
BigCommerce conversion rate optimization (CRO) is essential. Taking the time to employ effective strategies can help drastically increase overall conversion rates. Analyzing the key processes in place, measuring the relevant metrics, and developing a strong strategy for optimization are the first steps to take when looking to improve results for sales and visitors. Updating outdated customer steps and overhauling product pages are essential to create a smoother flow for customers to follow, resulting in an increase in conversion rate.
Additionally, taking the time to create unique and SEO-rich content for the website as well the blog can help draw in higher numbers of visitors that will then convert into customers.
Reducing page load times, performing A/B tests, and launching marketing campaigns are also effective ways to improve sales and increase conversion rates.
Finally, make sure to track all changes made and measure the results of the optimization processes for continual refining.
These 15 tips are an essential starting-point to increasing BigCommerce conversion rates.
1. Optimize Loading Speed
One of the most critical factors for increasing conversion rates on your BigCommerce store is optimizing website speed. In the fast-paced world of online shopping, users have little patience for slow-loading websites. Studies have shown that even a few seconds of delay in page load times can significantly impact bounce rates, page abandonment, and ultimately, conversion rates.
To ensure your BigCommerce store is running at optimal speed, consider the following strategies:
- Caching Mechanism: Implement caching mechanisms to store frequently accessed data and page elements. Caching can drastically reduce server response times and minimize the need to generate pages from scratch for every user request.
- Image Optimization: High-resolution images can contribute to slow-loading pages. Compress and optimize images without compromising quality to reduce file sizes. Utilize next-gen image formats like WebP, which offer better compression.
- Minimize HTTP Requests: Each element on a web page, such as images, scripts, and stylesheets, requires separate HTTP requests. Minimize these requests by combining files and using CSS sprites, which can significantly improve load times.
- Content Delivery Network (CDN): Employ a Content Delivery Network to distribute your website’s static resources (images, scripts, stylesheets) across multiple servers worldwide. This ensures that users can access these resources from a server geographically closer to them, reducing latency and speeding up load times.
- Optimize CSS and JavaScript: Minify your CSS and JavaScript files to remove unnecessary characters and spaces, reducing their size. Additionally, place JavaScript files at the bottom of the page to prevent render-blocking.
- Choose a Reliable Hosting Provider: Select a reputable hosting provider that can handle your BigCommerce store’s traffic and provides good server response times. Shared hosting might be cost-effective, but consider upgrading to dedicated or cloud hosting if needed.
- Enable GZIP Compression: Enable GZIP compression on your web server to reduce the size of your website’s files before they are sent to the user’s browser. This can lead to significant improvements in load times.
- Lazy Loading: Implement lazy loading for images and videos. Lazy loading ensures that only the images and videos in the user’s viewport are loaded initially, reducing the initial load time.
- Minimize Redirects: Avoid excessive redirects, as they add extra HTTP requests and increase the time it takes to load a page.
- Monitor Website Performance: Regularly monitor your website’s performance using tools like Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, or Pingdom. These tools provide insights into areas that need improvement and offer suggestions for optimization.
By taking the time to optimize your BigCommerce store’s speed, you create a smoother and more enjoyable shopping experience for your customers. Faster load times instill confidence in your brand, reduce bounce rates, and increase the likelihood of visitors converting into satisfied customers. Remember that continuous monitoring and fine-tuning are essential to maintaining optimal website speed as your store grows and evolves.
2. Mobile Responsiveness
Having a mobile-responsive BigCommerce store is no longer an option but a necessity. With a significant portion of online shoppers using smartphones and tablets to browse and make purchases, ensuring your website offers an exceptional mobile experience is crucial for increasing conversion rates. A mobile-responsive website adapts its layout and design to fit various screen sizes, providing users with a seamless and user-friendly shopping experience across devices.
Here are some essential tips to optimize your BigCommerce store for mobile responsiveness:
- Responsive Web Design: Adopt a responsive web design approach that automatically adjusts your website’s layout based on the user’s device screen size. This ensures that all elements, including images, text, and buttons, are displayed correctly on smartphones, tablets, and desktops.
- Mobile-Friendly Navigation: Simplify your website’s navigation for mobile users. Use a hamburger menu or a streamlined navigation bar to conserve screen space and make it easy for customers to find what they’re looking for.
