fact, studies show that over 60% of all internet traffic now comes from smartphones and tablets. If your website isn't responsive or doesn't look good on mobile screens, then quite simply, you're going to lose out on a large number of potential customers and it’s time to invest in a new ecommerce website design.

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2. Simplify the purchase process 

There’s nothing worse than finally finding the product you’ve been searching for all across Google, then getting to the Checkout phase, having to create an account, enter unnecessary personal information and forget why you’re there in the first place…

The easier it is for visitors to buy from you, the higher your conversion rates will be.

It’s as simple as that.

Make sure that your purchase process is streamlined and easy to follow.

Remove any unnecessary steps or friction points that could cause potential customers to abandon their carts before completing their purchase.

In addition, make sure that visitors can easily find the products they're looking for by implementing effective search and navigation features on your website

If potential customers find your checkout process too difficult or confusing, they're likely to give up and go somewhere else. Inevitably, leading to a lower conversion rate.

So in short, ensure that your checkout process is as streamlined as possible. The fewer steps there are between a customer adding an item to their cart and completing the purchase, the better!

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3. Use persuasive copywriting techniques 

The copy you feature on your website can have an immense impact on your conversion rates. Persuasive copywriting is all about using the right words to convince someone to take action. 

When writing copy for your website, focus on making it clear, concise, and persuasive.

Highlight the benefits of your products or services, and try to address any objections or concerns that potential customers might have.

The final objective of your website's copy is to provide the customer with just enough information, emotional connection and encouragement, to take action.

Your product descriptions play a key role in convincing people to buy from your store instead of one of your competitors. So it's important to take the time to write compelling descriptions that accurately reflect what each product is and how it can benefit the customer. It's also a good idea to include relevant keywords so that your products will show up in search engine results pages (SERPs). But don't ‘keyword stuff’ - this will only hurt your rankings and turn potential customers away.

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4. Use High-Quality Images 

Humans are visual creatures, which means that we're more likely to be convinced by something if we can see it with our own eyes. When it comes to conversion rate optimisation, this means that using high-quality visuals is a crucial component.

Make sure that your product photos are in-focus and appear professional, and consider including videos or infographics as well. These types of visuals can be extremely effective in convincing visitors to make a purchase.

Product photography is an art form unto itself, so if you're not confident in your ability to take great photos, then it's worth looking into hiring a professional photographer.

Accessibility tip: Use alt text for your images so that visitors who are browsing on devices with screen readers can still understand what they're looking at. 

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5. Offer Incentive

In order for CTAs to work effectively, they need to be paired with a strong incentive, clearly highlighting the value that visitors will get by taking the desired action. For example, if you're selling hair products, an effective offer might be "Buy one bottle of shampoo & get 50% Off Conditioner!" or "Subscribe now & save 10% on your first order!".

If you're running a subscription service, an effective offer might be "Sign up now for a free 14-day trial!" or "Subscribe now and get 50% off your first month!".

Remember, the goal is to entice visitors with an offer that's too good for them to pass up! 

Nearly 80% of shoppers say that free shipping is one of the most important factors when deciding whether or not to make a purchase online. 

So if you want to optimise your website for maximum conversion rates, then offering free shipping or first-time customer discounts is a must. Even something as small as a 10% discount can be enough to convince someone who's on the fence about making a purchase to go ahead and hit the "buy" button! 

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6. Feature Customer Reviews 

Customer reviews can be extremely helpful in convincing potential buyers to make a purchase from your store . In fact, according to one study, as many as 67% of consumers say that positive customer reviews assist in making them more likely to purchase from a website.

So, if you're not already including customer reviews on your product pages, now is the time to start!

Just make sure that you moderate the reviews so that only legitimate ones get posted on your site. Otherwise, you may risk damaging your credibility and customers will begin to ask questions.

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Summary

Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is essential for any e-commerce business owner who wants to increase revenue and profitably acquire new customers. By using persuasive copywriting techniques, creating compelling incentives, providing social validation and simplifying the purchase process - You can significantly improve your website's conversion rate and achieve long-term success for your business.

If you're looking for companies that build websites and need help with your ecommerce conversion rate optimisation, feel free to get in touch and we'd be happy to help!

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Are you a Sydney based ecommerce business looking to optimise your online experience? Read more on our ecommerce website design services