WordPress is a popular option for Ecommerce. With its versatility and many Ecommerce plugins, it’s a strong platform for running your own online store. However, simply setting up an Ecommerce site doesn’t guarantee that you’ll make money online.
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You need to be conscious of your site design and web copy and how that will impact your visitors’ decision to buy. To boost conversion rates on your WordPress Ecommerce site, start with these six tips.
If you need more guidance in regards Ecommerce, please see our article on Email Marketing for Ecommerce.
Improve Your Website Speed
Website speed is an important factor in online shopping. Every single second delay in loading your landing page can drop your conversion rate by 7% according to Kissmetrics. Therefore, speeding up your site keeps your visitors more engaged, so more of them follow through with your call-to-action. You can boost your WordPress site’s speed by starting with these simple tips:
1) Choose a reliable web host
You can’t control how fast your web host’s servers are, but you can control who you choose to host your website with. Working with a company that owns faster servers will mean a faster website. Even if you’ve already set your site up with one host, it’s possible to switch to another if you find your current web host provider is not meeting your business needs.
2) Enable browser caching
Browser caching means that repeat visitors will access certain site files from their browser instead of your website’s server. This speeds up the site for subsequent visits. You can enable browser caching through plugins like W3 Total Cache.
3) Choose a solid theme
A poor WordPress theme can slow down your site to a crawl. Focus both on speed and layout when choosing a web theme.
4) Optimize images
Users have to download the full image file regardless of how it appears on your site. A larger file means it takes longer to download. Instead, the file size should suit the way it displays on the site. Optimize your images with a plugin like WP Smush.
47% expect a website to load in under two seconds and 40% will abandon a webpage that takes more than three seconds to load. Try to get your site speed under one second for the best conversion rate. Test your website’s speed at Pingdom.
5) Choose plugins wisely
WordPress themes often come with a list of preinstalled plugins, some of which you may not need to use. Even if they’re not configured, they may slow down your website and, in consequence, lower your conversion rates. So make sure to only install the necessary plugins and keep them up-to-date. These could be plugins for building your email list, collecting reviews, optimizing images, etc.
Feature a Quality Image or Video
The image you use to represent your products and services is the first thing that your potential customers will see. Research has proven, high-quality visual content appeals to people. According to Inc. relevant and compelling images can improve views by 81%. So, it may be worth considering a product photo shoot by a professional photographer.
To boost conversion rates even further, consider adding quality video to your sales pages or to your social media profiles, if relevant. Shoppers who view videos are 1.81 times more likely to buy. These videos can be how-to guides for complicated products, animated explainer videos, customer testimonials or demonstrations of your products and services. Try to keep your videos short and to the point with high-quality images and audio.
REI is one example of a retailer that uses video to engage its audience. Their video collections include how-to videos, interviews with athletes and experts, and more.
Focus on Benefits, Not Features
Once a customer is intrigued by your product because of the visuals you use, they’ll want to read more. That’s where product description can make or break your sale. One copywriting technique that gets more people to buy from you is to focus on the benefits, not the features.
First, identify your product features, then consider how they benefit your users. If you’re selling a camera, don’t tell your customers that the camera has a 16 GB memory card. Tell them the 16 GB memory card allows them to hold over 2,000 pictures, which means they can capture more moments in life while spending less time uploading the captured photos and videos to a computer.
A great example of such practice is Amazon’s Kindle Fire sales page. They clearly outline the benefits (fast and responsive, power when you need it, no more worrying about storage space, etc.). Then they back up their claims by showing which features make those benefits possible.
Focusing on benefits makes it easy for customers to understand why they need the product and visualize the benefits of owning it.
Make Your Site Design a Priority
People buy from people they trust and your web design can either build trust or tear it down. According to Search Engine People, 46% believe a website’s design helps them decide if a company is credible or not. So, it’s worth spending some time to create an appealing landing page.
A credible WordPress design for Ecommerce should minimize ads, be mobile-friendly and keep your customer experience in mind at all times. Viewers also look at the colors you use on your website. Do they reflect your business? A broken link to your contact page can make your site visitors question your credibility.
Creating a credible-looking WordPress blog or a site may mean you’ll need to purchase a premium theme or pay for professional design services.
You can also use your design to control where people look on the page to impact their buying choices. A simple design with large call-to-action buttons will point the eyes right where you want them to look. Using faces in your design can help capture attention, too. Even focusing on design elements that customers recognize by drawing on their past experiences can boost conversion rates. For example, you don’t want to get too fancy with your “Add to Cart” button to the point where customers don’t realize what it does.
Showcase Social Proof
People trust information from their peers. Showcasing product ratings and reviews adds to your credibility and encourages your website visitors to buy from you. In fact, in an article published back in 2010 on Search Engine People, 63% said they’re more likely to buy from a site that features product reviews. Most Ecommerce plugins support this function, so make sure it’s enabled once your audience is large enough to start collecting reviews.
Keep in mind that your social proof doesn’t have to stay on your product pages. Feel free to highlight awards, quote, or statistics on your home page or about page. For example, on Hunter’s Marlborough’s site, they tell readers on their about page that their wines have won over 165 gold medals and they mention “award-winning wines” in several other areas of the site. They also highlight a quote from a wine expert as their social proof.
Offer a Little Something Extra
Giving your customers a little something extra follows the idea of reciprocity, which means that if someone gives us something, we feel compelled to give something back. For example:
- Free content on your blog
- A discount when they sign up for your newsletter
- A free gift at checkout
When you’re giving something away, people will feel like they should buy something from you. Victoria’s Secret is a good example of a store that offers gifts at checkout. They’re constantly switching up their offers to keep people coming back.
Not only does this tactic get people excited about buying, but it also encourages them to spend more. Boosting your conversion rates on your WordPress Ecommerce site can take some work and patience, but start with these few tweaks now to benefit in the long run.
Please use the comment section below to let us know which one of these tips you are going to focus on first in order to boost your site conversion rate. Please do come back and share the result!