- Optimize Fonts and Text: Use legible fonts and appropriately sized text for mobile devices. Avoid using small fonts that could strain users’ eyes, and ensure that your content remains readable without the need for zooming.
- Touch-Friendly Buttons and Links: Make sure all buttons and links are large enough to be easily tapped with a finger on a touchscreen. Avoid placing clickable elements too close together to prevent accidental clicks.
- Mobile-Optimized Images: Optimize images for mobile devices by compressing them to reduce loading times. Use responsive image techniques to serve appropriately sized images based on the user’s device.
- Avoid Flash and Pop-ups: Flash elements and pop-ups can be problematic for mobile users and may not work on all devices. Instead, use HTML5 and consider using unobtrusive banners or notifications for promotions or offers.
- Test Across Devices: Test your BigCommerce store on various mobile devices and operating systems to ensure consistent functionality and appearance. This helps identify and address any mobile-specific issues.
- Mobile Checkout Optimization: Streamline the mobile checkout process to make it as smooth and efficient as possible. Minimize the number of form fields and steps required to complete a purchase.
- Leverage Mobile-Specific Features: Utilize mobile-specific features like click-to-call buttons and location-based services to enhance the user experience for mobile shoppers.
- Prioritize Page Speed: Mobile users may have varying internet speeds and data plans, so it’s crucial to optimize page load times for faster access to your website’s content.
By prioritizing mobile responsiveness, you ensure that your BigCommerce store caters to the needs and preferences of mobile shoppers, offering them a pleasant and seamless shopping experience. A well-optimized mobile site leads to higher engagement, lower bounce rates, and ultimately, increased conversion rates as more visitors are likely to become satisfied customers. Regularly monitor and update your mobile site to adapt to changing trends and technologies, ensuring that your store stays competitive in the mobile commerce landscape.
3. Clear and Compelling CTAs
BigCommerce CRO, when done correctly, can be a powerful way to create clear and compelling CTAs. Utilizing best practices for usability and conversion optimization will help ensure the effectiveness of the CTA. Solutions such as split testing can assist in identifying which content, design, and targeting will generate the most impact. A successful CTA should be tailored to the specific audience and should be optimized to maximize conversion and click-through rates. An effective CTA should be eye-catching, while at the same time, blend in with its surrounding design.
It’s imperative to make sure the CTA messaging is concise and genuine. Writing content that is succinct and relatable will motivate users to take action. Note that the tone and sentiment of the CTA can influence user behavior, so ensure that the wording resonates with your target audience. Successful ecommerce optimization begins with the creation of a clear and compelling CTA.
Test various variations of the CTA, keeping in mind the concept of testing, learning, and continuous improvement. If you understand why users click the CTA, you can make the necessary changes to improve the user experience, content, and design. By following these basic tips and best practices, you can ensure that your BigCommerce CRO efforts and CTAs are compelling and effective. With practice and split testing, you can create CTAs with a higher conversion rate that will help you reach your goals.
4. High-Quality Product Images
BigCommerce CRO is the ideal starting point when optimizing a website for better high-quality product images and improved conversion optimization. Through A/B split testing, website administrators can gain valuable insights into what improvements are successful and how to maximize their usage.
Having a website with clear, high-quality product images can encourage prospective customers to click and explore the products, ultimately leading to more sales. Furthermore, by analyzing the data from analytics, website owners can determine which images are the most effective and the best way to display them, boosting click-throughs and generating more conversions.
Optimizing a website with higher quality product images is no easy undertaking. Therefore, strategies surrounding testing and data analysis play a key role in achieving high website rankings and higher conversion rates. By understanding and keeping up with the latest trends related to product images, ecommerce sites can provide customers with a much more enjoyable experience which will ultimately result in improved optimization. Implementing even the smallest changes can make a big difference in user engagement.
5. Customer Reviews and Testimonials
Customer reviews and testimonials are an essential part of split testing strategies for ecommerce optimization and Big Commerce CRO. Businesses should be mindful of the influence that customer perspectives can have on their bottom line, and not overlook the importance of customer reviews. By increasing customer reviews, businesses not only steer optimization and conversion optimization processes, but also gain insight into customer behavior that can be used in analyses. Analysis of customer reviews and testimonials provides invaluable elevation of areas that need improvement and can be used for segmentation and experimentation.
