Both these questions should be asked by any business operating online. Increasing your site’s sales conversion rate from 1% to 2% for example would have the effect of doubling revenues- all for no extra cost. Although the average conversion rate varies largely between different sectors, top converting websites can be as high as 45.1% (www.schwans.com- the US home food delivery service- recorded this conversion rate in August 2009, according to Nielsen Online). Gaining traffic via search engine optimisation or paid search can become much more valuable to your business by improving your site’s conversion rate.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the name given to the process of testing websites to make them as user-friendly as possible and therefore most likely to lead to a conversion- be it a sale, a newsletter signup or online enquiry or whatever conversion you are targeting with your site.
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Dissatisfaction with the shopping process is a common reason for visitors to leave a website- causing visitors to click back in their browser and possibly purchase from one of your competitors instead.
50.1% of online shoppers place items in their shopping cart do not complete the purchase (Core Metrics “Core Metrics Benchmark Industry Report” March 2009)
Even seemingly simple changes can have significant effects on the conversion rate of your website. Here are some of our top tips to help your website convert more effectively:
Clear navigation- Is your website easy to navigate from every page? A high percentage of visitors will enter your site not via the homepage- can they still find their way around your site easily?
Effective site search- Does your site have a search function? Can visitors quickly find the precise product or service they are looking for?
Clear product pages- Are all the product details that the visitor is looking for easy to find, including photos, specifications and user reviews?
Is registration optional?- On average 23% of checkout abandonment happens due to required registration (Forrester Research US: Required Registration Lowers Online Conversion Rates, April 2008). Not forcing visitors to register on a site before purchasing helps conversion rates.
Clear contact details and help section- Is it easy for your visitors to find your contact information if they need to talk to you or find answer to particular questions? If your site is an ecommerce site, can the visitor easily see your delivery and returns policy before committing to purchasing a product?
Easy to use shopping cart- Is the process for adding products to the cart and completing the purchasing process easy to follow and intuitive?
Relevant landing pages- For traffic arriving via paid search, is the page they come to on your website the most relevant for the keyword they were searching?
Trust- Does your website convey trust- through customer testimonials, awards or affiliations for example?
