Conversion rate driving factors for eCommerce SEO

You’ve worked hard to get those visitors to your website… now all you have to do is convert those visitors into sales! Here’s a few pointers to help you increase the effectiveness of your eCommerce website and to lose less of those SEO generated website visitors!

If you run an online store, then you’ll already know that it’s not all about getting people to your site… it’s also uber important to convert the maximum amount of those visits into sales!

Making the most of on-page content, user experience and navigation can make the difference between a retail website which doesn’t pay for itself and one which turns a healthy profit. Here’s a ‘cheat sheet’ which you can use to tell why your hard-won website visitors are leaking away and pointers of what you need to do to fix the leak!

eCommerce cheat Sheet

Here is a list of questions to ask yourself if you wish to improve the conversion rate from your eCommerce website visits:

  1. Check your Google Analytics top keywords data by going to www.google.com and clicking through to CONTENT/Site Content/Landing Pages (you’ll obviously need a Google Analytics account for this and have Analytics installed in your website!) Make a note of your top pages by visits here. If you have the shiny new Google Analytics interface and have tied this into Google Webmaster Tools then you can also go to TRAFFIC SOURCES/Search Engine Optimisation and see the top keywords coming through. Once you have this data, go to the next step.
  2. Go to your website and find the top pages you’ve just mined from Google Analytics. Ask yourself the following questions:
    1. Is the page well laid out, with good use of white space?
    2. Do you have a feeling of trust for the information which is presented on the page? Do you feel that the company presenting the information is trustworthy?
    3. Are there reassurance messages on the page for delivery, safe shopping? Could you find the company easily and are there contact details present on the page?
    4. If this is a product page, are there clear, large, detailed images of the product available on the page? Does the use of images entice you to buy?
    5. Is there a good, well written product description on the page? Does the product description answer all of your questions about that particular product?
    6. What about the shopping basket? Can you easily get to this and change your choices?
    7. Would you trust this website if you were asked to submit contact information or credit card details? If not, why not?
    8. Does the general layout of the page make it easy for you to shop in the site?
    9. Is this the kind of site you would be happy to bookmark and return to? If not, why not?

    Once you’ve got the answers to these questions you should be well on the way to creating fabulously converting pages in your website, however there are many other things you can do to promote better interaction with your eCommerce website pages, which include:

    • Addition of reviews to your pages. These especially aid in conversions where these reviews are on a product by product basis and the reviews are independent. To do this it’s more than likely you will need to use an external review organisation such as Reevoo or DooYoo, as these are external they are seen as being more trusted by people likely to buy from your website.
    • Add social media feeds to your website. This works because if your present customers can see and interact with prospective customers then (if their experience has been good) you’re onto a winner. A happy customer is your best referrer!
    • Don’t forget that a strong social media prescence is key to getting repeat visits as well as bolstering conversions once you’ve covered the basics of on-page conversion optimisation. Set up a Facebook business page, Twitter profile, YouTube channel and Google+ profile and above all USE THEM! A stale and outdated social media profile won’t do you any good and in the worst instance may do you a lot of harm (if customers contact you through these channels and you ignore them). If you don’t have the time to do this then either leave alone or employ someone to handle these tasks for you!

    What else? Where can I get some examples of pages which convert well?

    Well if you’re looking for pages which convert well then look at major retailers – these eCommerce websites have hundreds of thousands of pounds each year pumped into them in design, usability testing and Multivariate testing to make sure that each visitor converts at the maximum rate. Take a look at the John Lewis website for a good example of a product page which has been designed to entice people to click on that ‘Add to Basket’ button… you’ll find all of the points covered above and more.