Businesses should embrace customer reviews and testimonials as part of their overall optimization and conversion optimization plans, and include them as part of their digital marketing campaigns. For instance, using customer experiences to create content on a company’s blog is an effective way of boosting customer engagement. Furthermore, incorporating customer reviews in marketing campaigns promotes customer engagement and loyalty, resulting in more repeat sales.
In conclusion, customer reviews and testimonials give invaluable insight into customer experiences and should not be disregarded when constructing an ecommerce optimization strategy. By carefully examining customer reviews, experimentation, and segmentation, companies can embed customer reviews into their digital marketing campaigns to bolster customer engagement, cultivate customer loyalty, and ultimately increase their sales and ROI.
6. Streamlined Checkout Process
Big Commerce CRO presents a great opportunity for ecommerce companies looking to streamline their checkout process. Ensuring customers can complete their purchase quickly and easily is key to creating conversions and optimizing the shoppers’ user experience. To ensure a seamless checkout process, experimentation and split testing with different campaigns is necessary. This exploration process should provide metrics and insights to help discover the customer journey the shoppers prefer, and provide the best interface for them to make transactions.
Achieving a better CRO through experimentation is important, in order to provide better engagement and insight into the consumer’s needs. Linking checkouts to possible stores, or providing discounts or other offers, can also be implemented to reward loyal customers. Examining what customers already have in their cart, and comparing it to what the store has, can create better customer options. A checkout progress monitor, ensuring customers can track the progress, and streamlined payment options is also important in creating a better CRO.
Streamlining the checkout process is essential for success in ecommerce and understanding the customer experience journey should be a priority in helping design better customer engagement. By improving the checkout process and focusing on a simple user interface, customers will have a better experience, and are more likely to return in the future.
7. Offer Multiple Payment Options
Providing a variety of payment options is a fundamental strategy to increase conversion rates and accommodate the diverse preferences of your customers. By offering multiple payment methods on your BigCommerce store, you can reduce barriers to purchase, instill trust, and cater to a wider audience. Here are some key considerations for implementing multiple payment options:
- Credit and Debit Cards: Accept major credit cards like Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. These are the most commonly used payment methods for online transactions and are essential for any e-commerce store.
- Digital Wallets: Integrate popular digital wallet solutions like PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Amazon Pay, or others. Digital wallets offer a convenient and fast checkout process, especially for mobile users, by storing payment and shipping information securely.
- Bank Transfers: Provide the option for customers to pay directly from their bank accounts through ACH transfers or online banking systems. Some customers prefer this method for its simplicity and security.
- Cryptocurrency Payments: Consider accepting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other altcoins. Cryptocurrency adoption is growing, and offering this payment option can attract tech-savvy customers.
- Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL): Partner with BNPL services like Klarna, Afterpay, or Sezzle to allow customers to split their payments into manageable installments. This can entice budget-conscious shoppers to make larger purchases.
- Offline Payments: Some customers may prefer to pay offline through methods like bank transfers, check payments, or money orders. Provide clear instructions and options for customers who wish to use these methods.
- Country-Specific Payment Options: If you sell internationally, research the preferred payment methods in each target country. Offer country-specific payment options to cater to local customer preferences.
- Secure Payment Processing: Ensure that all payment options and transactions are processed securely. Use SSL certificates and comply with PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) requirements to protect customer data.
- Transparent Pricing: Be transparent about any additional fees or surcharges associated with certain payment methods. Unexpected fees during checkout can lead to cart abandonment.
- Automated Currency Conversion: If you sell globally, offer automated currency conversion to display prices in the customer’s local currency. This enhances the shopping experience and avoids confusion over exchange rates.
- Trust Badges and Seals: Display trust badges and security seals from reputable payment providers, such as VeriSign or McAfee, to build customer confidence in your payment process.
- Offer Discounts for Specific Payment Methods: Encourage the use of certain payment methods by offering exclusive discounts or promotions. For example, provide a discount for customers who pay with digital wallets.
- User-Friendly Payment UI: Ensure that the payment interface is intuitive, user-friendly, and optimized for both desktop and mobile devices. A smooth and hassle-free payment process encourages customers to complete their transactions.
