It’s a hard job managing ads for your eCommerce store - bearing the weight of all (sometimes unrealistic) expectations about how the ad will perform and the amount of money you’ll make off the back of them.
There’s a lot to think about when designing ads, from imagery and copy to targeting and Calls To Action. You put a lot of effort into creating a stellar ad for your store or for your client with beautiful graphics and persuasive copy; you expect an ad like this to reap a great return on investment - so it’s incredibly disheartening for everyone involved if a seemingly well-crafted ad just doesn’t convert.
You might find it hard to pinpoint the exact reason for the low conversion rate, but often it’s to do with the actual website or landing page the ad directs users to. To help bring you some clarity and save all the heartache, here are my top 3 simple tricks you can use to optimize your store and make sure your ads convert next time round.
- Simplify the website
If you suspect the actual website is the problem, but don’t have time for a complete redesign of your store because you want quick results, there are small, fast tweaks you can make which will have a big impact on conversion rates.
Start by removing access colours and fonts. It’s best to use just 2-3 colours overall to keep the look minimal - this helps drive attention to the actual products rather than distracting the user and causing confusion.
Colours can make a big difference in the effectiveness of a site and increase clicks and purchases. The colours you use will contribute to the first impression users get of a store and how they view the brand. It’s important to think about the target demographic when thinking about which colours to use - which ones will appeal to them based on what you know about them? What emotions do you want to evoke in the user - how do you want them to feel when they interact with the site?
Similarly, the fonts used on a website will affect conversion rates. Research proves that serif fonts are interpreted marginally better than san-serif fonts, and this is particularly relevant for long-form landing page content. This is important because the more a user can understand the information they’re presented with, the more likely they are to take action.
Fonts have an impact on how we perceive content and in turn our initial impression of a brand, which in turn impacts conversion rates. Changing the fonts and colours on your client’s site are quick changes you can make to encourage conversion.
- Add credibility
Users can distrust a site when it seems like the offer is too good to be true or the site itself is poorly laid out or missing information. One way to solve this is to ensure the site has important pages like:
- FAQs - work to overcome customers’ potential objections to purchasing straight away by providing a FAQ page. Think carefully about concerns the target audience might have to buying the product and try to alleviate those worries through the FAQs. Make sure the FAQ page is clearly signposted through Calls To Action and add it to the main navigation menu.
- An authentic about page - this needs to be well-written with images and information on the founders and the brand story. Although it’s about the business, make sure you explain how the founders(s) experience/skills/knowledge benefits the customer through the products.
- A comprehensive contact page - make it as easy as possible for users to contact the brand by ensuring the contact page is easily accessible. You can also put the email address and phone number in the site header, and consider adding a chat option to build trust and connection with your user.
Another way to quickly optimize a site for conversion is to offer a guarantee of some kind, such as a money-back guarantee or a free trial period. Make this clearly visible under the Buy Now button, and on the checkout page.
- Leverage social proof
Authentic customer reviews are everything and making them visible on your store, or even using them in ads, will provide the social proof customers need to give them that final push to buy. Make sure reviews are optimized with images so your user isn’t at all suspicious about their origin (consumers are wary of fake reviews).
To help maximize the impact of reviews and make meaningful connections with customers you can use a Shopify review app like Stamped to gain insights into what they really think of the brand. This also helps with rewarding customer loyalty and acquiring new customers through word of mouth. Another option is Loox, another great Shopify reviews and referrals app.
Getting others to promote a brand is always going to be more effective than a brand trying to promote itself. Consumers buy from businesses they know, like and trust, and if people in your audience’s network give a brand their seal of approval, this instantly confers credibility in the eyes of the consumer. They want to hear from real people who have used the product and can provide concrete results.
Another tactic you can use to increase website conversion is providing statistics surrounding the effectiveness of a product, e.g. “9 out of 10 people surveyed said they would recommend this face cream to a friend…” This works by appealing to consumers’ sense of logic - they think if 9 out of 10 people would recommend a product, then it must be good!
Social proof is one of the most powerful tools you can use to optimize a website for conversion - it plays into the part of us that wants to follow the crowd and minimize the risk of buying something new.
These are simple but effective tweaks you can make to your store to help make sure an amazing ad isn’t wasted by directing traffic to a poorly designed landing page. You can implement them quickly and without having to completely redesign a website, saving time while increasing profits.