Shopify 轉化率優化：初學者指南

With your customers in mind, your store needs to be planned.

Whilst improving your traffic will generate more revenue, concentrating on converting your existing traffic into paying customers is just as important.

There are new ways for you to make their routes faster, simpler, and more enjoyable at every stage of your customers' buying journeys.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is a technique for boosting the percentage of website visitors that complete a transaction, commonly known as a conversion.

Conversions are a big deal, and they’re the exciting moments when a random customer walks into your store and decides to buy one of your products.

On a much smaller scale, conversions take place all the time leading up to that moment.

A conversion on your homepage, for example, may mean making a visitor click through to a product. A product page conversion could mean a customer clicking 'Add to Cart.' Conversions can depend entirely on the function served by a particular portion of your website.

To optimize your online store for small and large conversions, you must routinely test every aspect of your website.

Is conversion rate optimization for you?

CRO is a pivotal tool for business owners, but not for everyone. In order to optimize your online store successfully, you must first have enough traffic to carry out a test properly.

If your results don't have the right amount of traffic, they won't be able to tell you anything about how your customers use your online store. Let's examine some of the fundamentals of CRO to assist you in deciding if it's suited for you.

An introduction to A/B testing

A/B testing, also known as split testing, is an integral part of CRO.

A / B testing offers a way to compare two versions of the same website to see which tests better. Two separate versions of a website are seen at the same time with A / B testing to two identical sets of visitors. The version which performs more effectively and produces a larger amount of conversions is eventually declared the winner.

You'll need to find out whether your website receives enough traffic to produce statistically meaningful results before you run an A / B check. If your sample size is too small, you won't be able to learn much from your findings because they don't represent exactly how your content is being used by a wider population.

If you want to calculate how large a sample size you need to perform an A / B test, you simply need to drop your current conversion rate for the web page you want to test in a conversion sample size calculator.When the traffic generated by the web page is smaller than the sample size required for the study, prioritizing traffic generation over conversion optimization is essential.

Make sure that a single page has a good conversion rate

To find your current conversion rate, you'll first need to make sure that your online store has Google Analytics set up. You'll be able to figure out the conversion rate for specific parts of your website with Google Analytics, including the web pages you'll be testing.

This method will provide a snapshot of your current conversion rate; it should not be utilized to measure the results of your testing. Use this data only to determine whether or not you have that much traffic to run a successful A/B test.

The fastest way to find the current conversion rate for specific pages of your website is through Google Analytics using the Landing Pages report.

First, go to the 'Behavior' section and then click 'Site Content' to get to the Landing Pages. Click on Landing Pages in the dropdown menu. Make sure the timeframe that you are looking at is the same length of time your test runs. Only using the past 30 days for the purposes of this part of the process.

From the list of landing pages, choose the one you want to test. For example, if you want to test your home page, go to www.youronlinestorename.com.

To get the conversion rate for a specific target on this list, you will need to include a secondary dimension in your report. Type 'Second Page' and select 'Add Secondary Dimension' The 'Second Page' feature would tell us which pages visitors went to after the first page and what percentage of visitors went to particular sites on the first page.

For example, let's say that you're interested in testing how many people navigate to the products page of your website from your homepage.

To find your current conversion rate for this action, simply select your homepage as your initial page and then go to the 'Second Page' section of your report to search for your products. Your conversion rate for the action will be the small grey percentage specified in the 'Sessions' column.Create a separate objective for each activity you're testing on your website, and use that goal to guide your testing.

Google Analytics targets are a way to assess how the website directs visitors to complete a particular task or goal. Goals can be anything: from purchasing a product to signing up for a newsletter to actually managing it. Through setting your test objectives, you will be able to track and evaluate the data behind the decisions customers make as they pass around your platform.

Google Analytics targets to evaluate how a website drives visitors to fulfill a specific action or objective. Goals can range from purchasing a product to subscribing to a newsletter to managing it. Setting your test objectives will allow you to track and analyze the data underlying the decisions clients make as they navigate your platform.

Google Analytics has five different types of goals: Destination, duration, pages per session, event, and smart goals. Destination goals and event targets are the ones to focus on for CRO purposes.