By offering a diverse range of payment options, you empower customers to choose their preferred method, making the purchasing process more accessible and seamless. This flexibility can lead to increased customer satisfaction, reduced cart abandonment, and ultimately, higher conversion rates on your BigCommerce store. Regularly analyze payment data and customer feedback to identify trends and preferences, allowing you to continuously optimize your payment options for maximum effectiveness.
8. Clear Shipping Information
When it comes to BigCommerce CRO and conversion optimization, clearly displaying shipping information is essential for customers to make an informed decision and complete their purchase. Strategically utilizing split testing (also known as A/B testing) and tracking and testing tools can help uncover what influences conversions and provide valuable data-driven insights to optimize improvements for your store. With thorough testing and analysis, you can accurately present shipping information to customers as well as understand the associated costs and best practices.
When your shipping information is visible on the site, customers will have a better understanding of all the costs associated with their purchase and be more incentivized to proceed to checkout. This can significantly improve sales and reduce barriers that may cause the customer to abandon a purchase. Aside from testing and tracking, you can also create test checkouts to estimate delivery times and rates for different carriers.
In conclusion, offering clear shipping information is a great way to enhance the customer experience and increase conversions. With the right strategies and tools, you can optimize improvements for your webstore and improve your website’s conversion optimization. Taking the time to understand shipping costs and associated best practices can help you effectively boost sales and maximize customer satisfaction.
9. Implement Exit-Intent Popups
An effective way to improve your Big Commerce CRO and conversion optimization efforts is to implement Exit-Intent Popups. This approach in ecommerce optimization begins when a user is about to leave your website, and the popup appears on the user’s screen. Split-testing is a great way to determine which optimized exit intent popup design generates the highest conversion rate. High-performing exit intent popups can increase sales and drive user engagement. It is a strategy-first approach to determine user engagement trends and to identify processes, metrics, and visitors’ needs which can be taken into account to increase sales. Content-writing, design, timing, and layout are all essential elements of optimization that must be taken into consideration when implementing these popups.
Important metrics, such as location-based user activity and user interactions, can be tracked to provide better insights into user behaviour. This data can be used to better activate and target visitors who are more likely to convert. Exit-Intent Popups can also be used to show promotional campaigns or discounts to retain and re-engage users. Analyzing user behaviour through these techniques helps you define the customer journey and understand the user experience to create more effective strategies.
To measure the success of exit intent popups, focus on the performance metrics that relate to your overall ecommerce optimization goals. Overall user engagement rate and average time on page metrics are incredibly important when evaluating the impact of your exit intent popup. A/B testing the design of different popups and comparing their effectiveness is important too. This testing method provides the most accurate insights and data.
Exit-intent popups can be used as an effective tool to increase engagement and conversions. A properly implemented and optimized exit intent popup can greatly improve user engagement, increase sales, and have a positive impact on the overall performance of your ecommerce optimization strategy.
10. Personalization
Personalization is a key component of Big Commerce CRO, conversion optimization, ecommerce optimization, and split testing that helps companies target customers with more personalized content, leading to increased sales and growth. Implementing personalization requires data-driven analysis and testing, along with the right tools. Different landing page objectives vary, but the goal is always to increase revenue and create a better user experience. Companies should use A/B split testing to experiment and compare different elements of a page to determine which configuration works best. Once the ideal template is found, the focus should shift to increasing the conversion rate and refining the results.
To maximize the effectiveness of personalization, companies should focus on contextualization. For instance, leveraging the user’s location to tailor the page to their region, or using their past purchase data to suggest products they’d be interested in. Additionally, they should stay up-to-date with the latest trends to provide the most current content and products. Digital tools make it easier to track user behaviour and engagement, allowing companies to optimize experiences in real time. Through the right tactics, businesses can leverage data to create landing pages that serve as powerful marketing tools.
Adding personalization is a great way to get a higher return on investment from marketing efforts. Using targeted campaigns and leveraging data can lead to positive outcomes and increase customer lifetime value. Split testing allows for experimentation and is a key element to achieving personalized experiences. Companies need to find the right balance between tailored content and the latest trends; moreover, they must invest in the right tools for data analysis to maximize the success of personalization.
