8 ways to help increase conversions on your online store.

May 12 2020 | Julie Warshaw, PayPal Editorial Staff

The best e-commerce site is the one that converts shoppers into buyers. And while each site is different, the highest performing sites likely have one thing in common – a great user experience. So what can you do to create the kind of user experience that converts? 
1. Make payment options visible early on. 
Show shoppers their payment options right when they get to your website. This removes a potential barrier at checkout and can help reduce shopping cart abandonment1.  
 
2. Streamline your navigation. 
Would the navigation on your website make sense to someone who has never visited it before? Ideally, a new visitor should be able to get to the item they’re looking for in three clicks or less. If it takes too long for someone to find something, they’re less likely to convert.  
 
Try adding a comprehensive internal search tool to help customers find what they want quickly. This is especially helpful when you sell a wide variety of products or products with multiple SKUs. 
 
3. Shorten the steps to payment. 
How many clicks does it take to a customer to get from a product to checkout? By shortening the steps towards payment – for instance by placing a purchase button on each product page, or by giving customers the chance to buy now or continue browsing – you're smoothing out the experience towards checkout. 
 
4. Avoid too many product categories. 
Too many categories can make a new visitor to your site feel overwhelmed, so stick with the basics. If you sell items that are in high demand due to the coronavirus situation, give them their own category so it’s easy for customers to find them. Try adding the most popular products to your home page. 
 
5. Add FAQs. 
Visitors who can’t easily find answers to their questions are more likely to abandon their carts. This is especially true for products or services that require a certain level of understanding – like tech equipment, for example. Pay attention to the questions you hear most often and address those. If your business is operating differently due to the coronavirus situation, you can include that information in the FAQs too. Plus, FAQs can help boost your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. 
 
6. Keep call to action’s (CTA) easily noticeable. 
Take a quick peek at your homepage—is your CTA hiding at the bottom? If it is, try moving it toward the top, where shoppers can see it once they land on the page. Better yet, put your CTA at both the top and bottom of the page, or make it “sticky” so it follows the customer as they scroll down the page. In addition to being immediately visible, your CTA should be attention-grabbing. Test a few enhancements like font size or color and see which CTA generates the most clicks. 
 
6. Optimize for local search. 
If you’ve ever searched Google for a restaurant or dry cleaner “near me,” you’re probably familiar with the local listings that appear under a map on the first page of results. You can help your local business be included in these results by adding your location to the content and alt tags on your website. Updating your tags to include a target location makes it clear to both search engines and potential customers your business services a specific area.  
 
7. Make checking out quick. 
The final step in the process is the most crucial. An optimized checkout experience should allow shoppers to complete their transaction quickly and seamlessly. Provide customers with secure payment options like PayPal that can save them the hassle of entering their personal information.

Ready for more tips? 
Check out our e-book to learn more ways you can optimize your e-commerce website.

The contents of this site are provided for informational purposes only. You should always obtain independent, professional accounting, financial, and legal advice before making any business decision. 

1 Ipsos MORI Conjoint Research (US respondents). Methodology: Online survey conducted across seven markets (UK, Germany, Italy, Spain, US, Australia, Brazil) with 1,500 respondents per market/10,500 total respondents (boost in Brazil to ensure 500 PayPal users), including 6,930 PayPal users. Respondents were online shoppers who have made a purchase in the last month, 2018. 

 

The contents of this site are provided for informational purposes only. You should always obtain independent, professional accounting, financial, and legal advice before making any business decision. 

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