When you run an online business, the most crucial factor in its success is often your conversion rate. This could make or break your business. In fact, a single percentage point can literally mean thousands of additional pounds for your Shopify store.

We’ve tapped into the mind of a trusted Shopify partner and narrowed down 5 things that can improve your conversion rate by a significant margin. 

1. Optimize your site for mobile

The importance of responsive design can’t be overstated: in 2021, mobile accounted for 48% of all eCommerce traffic worldwide, with an even higher percentage among younger shoppers. 

Even if you don’t think many of your customers are on mobile (say, since you sell big-ticket items), it is still a good idea to make sure those who do use their smartphones to shop from you have a positive experience. After all, there’s no telling how much of their time people spend on their phones compared to desktops. 

Furthermore, it doesn’t take much to turn off a potential customer by giving them a poor user experience. So, why risk losing business?

That said, responsive design isn’t just about making sure your site looks good on mobile; it also means considering how simple and intuitive the shopping process will be for customers on different devices. 

If someone wants an item right away but has trouble navigating through the purchase process due to poor site optimization, they are very likely to abandon the cart at some point along the way and give up altogether — and that’s an outcome you want to avoid at all costs!

2. Have great product photos

Product photos create a lasting impression of your business. The right photos will make your products look professional and trustworthy, while the wrong ones can leave your customers with a negative view of you.

Your Shopify photos should be high-quality, crisp, and in focus. They should show the product in use, allowing customers to imagine using the product themselves. They should also show the product from different angles to help customers see more detail than they would in just a single photo.

For instance, for products like clothing, you could consider showing each colour option available, the close up of the fabric, and even the texture of the material so that customers have an idea of what they are getting when they select it at checkout time. 

3. Use personalization for upselling and cross-selling

Upselling refers to selling a more expensive version of the product being purchased; this is often done by recommending an alternative that has extra features or is simply better quality than the original choice (e.g., a UHD TV instead of an HD Ready TV). 

Cross-selling, on the other hand, involves promoting related products – for example, offering USB ports for MacBooks – which creates opportunities for customers who may want them but aren’t thinking about buying them at that moment in time yet might decide to do so if prompted appropriately (and subtly).

Upselling and cross-selling are two of the most powerful ways to increase your Shopify conversion rate. The reasons are fairly simple: when you upsell, you charge more for a product. If someone buys the upsold version, you make an additional profit. If they don’t buy it, you still keep the original charge. 

In the case of cross-selling, if a customer buys an additional product, which complements the original product, your average order value (AOV) increases, allowing you to make more revenue from a single cart. But this is only possible through personalization. So, unless you nail down your customer segmentation strategy, there is no way you can earn more through upselling and cross-selling.  

4. Optimize your site speed

No one has the patience to browse a website that takes more than a couple of seconds to load. If your page is taking longer than 3 seconds, then you could be losing up to 40% of prospective customers. Understandably, it is crucial to work on your page speed. 

To do that, you can use tools like Google Page Speed and Pingdom Speed Test to analyze your site’s loading speed. These tools will provide invaluable insights regarding how long it takes for your site to load as well as suggest different ways in which you can improve its loading time based on factors, such as resource caching or optimizing images for the web. 

5. Write in-depth product descriptions

Did you know that roughly 87% of consumers say that product descriptions play a crucial role in their buying decisions? A well-written description will help visitors understand the features and benefits of your products, which can increase the likelihood of them making a purchase. 

Here are some tips to update your product descriptions to improve your Shopify conversion rate:

  • Use bullet points to list key features. This makes the information bite-sized and easily consumable. While you are at it, use short paragraphs, so it is easy to scan and digest
  • Use subheadings to highlight what’s important.
  • Include keywords relating to the product that people may search for online (for example, if you sell hiking boots, include search terms like ‘hiking’ and ‘boots’ throughout the product content).
  • Focus on benefits. Instead of just talking about how good it looks, tell customers what they will get out of using it (e.g., “it will keep their feet comfortable throughout the hike”).
  • Use clear and concise language: write in a way that’s easily understood by your target audience. 

Remember not only to include details about the physical product but also include any other relevant information such as shipping time/costs or return policies! 

If you have got a Shopify store, the success or failure of your business is going to depend on your marketing skills. Everything – from the websites you create for search engines to the Facebook ads you run – is going to have a direct impact on how well you do. So, why not work with a reliable Shopify partner to cut through the competition fast and effectively?