11. Abandoned Cart Recovery
Big Commerce CRO and abandoned cart recovery go hand-in-hand when it comes to conversion optimization for ecommerce sites. With the right performance goals in mind, carrying out experimentations to optimize the user experience can be beneficial. Split testing and abandoned cart recovery can have immense advantages for a product or market. Usability should be given top priority when performing optimization experiments, as this will ensure that website traffic can easily navigate and find what they are looking for and can boost the chances of recovering abandoned carts.
Another important factor to consider for optimization is device usability. Big Commerce CRO considers performance and usability on both web and mobile devices. Customers should be able to navigate pages, select products, and check out easily, regardless of the device they are using; this includes simplifying the checkout process if possible. Doing so can increase the likelihood of successful cart recovery.
When it comes to optimizing the checkout process for ecommerce, split testing is an effective approach. Marketers should be aware of how their design changes may affect the customer experience. However, by running split tests and measurements, the best optimization successes can be assessed. Results must be evaluated and the methodology updated on a continuous basis to ensure successful optimization of abandoned cart recovery.
Utilizing Big Commerce CRO capabilities, you can obtain a variety of customer insights and analytics. Whether it be segmenting customers, personalizing experiences, tracking consumer behavior, or using predictive analytics, all of these elements will increase your understanding of consumer needs. In turn, your marketing team can create more relevant and effective campaigns that result in higher chances of abandoned cart recovery.
12. Live Chat Support
Offering a direct channel of communication between customers and the business, having access to customer service with the click of a mouse or tap of a finger can have a major impact on customer satisfaction and conversions. Depending on the business, services and products, the length of the customer service journey is greatly dependent on the particular needs of the audience, both in location and the type of queries that may arise. Content, design, and language targeting are all important when designing services, and the live chat system, for potential customers.
Analytics are key when it comes to measuring the success of live chat support. User click-through rates, response times, and resolution times are all important metrics to track in order to maximize user experience. Conversion rates and their relation to the live chat service provided are also important, as are the split tests that may need to be run in order to assess how different strategies impact customer behaviors. Targeted strategies to advertise live chat to customers may also help to effectively boost conversion rates.
Live chat support is an incredibly powerful tool for both marketing and customer support. When utilized correctly, businesses will be able to see high levels of success in terms of targeting their audience, boosting conversions, and overall optimizing the customer experience. Investing in such a service helps to ensure customer satisfaction, create customer loyalty, and build businesses which can thrive in the ever-changing world of online e-commerce solutions.
13. Offer Free Shipping Threshold
One highly effective strategy to increase conversion rates and encourage larger order values on your BigCommerce store is to offer a free shipping threshold. Free shipping has become a significant incentive for online shoppers, and it can be a powerful tool to drive sales and enhance customer satisfaction. By setting a minimum order value that qualifies for free shipping, you motivate customers to add more items to their carts to reach the threshold. Here’s how to implement the “Offer Free Shipping Threshold” strategy effectively:
- Determine a Reasonable Threshold: Analyze your average order value and shipping costs to determine a reasonable free shipping threshold. The threshold should be set strategically to encourage customers to spend more without significantly impacting your profit margins.
- Prominently Display the Threshold: Clearly display the free shipping threshold on your website, preferably on the homepage, product pages, and the shopping cart. Use banners, pop-ups, or announcements to highlight the offer and incentivize visitors to take advantage of it.
- Simple and Transparent Messaging: Ensure the conditions for free shipping are easy to understand and transparent. Clearly communicate the minimum order value required to qualify for free shipping and any limitations or exclusions that may apply.
- Dynamic Shopping Cart Progress: Implement a dynamic shopping cart progress indicator that shows customers their progress toward the free shipping threshold as they add items to their cart. This visual cue can encourage them to add more items to reach the threshold.
- Use Urgency and Scarcity: Create a sense of urgency by displaying a countdown timer or message indicating how much time remains for customers to qualify for free shipping. Similarly, highlight limited-time offers to create a sense of scarcity and drive immediate action.
- Segmented Marketing: Leverage customer data to implement targeted marketing campaigns. For example, send personalized emails to customers who are close to reaching the free shipping threshold, reminding them of the benefits of adding a few more items to their cart.
