Once you have designed your ideal website using WordPress, you need to start generating leads. The SEO tactics you have employed will drive traffic to your site. However, the real labor begins when you have to compel this traffic to become subscribers, paying customers or followers. There are some tactics you can try to increase the conversion rate of your WordPress website.
You should first understand that the true measurement of success of your web page is the conversion rate. This is what indicates your online sales rate. Therefore, you must invest in conversion rate optimization as much as you do attract traffic. To drive up the conversions on your WordPress site, consider the following suggestions:
Improve Your Website’s Speed
Did you know that if your website takes even a second longer to load it will reduce the conversion rate by 7%? Site speed is more strongly linked to conversion rate than you might think. Modern consumers do not like to wait around for things. If your website takes 3 seconds to load, then you will lose customers to a competitor who has a website that loads in 1 second.
Increasing your site speed is a direct way to improve the user experience. Users will prefer to linger on your site if everything loads fast. Ideally, a site, regardless of the purpose, should load in under 2 seconds. If you have large components on your WordPress web page, like widgets and plugins, that could slow down the site speed. So, keep the design light to retain users long enough to compel them to buy your product.
Payment Gateways Should be Convenient and Speedy
E-commerce websites, as well as others that involve some form of checkout, absolutely must have a shopping cart and payment methods that are completely hassle free. The payment gateway is the most crucial component of a business website. If it is inconvenient, poorly designed, unsecured or buffer-y, customers can quickly change their minds and close the window.
To increase the conversion rate, you must offer as many payment methods as possible. Sites with both credit card and PayPal payment methods have as much as a 30% higher conversion rate than sites with only one of the two options. Use a WordPress platform like WooCommerce to increase the functionality of your site’s shopping cart and payment gateway. Sit back and watch as the conversion rate begins to climb.
Great Product Images are Crucial
Web users are highly visually oriented. You can be assured that potential customers will be looking for high product images on your website, which you should be willing to offer. Each of your listings must have several accompanying product images showing different angles, unique features and zooming on various aspects.
Good product images indicate to the customer that you have something of value on offer. Also, product images build trust. If you only show a single product image apparently photographed for marketing purposes, customers will not be compelled to make a purchase. Instead, show them what they are buying and their doubts will fade (and your conversion rate will increase). Choose a WordPress theme that allows you to upload many product images in this manner.
Additionally, don’t hesitate to use WordPress plugins that facilitate email marketing. Email is the best way to retain customers. The conversion rates on your website will be primarily driven by returning customers. Make an effort to keep compelling customers to make purchases using email marketing tactics.
Wrapping it up
It is important not to be discouraged by bad conversion rates. You must always aim to either keep the conversion rate steady or continue ticking gradually. Do not chase sharp spikes to your conversion rates. Usually, these also sharply decline back to old prices in a short amount of time. What you should do is to use the above suggestions to incrementally increase your website’s conversion rate for the long haul.
3 Responses
Great article Christopher! I’m sure the tips and info you provide will help many out there trying to increase their conversion optimization on their sites. I completely agree that your website design has to do a lot with the conversion rate, trying to make is as clear and simple as possible for the user will help a lot, definitely. Here’s an article we’ve written: – which covers the same topic, we also add a few tips more that might be helpful for you too, it’d be great to have your feedback!
Can you recommend any A/B testing tips?
Hello, Matthew! I would suggest that you download plugins like Nelio A/B Testing (to track and optimize landing page conversion rate), WordPress Call to Action (to check which variations of your CTAs convert the best), and Title Experiments (to test which headline version gets the most clicks).