Simplicity is key when it comes to making online purchases today. Faster, cheaper, easier… These are all traits that people have come to expect during their shopping experiences. Try and think back to the last time you ordered something online… Was it a difficult process? Was the landing page cluttered? If users answered yes for either of the above in regards to your website, your business could be missing out on conversions that may have occurred otherwise.
Today, we will discuss some techniques for improving conversion rates on your Ecommerce websites. To be specific, I will highlight the importance of minimizing clutter and simplifying your checkout process.
Minimize Clutter
The first thing you’ll want to do for a quick conversion rate boost is to remove any and all clutter from your landing page. When a web page is full of lengthy paragraphs, multiple calls-to-action, widgets or too many links, users can become confused and frustrated. Obviously as a business owner, this is never a good thing to see because feelings like these drastically increase their likelihood of bouncing from your page. However, maintaining a clean landing page that is easy to digest and navigate can help prevent this from happening. Here are a few things to look for when cleaning up your landing pages:
- If there is excessive text, utilize concise bullet points to convey information about your products instead.
- If there are excessive links, use your Analytics tracking to determine which areas of your site are most popular and include only those links on your page instead.
- Remove anything else, such as widgets, stock indexes and weather forecasts, from your page that could ultimately distract your visitors from converting.
The trick is finding a unique balance between what is truly necessary for users to convert and the extra elements that serve only as distractions. By improving the tidiness of your landing page and removing extra distractions, you can provide an easy boost for your conversion rates.
Improve Your Checkout Process
Another way to boost your conversion rates is to improve your website’s checkout process. Whether you’re trying to cut back on the total number of pages involved or trying to instill a sense of security in your customers when performing transactions, there are a number of usability best practices that can help. Here are a few ways to improve this process:
- Provide breadcrumb trails if your checkout process includes more than one page. This makes it simpler by reminding your customer where they are in the overall process with a clear graphic.
- Indicate required fields for your submission forms with asterisks. Some fields are required and some are optional, so be sure to clearly label this for your customers.
- Include easily recognized trust symbols and badges. This is a good way to remind your customers that their personal information is secure throughout the ordering process.
Using the techniques above, you can certainly improve the efficiency of your checkout process, while leaving your customers wanting to come back for more.
At the end of the day, simplicity is key when it comes to online shopping. Users expect to find what they are looking for and find it easily. Today, we’ve outlined a few ways to go about improving your Ecommerce conversion rates. What are some other ways to go about simplifying your webpages for CRO? Feel free to leave any comments below. Thanks for reading.