Destination Goals

Such types of targets are used for conversion tracking when a specific web page loads and records page views. Destination goals can be used to monitor activities such as shopping and navigation.

Simply set the 'Thank You' or order confirmation page as the destination and a conversion will be tracked whenever a customer completes an order and is redirected to the 'Thank You' page if you want to track a purchase.

Event Goals

With event goals, you can keep track of things that happen on your website that don't always lead to a landing page.

For instance, if you want to track a customer who subscribes to your newsletter or adds an item to their shopping cart, you can set a customer's activity upon hitting a certain button on your website as an event.

20 CRO Experiments to get you started

Optimizing your online shop is not a one-size-fits-all eCommerce solution, it's an ongoing process that will allow you to continually learn more about your customers and how to best support them. It's not an endpoint tactic — it is something you should always do to get better.

There's also no fixed rulebook to automate your website. Tactics can work extremely well for one store and may not affect another.

Experimenting now is essential since you can observe the outcomes and determine how they can help you establish a more productive store.

Be sure to keep a handy list of all the experiments you plan to run in the future, so you're never without a new idea to explore.

To get your list started, here are some ideas for different items that you can theoretically check in your online store.

Homepage

Think about your homepage as a physical storefront.Front window: Getting people to look, making them curious, and getting them to come in.

Your homepage must be inviting and intuitive, making it easy for customers to navigate and enter your store. It needs to be a visually pleasing and consistent environment that works to accomplish a common goal: bring customers into your shop to find items they want to purchase.

1. Simplify the experience

Simplicity is crucial when it comes to designing an effective homepage. For a customer to create the first impression of your website it only takes two-tenths of a second, and you need to do whatever you can to make those moments count. Evite distracting the customers with inappropriate text and pictures. Instead remain on-brand and on-message with a clear, appealing visual design.

Only take a look at the image above.  They have utilized a large hero image that occupies the majority of the space above the fold on their homepage. The version is straightforward and easy with a direct call-to-action that drives visitors right into a set.

To figure out what your main hero should look like, you usually want to look at your most popular or best-selling items, new releases, and current promotions. The fact that 86% of website users want to see product information on a website's home page makes this even more important.

2. Show off coupon codes, real-time purchases, and more

You have the opportunity to start building excitement and driving them towards your products as soon as your customers hit your homepage. If your goal is to get more customers to your items, Shopify store owners have a bunch of great apps that can help drum up demand and incentivize buying:

• Welcome Bars: Apps like Master Motivator, 3-in-one Master Marketer allows you to share your sales, coupon codes, deals, and more with your customers when they arrive at your site. These applications add a non-intrusive floating bar to the top of your homepage, which immediately grabs your customers' attention and directs them exactly where you want them to go. Promotion codes can be effective tools:
• Pop Ups: Popups and popunders are great at building up your mailing list. Try using an app like Promotion Popup with coupons to add a quick popup to your home page offering a coupon code in exchange for newsletter signup.According to a 2014 survey, 80% of consumers who signed up for a brand's email newsletter over a six-month period ultimately made purchases based on the content they got.
• Real-Time Purchases: Apps like Sales Pop add a small notice to your store's bottom corner, displaying real-time purchases made by other customers. These apps inspire a sense of urgency while also providing social proof to customers that other people are out there buying your products just at this moment.According to behavioral psychology experts at the University of Kentucky, people respond impulsively and fast in response to urgent events.

3. Add Testimonials to Build Trust

Have you been featured in major

3 publications? Are there any high profile influencers that use your products? Beneath your main content, add testimonials, ratings, and badges to your homepage to build trust and prestige for the project. After all, 88 percent of consumers trust online reviews just as much as they trust their friends and family's recommendations.

Product Identification

Once visitors arrive on your homepage, they should be able to locate the products quickly they're looking for and learn about new things that may interest them.

Customers must be able to browse your website using a well-designed search feature, intelligent category structure, and interesting product discovery methods.

4. Use intelligent search

If a customer is looking for a product on your website, chances are they aren't sure where to look.

When your store has a large number of items, you may want to suggest prominently displaying your search bar on your homepage, allowing your customers the ability to go straight to where they want to go rather than searching through categories.

