Conversion rate is an important metric for all online businesses. It is the rate at which your website converts visitors into customers. A healthy conversion rate is usually a representation of two things: a great digital marketing strategy, and a website that has been optimized for conversions. However, not all websites are built the same.

Imagine this:

You’re browsing the web, searching for a new pair of jeans. You’re looking for a few different things:

1. They need to stretch because you ride your bicycle to work every day.
2. The fabric should be a cotton blend so that they’re versatile enough to use for different occasions.
3. You only wear black jeans.

While comparing products, you notice the user experience is different on each site. One website is really slow when it loads. Another website won’t stop showing popups on your screen. You leave both sites because the font is not easy to read. Eventually, you find a website with two options that meet your needs.

The first product (option A) has high quality images but it doesn’t list measurements or fabric content. The second product (option B) has decent photos, the product description mentions four way stretch, and there are three units of your size left. Which product do you buy?

Communicating the right information at the right time is important if you want to convert visitors into customers.

Copywriting

Great copywriting doesn’t just list important details, it presents a brand a voice and personality. It’s about more than just describing a product. It provides a solution to a customer’s problem by communicating via their dreams and aspirations. Great copywriting is subtle in its persuasion. It entices, it appeals and it convinces.

Copywriting also provides SEO benefits. By using long-tail keywords in your product description, you help create context for Google’s web crawlers (important for Google’s Knowledge Graph). Another way take advantage of SEO is to roll out a content marketing plan through your blog. By leveraging this strategy, you can attract free, high quality organic traffic for your website.

Product Photography

Just like copywriting, photography communicates a high level of detail to your customers. It can dictate the perceived quality of a product. This is because photography can communicate details like color, silhouette, texture, size, and more. When you combine this visual representation of your product with copywriting, it’s a recipe for success. It can help your customers understand how clothing drapes on a body, if a product applies smoothly on your face, or if something is the perfect size.

If your product stretches, show movement in your photos. If it has a rich color, shoot it in natural light. Does it have embroidery details or a unique wash? Get a detail shot.

The more visual information you can give your customers, the better—your goal is to empower them with enough visual resources to guide their decision making process.

User Experience

Optimizing your website for an easy and intuitive user experience has a profound impact on your conversion rate.

When your website is easy to read and navigate, it makes the journey to purchase easier for potential customers. Add to cart buttons should be easy to find. Font colors should have contrast against their backgrounds. Text should be big enough to ready easily. Menus should be quick to find and their items should link to the correct areas.

Think of it this way, if you can’t navigate around your site, how can you expect your customers to do so? The easier your site is to use, the quicker your customers will check out.

When your website goes from hundreds of unique visitors to thousands, that conversion rate can mean the difference between a twenty dollar day and a two thousand dollar day.

Site Speed

Nothing turns a visitor off more than a slow website. Even Google has acknowledged that site speed is imperative in user experience, and is now using page speed in mobile search ranking. Getting rid of clunky plugins, deleting spammy apps, and optimizing your product images can help improve your site speed. An advertisement with a high CTR (Click-Through Rate) stands no chance in making you sales if visitors drop off because your website takes too long to load.

Be mindful of these things and your customers will thank you. An easier experience for them means a better conversion rate for your site.

And who doesn’t like a booming business?