Increase your e-commerce conversion rates
In my opinion; ecommerce is without a doubt one of the best ways in which you can make money online. If you do things properly then you should be able to generate a rather decent amount of income. It is going to take a lot of work but the process of getting an ecommerce site up and running, particularly if you love the niche you are working in, is tons of fun. On this page I want to take a little peek at a few ways in which you can up the conversion rates on your ecommerce site. This should in turn lead to a greater amount of cash in your pocket.
About two years ago I read an article on the BBC News website (although sadly I have not stumbled across it since). This article was written by a guy who ran his own ecommerce store. He carried out an experiment to see how much of an impact a single spelling mistake would have on the conversion rate of his site. He was not expecting much. A couple of sales lost here and there but nothing dramatic (it was a very simple typo). What he discovered however was startling. The page that had a simple spelling mistake had a 50% lower conversion rate than the page which done everything absolutely perfectly. This is likely down to the fact that when people saw the spelling mistake (whether they consciously noticed it or not), something ‘triggered’ in their mind which made them believe the site was not all that reputable. Your lesson; make sure you proofread each and every page you put on your site. A single spelling mistake will cost you money.
Try to be as descriptive as you can with your descriptions. For me, there is nothing worse that stumbling across a website which uses generic manufacturer description which barely covers a couple of lines. Customers want as much information as possible when they are considering whether to purchase a product or not. Do not let them go to another website seeking out that information. You want them to find everything that they need to know on your site. This should push conversion rates through the roof.
You have to realize that the majority of people who land on your site are not going to purchase right away. This is especially true if you have a selection of rather expensive products. You do not want them to leave the site though without giving you their information so you can get in touch again. This means having some sort of email capture list on your site. You can let people sign up to your mailing list, perhaps in exchange for a discount coupon, and you can send them regular special offers. You can build up a decent amount of customer loyalty like this and it is this very thing which will put tons of cash in your pocket.
This is of course just a small snippet of tips which will help boost your ecommerce conversion rates. There are still many other things to think about. My suggestion to you is to ensure that you are constantly evolving your site. You need to get a feel for what works and what does not. Your site should never be static for too long. There is no such thing as a perfect website (even if, for some inexplicable reason you managed to hit a conversion rate of 100%). There is always something that you can do to squeeze a little bit more cash out of your site visitors.