5. Organize your categories effectively

Navigating your website should be easy, simple, and – most of all – obvious to your customers. Try not to split your products up into too many different categories. Instead, opt for 4 to 6 broad categories as a dropdown that contains more specific subcategories.

Your most popular category should be placed at the beginning of your navigation bar.

6. Take advantage of your 404 pages

Do your 404 pages end in a dead-end? Instead of leaving customers hanging when they hit a 404, try to guide them to more useful parts of their website. Make your 404 pages unique by adding links to the most popular collections, products, and promotions.

7. Add a shoppable Instagram feed

Instagram is an incredibly valuable product discovery tool. Incorporating a shoppable Instagram feed into your website is a great opportunity to inspire your fans with gorgeous pictures and show off your products in everyday scenarios.

Product pages

Each of your product pages should be structured so that it communicates the value of your items to your buyers. You must build immersive experiences that include all parts of your products and eliminate any prospect of uncertainty or disaffection.

8. Use high-quality product images

Photos of high-quality products are the most important part of an effective product page. More than 2⁄3 consumers say high-quality product photos are a very important part of the procurement process — in fact, more important than product details or reviews.Include photographs that show your products from all angles and accurately depict their appearance and feel.

Include a video showing your product in action, as a bonus. If you sell t-shirts, for example, add a video to your product page with a model walking around while wearing one of your t-shirts to give customers a better idea of how your shirts look in motion. Upon viewing a product ad, consumers are currently 85 percent more likely to make a purchase.

9. Be forthright on price, delivery time, and out-of-stock items.

The worst thing you can do is deceive your customers—28 percent of consumers will give up their cart if they are paid with unpredictable shipping costs. Do not be afraid to let them know the full range of things such as pricing, delivery time and inventory.

If you sell your products effectively and communicate their worth effectively, your buyers won't mind paying a little more for shipping or waiting longer for delivery.

If you own a Shopify store, you can also use apps such as Restocked Notifications to give your customers the option to receive notification when products are added to your store outside of stock.

10. Showcase your product reviews

Product reviews are a perfect way to ease the reluctant shoppers' fears and give your clients the social evidence they need to click "Add to Cart." Indeed, 90 percent of customers say their purchasing decisions are influenced by reading online product reviews in one way or another.

Positive product comments can make all the difference in convincing shoppers that a product really works and is worth purchasing, as well as helping them make more educated choices about size, coloring and more.

Shopify store owners can use apps like Free Product Review with Photo and Yotpo to embed customer reviews directly onto their product pages.

11. Add a curated Instagram feed

Like with product reviews, curated Instagram feeds may also add a social proof feature to your product pages.

 When searching for product information, 51 percent of U.S. consumers rely on user-generated content such as Instagram photos over other sources.Apps like Foursixty or Like2Have.it are good if you want to show Instagram feeds on your product pages.

Checkout experience

The checkout experience is one of the final parts of a customer's buying process. Therefore it must be as frictionless and seamless as possible to prevent customers from abandoning their carts at the last minute.

Your customers are at this point in their journey showing clear intent to make a purchase. You must make the purchase easily and comfortably without any stress or confusion.

12. Pre-fill your customer's information

Through prefilling their shipping and billing details with client accounts, you can make it even easier for your existing customers to make repeat purchases. The less customers need to enter in the details, the better. One study from last year even reports that conversions are increasing by 200 percent when businesses are allowing customers to autofill social media information.

Then, go to "Settings" in your Shopify admin and click "Checkout."

Under ‘Customer Accounts', select ‘Accounts are optional'. With optional accounts, your customers will still be able to checkout as guests, but it also gives them the chance to save their information for next time after filling out their personal details.

You can utilize the Bulk Account Invite Sender software to invite your current clients to create accounts.

13. Send abandoned cart emails

Abandoned cart emails can be set up in the ‘Settings' section of your Shopify admin.Visit the "Checkout" page and scroll down to the "Order Processing" section. You can choose to send abandoned cart emails six or twenty-four hours after a customer abandons their shopping cart.

