Online business owners often face a very particular kind of frustration. Their digital marketing efforts drive plenty of traffic to their sites, yet visitors don’t buy anything.
No online business can survive long if it doesn’t convert those clicks into customers. So, keep reading for some key tips on converting visitors into buyers.
No matter how good your digital marketing, it’s all about the user experience once someone hits your website. If your site takes more than about three seconds to load, visitors abandon your site. Difficult navigation and they leave.
Essentially, your site must make a visitor’s every move feel seamless and easy. Anything that makes your visitor pause mentally is an opportunity for them to change their mind.
Think of how you shop for products in person. You pick it up, heft it, and even feel the material. When you sell products online, the only sense you can engage is sight.
That means you need really solid images. At the very least, use a good DSLR camera and tripod for clean, crisp images. If it’s in your budget, consider hiring a professional photographer.
Behavioral overlays are automatic pop-ups that happen when a visitor does something specific.
For example, say a visitor moves their mouse to close the tab or window after looking at a product. An overlay pops up and offers them a discount.
Say someone enters the checkout process and then stops doing anything. A pop-up could offer a discount or reduced shipping.
In essence, you incentivize the visitor to continue toward a purchase. Even if you lose a bit of your profit margin, the sale helps draw the visitor into a relationship with your business.
Online shopping cart abandonment happens at a rate of around 70%. While it might make you feel better to know it happens to everyone, all those lost sales still hurt. The good news is that you can reclaim some of those customers.
Emails reminding visitors about their unpurchased items show good results. While you won’t get everyone back, even converting a small percentage can add a lot to your revenue over the course of a year.
Can’t decide between two options for your website, such as color schemes or the phrasing of calls-to-action? An A/B test can serve you well.
In an A/B test, you route 50% of visitors to one version of your site. The other half sees a second version of your site with one thing changed. You see which offers a higher conversion rate and make that your new default.
You can turn clicks into customers with the right approach. Start with the basics, like optimizing your site and upping image quality.
Set up behavioral overlays that encourage visitors to stay and buy now, even if it means a discount. Send out cart abandonment emails that encourage people to finish their purchase.
You can also split-test your site to optimize individual site elements, like colors or call-to-action language.
In the early stages of setting up your online business? Read our post on building a successful business site.