Small BusinessCommerceE-commerce

Ecommerce optimization: How to help increase conversions to your online store

Consumer expectations for frictionless ecommerce experiences have risen. That's why attracting users to your website is only the first step in driving ecommerce conversions.

To meet those customer expectations, you need to deliver streamlined shopping experiences that allow for easy browsing and frictionless buying.

Here, we'll outline how you can optimize your ecommerce presence to help increase conversions and revenue.

What is ecommerce?

Ecommerce or electronic commerce refers to the process of buying or selling products and services online, as opposed to in a physical store.

A business might complement its retail locations with an ecommerce website or solely sell its products online.

Using SEO to increase traffic

You can use ecommerce search engine optimization (SEO) to attract customers to your online store. Start with these tactics to help improve your SEO for ecommerce sales:

  • Make sure your site is discoverable by search engines by creating a robots.txt file
  • Update your home page title tag to include important keywords
  • Submit a sitemap to search engines to improve content discoverability

10 ways to optimize your ecommerce online store

Ready to optimize your ecommerce store and increase revenue? Here are 10 ways to help improve online business conversions and customer experiences:

  1. Choose a catchy ecommerce domain name
  2. Add Buy Now buttons to your product pages
  3. Recommend related products at checkout
  4. Offer a range of payment methods
  5. Optimize your site for mobile experiences
  6. Improve homepage product placements
  7. Show your trust badges and seals
  8. Clearly display contact information
  9. Minimize load times
  10. Streamline site navigation
  1. Choose a catchy ecommerce domain name

    Make it easy for customers to find your site by choosing a catchy and memorable ecommerce domain name. For example, your domain name should:

    • Be simple and easy to type on mobile devices
    • Ideally include .com instead of .net or .in
    • Not be easily confused with other popular domain or brand names
    • Include a keyword related to your business or industry
  2. Add Buy Now buttons to your product pages

    Include product images from a variety of angles and make sure all call-to-action (CTA) buttons are large and high-contrast. Plus, give your customers a quick and secure way to check out by adding a PayPal Buy Now button to your ecommerce product pages.

  3. Recommend related products at checkout

    Capture larger basket sizes by presenting low-cost upsells on the cart page that complement the selected products. For example, if the user has a sleeping bag in their cart, suggest a camping pillow.

  4. Offer a range of payment methods

    Avoid pre-selecting a payment method so it's easy for consumers to see all of your checkout options and find the payment method they want. For instance, you may accept credit and debit cards, Venmo, digital wallets, and Buy Now Pay Later options.

  5. Optimize your site for mobile experiences

    Creating a mobile-friendly ecommerce site can help increase conversions. Mobile devices already drive over half of all web traffic worldwide1 and, according to eMarketer, mobile commerce sales should account for over 43% of all ecommerce sales in 2023 — up from 41.8% in 2022.2

    You can better engage these mobile shoppers by:

    • Sizing and compressing images for faster loading times
    • Making sure links are clickable and active on mobile devices
    • Simplifying your site menu to be visible and accessible on small screens
  6. Improve homepage product placements

    Your homepage is like the front door of your online store. It introduces customers to your business and helps guide them to the information they need.

    Make a strong first impression with these ecommerce homepage best practices:

    • Optimize your homepage title and meta description with relevant keywords. This will help customers find your page through search engines.
    • Showcase your best products and sales to hook customers in and inspire them to start shopping.
    • Enhance your images with these product photography tips for ecommerce sites.
  7. Show your trust badges and seals

    Keeping your business and customers safe from fraud can help increase trust and, as a result, conversions. That's why it's important to display your trust badges and seals at checkout.

    Many ecommerce fraud protection services provide merchants with these seals, showing customers that their data and transactions will be secure.

  8. Clearly display contact information

    Clearly display contact information throughout your ecommerce site — but especially on your checkout pages — so customers know how to reach out if they have any questions or concerns.

    Showing this contact information can also help mitigate any customer suspicions about potential phishing and security issues.

  9. Minimize load times

    A few seconds in load time can mean the difference between earning a conversion and sending a frustrated customer away from your site. You can do this easily by using a tool like Compressor.io to compress images with large file sizes. You can also use Google's PageSpeed tools to pinpoint any issues that are slowing down your site.

  10. Streamline site navigation

    Streamlining navigation can help keep people browsing comfortably on your site, reducing your bounce rate and increasing conversions.

    Optimize the flow of your pages with these ecommerce navigation best practices:

    • Keep your navigation bar visible and accessible on every page.
    • Add an internal search tool so customers can quickly find what they're looking for.
    • Reduce the number of clicks it takes for someone to checkout and finalize their purchase.
    • Include an FAQ section. Customers shouldn't have to leave your site to find the answers they need.
    • Make sure CTAs are easily noticeable and clickable. Either put them at the top and bottom of your product pages or make them “sticky" so they remain visible as people scroll.

How PayPal's features can aid ecommerce optimization

PayPal offers a range of tools to help businesses optimize their ecommerce stores and drive revenue, from PayPal Checkout, which supports numerous payment methods like Venmo, and Pay Later, to security features that help merchants detect fraud and minimize claims. Plus, PayPal Payments Pro gives small businesses the flexibility to build a fully customizable, enterprise-grade ecommerce site.

Learn more about optimizing your customer experiences with PayPal ecommerce solutions.

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