As we all know, one of the purposes of a digital marketing strategy is getting the attention of an audience while delivering the right message.
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by Irina Ciutaco
April 27, 2020
As we all know, one of the purposes of a digital marketing strategy is getting the attention of an audience while delivering the right message.
In one of the latest blog posts, we were talking about how we can use SEO as a way of overcoming the organic traffic loss during Coronavirus.
In today’s blog post, we will focus on what conversion optimization is and what actions you need to take in order to optimize your websites. It is highly important for generating traffic and therefore, increasing the number of conversions. As Coronavirus has had an impact on eCommerce websites – changing customer behaviour and switching consumers from buying in physical stores to online shopping – it’s interesting to see how we can improve the eCommerce strategy in order to maximize our sales
Our aim is to provide you with the best advice in order for you to build a successful strategy, which brings a high number of sales. We will cover the following topics: Design and User experience, managing server issues, improving shopping experience, and testing shopping experience.
So What does conversion optimization mean and Which tools should you use in order to facilitate the customer journey? Conversion optimization is the process of convincing people to take action when visiting a website. By designing and modifying elements from a website, a business can increase the chances that the visitor will transform a lead or customer before they leave. We will elaborate on this topic, by presenting why design, user experience, and the improvement of the customer journey, are important stages of a successful conversion strategy.
In one of the latest blog posts, we were talking about how we can use SEO as a way of overcoming the organic traffic loss during Coronavirus.
In today’s blog post, we will focus on what conversion optimization is and what actions you need to take in order to optimize your websites. It is highly important for generating traffic and therefore, increasing the number of conversions. As Coronavirus has had an impact on eCommerce websites – changing customer behaviour and switching consumers from buying in physical stores to online shopping – it’s interesting to see how we can improve the eCommerce strategy in order to maximize our sales
Our aim is to provide you with the best advice in order for you to build a successful strategy, which brings a high number of sales. We will cover the following topics: Design and User experience, managing server issues, improving shopping experience, and testing shopping experience.
So What does conversion optimization mean and Which tools should you use in order to facilitate the customer journey? Conversion optimization is the process of convincing people to take action when visiting a website. By designing and modifying elements from a website, a business can increase the chances that the visitor will transform a lead or customer before they leave. We will elaborate on this topic, by presenting why design, user experience, and the improvement of the customer journey, are important stages of a successful conversion strategy.
1. Optimize the Homepage
The product is the first thing that a user sees when browsing the website, therefore it should attract the attention of the user by being highlighted with bright colours.
Once we catch this attention, the next steps will be the following:
The company logo needs to be always in the upper left corner;
The search bar should be mandatory;
The contact details are very important (telephone number and in addition- addresses and hours and other means of communication, button to order a call);
The shopping cart should always be on the right side.
As the user gets used to your shop, they will feel the need to examine the products that caught their eye. Usually, on the left side of the screen, they are looking through the category menu. A left sidebar is the best place for product categories but also news, promotional and top products.
2.Facilitate your product categories
Visitors will arrive at your category pages from the homepage, from the search bar, or from direct advertising. In each case, they want to see the exact products that they are looking for.
Everything on this page should be simple and clear– especially the images of products, as a clear structure will simplify the buying process for any visitor.
The docket on the left side brings the advantage of sorting products in specialized searches and detailed views.
In case a product is out of stock, you should notify the visitor by suggesting a similar product or sending them an email when the product is back in stock.
Once a visitor is on the product page, the main thing that they want to see is an appealing product photo, the price, and the Add to cart button.
Moreover, only high-quality pictures are able to convince the customer to make a purchase. By placing a photo in the left upper part of the card, the client will be interested in the description of the goods. The card should have the basic characteristics, feedback, and evaluation of the product by customers, which will increase the trust in the store.
The order of placement of all elements in the product card should follow the customer intention: what is the product/service? How much does it cost? How and when will I receive it?
This information is offered to the user in a consistent way, which corresponds to the AIDA marketing model:
Attention → Interest → Demand → Action
Understand and manage server site errors
Website usability is a very common topic. Nowadays, anyone who has their own eCommerce site knows from the start what needs to be done to make sure it is user-friendly. Nevertheless, there is a certain way of repeating usability shortcomings. One of them is displaying server errors.
Error 404 is mandatory
One of the most common and undeservedly forgotten errors. As marketers try to establish the longest interaction between user and website, a 404 page should not lose a user but redirect them to another useful section of the website.