- A/B Test Threshold Values: Conduct A/B tests with different free shipping threshold values to identify the most effective one for your specific audience. Monitor the impact on conversion rates and average order values to make data-driven decisions.
- Combine Free Shipping with Other Promotions: Consider combining the free shipping offer with other promotions, such as discounts or limited-time offers, to further incentivize customers to complete their purchases.
- Promote Free Shipping on Social Media: Utilize your social media channels to promote the free shipping threshold and encourage followers to take advantage of the offer. Engaging posts and captivating visuals can help generate interest and drive traffic to your store.
- Measure and Analyze Performance: Continuously monitor the performance of your free shipping threshold strategy. Analyze data, track conversions, and gather customer feedback to make informed adjustments and improvements.
By offering a free shipping threshold, you tap into the psychology of consumers seeking added value and cost savings. This can lead to increased order sizes, reduced cart abandonment, improved customer satisfaction, and ultimately, higher conversion rates on your BigCommerce store. Remember to strike the right balance between customer incentives and your business’s profitability to make the most of this effective marketing tactic.
14. Prominent Contact Information
The strategic implementation of promotable contact information can have a major impact on Big Commerce CRO and conversion optimization. With a focus on analysis, optimization methodologies, and segmentation, ecommerce businesses have the ability to bring campaigns, blog posts, customers, and experimentation to their conversion optimization plans. When prominent contact information such as email addresses, phone numbers, and support channels are strategically implemented, they have the potential to impact overall CRO efforts.
Businesses should evaluate how visitors access, process, and interact with their contact information. If the contact information is missing, hard to find, or simply unusable, then visitors may be frustrated and leave the website right away. This is why it is vital to have prominent contact information in a few key places, such as in the header or footer of the website, help pages, and overall customer support sections.
Depending on the organization, prominent contact information can be added in various ways. For instance, a small consultancy business may opt for a more traditional approach; contact information is available in the footer of the website, and visitors are invited to use it with options for email, phone, or social media. On the other hand, larger organizations or ecommerce platforms may offer additional options such as live chat, direct support, or even an FAQ page.
No matter the organization, the implementation of prominent contact information is necessary for any ecommerce optimization strategy. Internet users are more likely to trust and engage with businesses that openly display their contact information, giving visitors a direct connection channel. Furthermore, businesses should consider experimenting with different contact methods, as customers often have their preferred method of engagement.
15. A/B Testing
A/B testing is a key tool for Big Commerce customers looking to optimize their conversion and ecommerce optimization efforts. This method of user experimentation allows businesses to create two or more versions of an experience with subtle changes for customer testing purposes. This data can then be used to determine which version of an experience drives the highest levels of engagement and conversions. Split testing is an effective way to measure the impact of changes and optimize the customer journey, providing businesses with data-driven decision making and a personalized customer experience.
By using statistical probabilities, it eliminates any guesswork from decision making, allowing companies to make fast, informed choices and track various elements of the journey such as copy, layout, photos, and call-to-actions. The data gathered from A/B testing provides insights into which versions of product journeys work best to further personalize the customer experience and encourage loyalty. This enables businesses to grow conversions and deliver more successful marketing campaigns.
Final Thoughts
Analyzing BigCommerce CRO effectiveness and testing conversion optimization methods have become established as important parts of ecommerce optimization strategies. Identifying the right tools, strategies, and customer needs help to maximize website results and market optimization. Implementing various tests allows businesses to learn which strategies best fit their needs and follow market trends to increase conversion optimization effectiveness. Split testing remains a pivotal part of any improvement in website results for any ecommerce store. Learning from the data collected of different optimization strategies helps to tailor and target customer needs better.
Being aware of different optimization strategies is the key to success for any ecommerce store. Learning and experimenting with new methods presents an opportunity to test the effectiveness of their current setup. Customers should be at the heart of any development and gauging their feedback and preferences for the best options. The key is to do regular tests with effective methods and monitor progress of the store to result in higher conversion rates and better website results.
Evaluating the store regularly and investing in resources for further optimization is a great way to ensure improved efficacy, even to the point of providing personalized services. For BigCommerce CRO, understanding the online environment and timing of tests is a crucial part of the process. Analyzing results of every test and understanding the customer’s behavior helps to make better decisions. It is essential to experiment and implement strategies in the store in order to achieve better growth in results.