Conversion optimization is in many ways more important than drawing more visitors to your website. With this strategy, focus is on retaining existing customers and compelling new visitors to do business with you. However, not many online entrepreneurs succeed in this. The purpose of this post is to help you learn of a few conversion optimization strategies that will boost your results.
Testing is crucial
One of the best conversion optimization strategies you can implement is that of testing everything. More often than not, people fail because they don’t focus too much on testing how their strategies are working. To optimize conversion, here are the key tests you need to do:
- Merchandise
The only reason visitors come to your website is because they want to buy the products you offer. Focusing on what they really want is the key to ensuring that you meet their needs. So, in your testing strategies, you need to test the merchandise that you offer on your website.
To begin with, you have to make sure that your products are of great quality and work as they are supposed to. Failure to do this will only earn you a bad reputation and push away potential repeat customers. Second, know which merchandise drives conversion. To do this, you need to focus on the ‘order starter’. This is the item that appears first in the shopping cart or one that appears in the order of most clients. You need to test this item against items your creative team wants to feature.
- Design
When testing the performance of their stores, most merchants focus mostly on the performance of their offers such as 20% off against 10% with free shipping. Although this is important, it is also important to look at how you present your products.
Studies have repeatedly shown that how products are presented determines how customers react to them. The first thing you need to test is the user-friendliness of your website. If the website is not user-friendly, chances are you are losing most of your potential clients because they lack the patience. Ensure the pages load fast. Another important thing to consider is how well your products are presented. Are the designs compelling? If the presentation is not good, you cannot expect to get as many orders.
A good product that is well presented is more likely to be purchased than a superior product that has been presented poorly. People still judge the book by its cover. Make sure your products are appealing to look at.
- Personalization
Personalization does not mean you present the unique product that an individual customer wants. This will not be possible. What you need to do is to present customers with the products that they need. To do this, you have to do your research to understand the tastes of your target audience. What are most customers looking for? What is the prevailing trend? You can then use this information to give products with the most demand priority.
The purchasing trends of your customers will give you some insight. Look at the products that are receiving the most traffic and present them first in your catalogue. Your product descriptions also need to be tailored to the customer. Show them how your product can solve their problems.
- Test different products
Your objective as a business owner is to maximize on profits. This will not be possible if your customers are only familiar with one of your products. One way of making sure they see your other products is to always present at least three items on your homepage. One of the products has to be one with the most demand. Keep note of the products customers are going for after the one with the most demand.
Additionally, you can present similar products with each search result. This means once a customer selects an item, a related item or items should appear below it. This will help you test the second item that attracts most customers. You can then use this information to further optimize your products.
- Test annual loyalty
The number one reason why customers abandon a brand is because they feel ignored. This is the worst way to lose a loyal customer. You want your loyal customers to keep shopping with you. You will only be able to do this by engaging them and showing them that you care. Therefore, you need to keep track of your loyal customers. This is the best conversion optimization strategy you can use.
- Test what boosts profits
Another important thing you have to keep track of is the strategy that increases your profit. Most people only focus on the amount of profit they have made in a month but never on where that profit came from. Not knowing which strategy is bringing the most return is the number one reason why you might be spending a lot of time and money on things that don’t really matter.
Is it the 10% off plus free shipping or 20% off that caused an increase in profits? These are some of the questions you need to ask. Knowing what works and what doesn’t will save you money.
Align call to action with incoming keywords
Away from testing, a good conversion optimization strategy you should consider using is that of aligning the call to action with the incoming keywords. To bring the right people to your homepage, you have to use targeted keywords. To make people take action, offer content and call to action that is relevant to the keyword.
Instill sense of urgency
Most shoppers take action when they know time is of essence. Don’t give offers that last a lifetime. They need an expiry if you want people to take action.
Build trust
When shoppers trust you, they will do business with you. Test different ways of building trust. One of the best strategies is that of allowing customers to leave their comments and also display testimonials on your pages.
The key to increasing conversion is to make sure that all your messages are relevant to your target audience. When customers feel you understand their plight, they will be more compelled to consider your merchandise.
Derek Iwasiuk runs a national digital search engine optimization firm headquartered in Minneapolis. He also spends a lot of his free time educating the minds of thousands of young SEO’s and top agencies. To gain from his in-depth SEO experience, you can check out his articles at Engage the Crowd or follow him on twitter @Diwasiuk.