As the 404 page is a free page that you can build from scratch, by using your creativity in the design of this page. It is recommended to remind your target audience about the company with a logo, give a discount to the ‘’top sales’’ or make an announcement of upcoming promotions, lotteries, or the opening of new sites.
Add the correct title for the ‘’404 error’’ for example ‘’404 Not Found’’.
Check if all the links on your 404 page are working. If you redirect the user to the main page, the links must function.
As the last step to this point, owners of eCommerce sites should know basic information about HTTP code errors and how to fix them.
Visitors will arrive at your category pages from the homepage, from the search bar, or from direct advertising. In each case, they want to see the exact products that they are looking for.
Everything on this page should be simple and clear– especially the images of products, as a clear structure will simplify the buying process for any visitor.
The docket on the left side brings the advantage of sorting products in specialized searches and detailed views.
In case a product is out of stock, you should notify the visitor by suggesting a similar product or sending them an email when the product is back in stock.
Once a visitor is on the product page, the main thing that they want to see is an appealing product photo, the price, and the Add to cart button.
Moreover, only high-quality pictures are able to convince the customer to make a purchase. By placing a photo in the left upper part of the card, the client will be interested in the description of the goods. The card should have the basic characteristics, feedback, and evaluation of the product by customers, which will increase the trust in the store.
The order of placement of all elements in the product card should follow the customer intention: what is the product/service? How much does it cost? How and when will I receive it?
This information is offered to the user in a consistent way, which corresponds to the AIDA marketing model:
Attention → Interest → Demand → Action
Understand and manage server site errors
Website usability is a very common topic. Nowadays, anyone who has their own eCommerce site knows from the start what needs to be done to make sure it is user-friendly. Nevertheless, there is a certain way of repeating usability shortcomings. One of them is displaying server errors.
Error 404 is mandatory
One of the most common and undeservedly forgotten errors. As marketers try to establish the longest interaction between user and website, a 404 page should not lose a user but redirect them to another useful section of the website.
As the 404 page is a free page that you can build from scratch, by using your creativity in the design of this page. It is recommended to remind your target audience about the company with a logo, give a discount to the ‘’top sales’’ or make an announcement of upcoming promotions, lotteries, or the opening of new sites.
Add the correct title for the ‘’404 error’’ for example ‘’404 Not Found’’.
Check if all the links on your 404 page are working. If you redirect the user to the main page, the links must function.
As the last step to this point, owners of eCommerce sites should know basic information about HTTP code errors and how to fix them.
3. Improve the customer journey
Build an easy structure so visitors can easily find productsIt is very important to know how to manage your products, therefore, you should identify the main categories and divide them into their typology.
In case you are in the initial point of starting your online business, you may have problems building the catalogue structure.
In this case, you need to do your own buying experience, build a directory structure, and study the competitors.
Create a category tree by keeping the balance between different sections. Please see below the rules to follow when creating a directory structure:
7 is the optimal number of sections of the highest level in the directory, according to the psychology of perception of information.
There shouldn’t be more than 100 items in each subcategory and the maximum level of nesting sections should be no more than three: the buyer should go from the catalogue to the product cart in only three clicks:
Section – First click > Subsection – Second click > Product – Third click
4.Test your eCommerce checkout process
Provide a selection of ways to buy wiselyIt is no secret that there is not an ideal list of payment instruments for all websites. The list of payment methods is built on depending on more key factors:
- The size of the average checkout
- The geography of business
- Goods or services
- Habits of clients (buyers)
Tips to take into account while deciding the payment methods:
Do not adopt the tendency of “the more, the better”
The widest selection of payment methods provides its customers with vouchers facilities, online software stores, ticket offices.
Use a simplified language
Speak to the client in a clear language so that they can understand what you are talking about.
Let customers checkout as guests
As we have specified above, forcing users to register an account on your site is not ideal, especially for first-time buyers.
Smashing Magazine conducted usability research which showed that the main reason why users dislike registering accounts is due to unwanted spam. The study also noted that many customers do not understand why they need to register at an online store to buy something, while in offline stores they do not require registration when buying.
Another disadvantage of registration is that it adds additional fields to fill, causing delays to the ordering process and affects the conversion negatively. To simplify the customer journey and increase the chances for a favorable outcome, it is necessary to diminish the time for buying and request only the mandatory information from them.
Conclusion:
To sum up, design, user experience, and the checkout process are the main important stages of site optimization. However, the technical side is equally as important, therefore, server site errors need to be managed. Keep following Kooomo’s blog posts as we intend to elaborate on it all.Remember if you are interested in a consultation, you can request one here.
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