14. Optimize your thank you/order confirmation emails

You may also personalize your Order Confirmation emails in the same 'Notifications' section of your Shopify admin.

After a customer has placed an order, there is still an opportunity to reintroduce them to your purchasing funnel by optimizing their Order Confirmation email. To encourage them to sign up for your newsletter, visit your blog, or offer them unique discounts and promotions on future orders as a token of appreciation.

Shipping and returns

Even after a customer has completed the checkout process, it is important to note that the transaction is not finished until the product is in their hands. Think about how you handle shipping and return as yet another opportunity to delight your customers and transform all those one-time shoppers into customers for a lifetime.

Waiting for a package is an experience which induces anxiety. It's even worse to receive a product that you're not satisfied with. To make shipping and returns enjoyable for your audience you need to do everything in your power.

15. Offer free shipping

Costly shipping can be a major pain point for consumers and potentially discourage them from making purchases. Seek to deliver free shipping to inspire your clients to place an order, no matter how far they have to drive. Free shipping will significantly impact conversions.

16. Have a clear refund policy

No wonder some consumers are reluctant about making online purchases. When buying items like clothes it can be hard to know how a piece will fit in-person. To help ease the worries of your customer, make sure your company has a straightforward return policy so they know exactly what they should do if they are not pleased with an order.

Additional information

Although optimizing elements such as your homepage, product discovery tools, and product pages is crucial to moving your consumers through the conversion funnel, you also need to make sure your website contains additional information such as contact details and a section about them.

17. With your about page, tell a story

Your About Page is so much more than a short story summary. It should tell your clients a story about your products and the mission of your brand. Your About Page 's aim should be to create a lifestyle around your goods which your audience wants to be part of.

It's important to tell a story about how people interact with your products and services. Consider the following: Where did you get the idea for this project? What makes them unique? How might an average day in the life of your ideal consumer look?

18. Create a comprehensive contact page

If your customers choose to contact you, they can do so without difficulty. In fact, 44 percent of site visitors will leave if contact information like a phone number is not present.

It is an incredibly frustrating experience for consumers not being able to express their thoughts and feelings – whether positive or negative. Your contact page will provide ways for customers to reach out to you in the event of a problem, as well as opportunities for them to engage with your company in entertaining and engaging ways.

Here's a quick rundown of what your contact page should include:

• An email address or contact form
• Your physical location, as well as a map and driving directions
• Your retail store hours
• Links to your social media profiles
• An email or phone number for people who need help

Website speed and performance

The performance of your website is very important to how well your business does. If a website takes longer than 3 seconds to load, 40% of visitors will automatically leave, which is a significant volume of traffic that you may be ignoring.

Assume you're outside a store and have to wait for the owner to open the door for you. Sure, you could wait a second or two to get them to the door. But a quince? Twenty? Try to count those seconds out loud and you will soon know what your customers might be going through.

19. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly

Being sensitive on the mobile should be a huge priority for your company. In reality, if the one they land on is not mobile-friendly, 40 percent of people will choose another result. Fortunately, if you own a Shopify store, every Shopify theme is automatically optimized for proper display on any screen.

20. Optimize your website's loading times

With Google's Pagespeed Insights tool, the easiest way to check how long your online store will take to load is.  Pagespeed Insights will offer you a report on the loading speed of your website and any issues you can address to enhance load times.You may also use load time measurement software such as WebPageTest and Pingdom, as an alternative.

Although improving the load times for your store may be a complex task, there are a few factors to always keep in mind. The size of your images has a considerable effect on the loading speed of your website. Reduce the file size of each image by using an image optimization program like ImageOptim. ImageOptim removes all unnecessary data from every image file, resulting in a file size that is significantly less with no significant visual difference.

For Shopify store owners, try uninstalling any apps you no longer use. Even if these applications are disabled, they may still add weight to your website.

Start your first experiment now

Now that you have some ideas, it's time to start making your site better! Experiment to uncover new ways to increase your conversion rates, and you'll be amazed at what you find.

Get out of your comfort zone and start experimenting to find new strategies to increase your conversion. 

Remember: Always be testing.

Have any more questions about Conversion Rate Optimization? Let us know in the comments below.