You have a great idea for a business and a fantastic product that meets an under-served market—so why isn't anyone buying from your website? Here are some ways to improve the number of purchases you're getting.
1.) Buy Your IP Address
Loading time is a killer—fully 40% of your consumers will abandon a website if it takes more than 3 seconds to load. You may not realize that not having a static IP address could really be slowing your site down and reducing its accessibility.
If you don't own your IP address, every time someone loads your page, it slows the process down because your digital marker wanders and it takes time for the server to resolve the issue. That may only be a second or two, but given the expectations of today's consumer's that could be costing you a lot of business.
2.) Clean Up Your Site
It's tempting when you're new to designing your site to show off all the bells and whistles—but a clean, streamlined approach will keep your customers looking. Consumers are interested in what you have to offer them, not all the props that can make your website slow and sticky:
- Music - If you have sound on your site, including ads that play automatically, you could be turning off customers who prefer to keep their internet wandering private. Around 1 out of 3 people in the U.S. shop online at work, and managers will turn a blind eye—to a point—but most people don't want to make their occasional forays into the online market noticeable.
- Poor Navigation Ability - Your customers don't want to have to hunt for the privilege to use your products or services. Don't make your navigation hard to follow.
- Unclear Explanations - If you're selling a product, you need every detail that you can think to offer, from the dimensions to the color, and your pictures need to be clear and devoid of visual distractions. You want to give your customer the "as close to seeing it in person as possible" experience. Spend some time thinking about what your customers want to know. For example, if you sell handmade jewelry, a picture of a pendant isn't enough—you also need a picture of someone wearing it so that the customer can visualize how low it hangs.
3. Make Registration And Shipping A Breeze
Around 75% of potential online purchases fail at the checkout, items abandoned the cart. Do not put your customers through an unnecessary hassle at the end no matter how badly you want their information. Optimize your page so that people can log in in through social media and allow "guest" checkouts if people want to do that rather than spend the time registering for an account.
Getting customers to your website is only 1/2 of the battle for online commerce these days—if customers are stopping by but aren't staying, it's time to figure out why you are losing their attention once they get there and make a few smart changes that will get your business moving better.
