9 Strategies to Increase Conversion in an Online Store

Ask an online store owner what aspect of their business they find most challenging and you will likely get the response; generating traffic to their online store. Modalities for generating traffic can be expensive in terms of time and money. Besides, traffic in itself does little for you if you are not converting that traffic into actual sales. Current statistics puts conversion rate to be in the 1-2 % range of traffic to an online store. Here are 9 on-site strategies an online store owner can put in place to increase that percentage.

9 Strategies to Increase Conversion:

1. Create an “About Us” Page

When dealing with a smaller business, people like to know a little about who they are dealing with. Information like when the business was founded and what inspired you to go into business offers legitimacy and strokes a sense of connection with your site’s visitors.

2. Have a “Contact Us” Page

Customers like to know that if there is a problem with their order they have a way of getting in touch with you. Offer a phone number, an email address and a web form they can fill directly.

3. Testimonials

Knowing that you have customers who are happy enough to rave about you reassures a prospective one. After all the best judge of a future performance is the past performance.  You can either have a testimonial page or have it be a part of the “About Us” page.
4. Security/Trust Badges
Any website soliciting private information like credit card information should have a dedicated SSL certificate. I always look for the “golden padlock” in the browser before punching in my credit card when shopping online.  Have your SSL certificate badge displayed prominently on your website and keep it up to date.  Authorize.net, BBB (Better Business Bureau) and PayPal Verified badges are other badges you
can display to reassure hesitant customers.

5. Social Media Badges

Display your Facebook and Twitter links. Online shoppers have come to expect business online to be established on social media platforms. It tells them that you are not a fly-by-night business and gives them a chance to connect with you on those platforms.

6. Publish a Blog

For one thing, an interesting and engaging blog brings and keeps visitors on your site. The longer they stay, the more inclined they are to buy from you. Who knows they might even start to follow your blog offering you another touch point to them and hopes of future sales. A regularly updated blog also works wonders for your online store’s search engine friendliness. Every published blog post is new content for the search engines bots to come over to your website.  Write for your customers not your peers and make use of keywords you want to rank for.  You can always outsource this if you lack the time or writing is not your strong suit.

7. Offer PayPal as a payment option

Some folks have unease with putting in their credit card information online and feel safer with having the option to pay through PayPal. It’s convenience also improves conversion as customers can pay for their orders without having to fish for their wallet. Any distraction could cost you a sale!  Do not however have PayPal as the only payment option; you will be losing 50% or more of prospective customers.

8. Abandoned Cart Follow Up

If your shopping cart has the abandoned cart feature, use it. Here is how it works. If a visitor registers on your website and puts items in his or her cart but never completes the order, they get an automated message with a link to the abandoned cart. You can even induce them with a limited time discount code. This feature alone can increase your conversion by almost 20%.

9. Sign Up Form

Maybe your website visitor is not ready to buy today, having a way of staying in contact with them will allow them to have you in mind and when they are ready to pull out the wallet, they will remember you.  Have the form visible on your website and throw in a carrot for signing up too.

Put in place even 6 out of these 9 traffic conversion tips and you will see better conversions with the website traffic you are already receiving!

Guest post by Bola Ajumobi, a mom of 2, literacy advocate and owner of SlimyBookworm.com, an online destination for Picture Books for Children. Slimy Bookworm contributes up to 20% of profits to literacy efforts in the underserved.

 

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