The conversion rate of website visitors to paying customers is obviously one of the most important measures of success for any online retailer. Heavy site traffic and an excellent brand reputation are great, of course, but they’re meaningless if they don’t result in actual purchases. 

Determining the ideal conversion rate for any given online store is complicated, as every business will have its own goals, strategies, target audience, and competition . That being said, though, there are many strategies that should deliver better results for retailers of all sizes and markets. 

With that in mind, here are five tips for improving your online store’s conversion rate:

1. Become mobile-friendly 

Mobile shopping is on the rise. Build a mobile friendly site to ensure you’re not losing sales. 

There’s no denying the importance of mobile now. Consumers today frequently do a major portion of their online shopping on their smartphones and tablets, and this trend is only going to pick up steam in the near future.

Most Ecommerce company owners recognize this in theory, but a lot of online stores remain far from mobile-friendly. They may seem mobile-enabled on the surface – images appear with clarity, links are not broken and so on – but functionality may be lacking. You can improve your online store’s conversion rate tremendously if mobile shoppers can smoothly browse your store, add items to their cart, securely provide payment and shipment information, and finalize their purchases.

If shoppers run into roadblocks or friction when trying to make a purchase , there’s a good chance they won’t wait to get to a desktop. Instead, they’ll go to a competitor, or forget about the purchase altogether.

2. Improve your visuals 

Visuals are critical to your store’s success. Use them to build an engaging site that’s easy to navigate.

Never underestimate the importance of high-quality visuals and the role they play in the user experience. As Yotta contributor Brendan MacArthur noted, this is particularly important when it comes to navigating the path from browsing to purchasing.

“If a user does not know how far they are along the check out, they may get frustrated and abandon your site for another with a simpler checkout path,” MacArthur wrote. 

Clear visuals that make the entire shopping process understandable and easy to navigate will reduce friction and encourage site visitors to continue along their path to purchase. 

Similarly, make sure your product images are crisp and appealing to encourage site browsers to investigate further.

You can learn more about creating excellent product photography in this article from Practical Ecommerce. 

3. Strengthen Product Descriptions 

Use a combo of short and long product descriptions to make your product pages more compelling.

On that same topic, you should make product descriptions a priority. As ConversionXL contributor Peep Laja wrote, excellent product descriptions don’t need to persuade consumers to make a purchase – instead, they provide enough information so that shoppers can convince themselves that they want or need that item.

Laja recommended providing both a concise product description that catches browsers’ attention and a longer, more in-depth description that answers any potential questions a shopper might have. Combined, this will ensure that your site visitors feel prepared enough to commit to a purchase right then and there, and that will obviously boost your online store’s conversion rate.

4. Create Data-Driven Promotions 

Leverage customer insights to create more compelling promotions and discounts. 

Analytics can be a powerful tool for increasing your online store’s conversion rate, especially when combined with promotional efforts. Personalized discount offers and targeted email marketing campaigns based on past purchase behavior and/or browsing behavior will increase the percentage of site visitors who are likely to make a purchase. Zoey integrates with Nosto and Springbot, two apps that automate the work of analyzing customer, browsing and purchase data to create these data-driven promotions.  

5. Lower Shipping Costs 

Shipping costs are the #1 cause of abandoned carts. Make shipping costs transparent and align your prices with industry trends. 

Shipping costs have the potential to be a serious conversion stopper. By focusing on shipping and addressing consumers’ potential concerns, though, you can avoid this issue entirely. Make sure that your site visitors are never shocked by the price of shipping – hiding this information until the very end of checkout will result in both lost sales and upset consumers. Specials offering free or discounted shipping, on the other hand, will encourage shoppers to make their purchases now, rather than waiting, and that will certainly improve your online store’s conversion rate. 

Zoey’s flexibility ensures that making these kinds of conversion focused updates to your site is easy and not a disruption to your business. If you’d like to learn how Zoey can help you convert more visitors into paying customers, start with a free 14-day trial!