Testing conversion is about checking certain elements on your website in order to provide as high conversion index as possible (meaning that the % of visitors of your page who end up purchasing your products is as high as possible). Without testing, decisions you make are based solely on intuition. Therefore, it is advisable to focus on optimisation of your page before you start to invest in campaigns in search engines and advertisements. Otherwise, the money spent on promotion will not produce any results, since the website will not convert itself.So what can we do to improve ecommerce conversion rate? There are many factors that allow us to measure it. In this article we will introduce some of them and give you useful hints how to optimise your website.

1. Three-second test

The first impression has a great impact on consumers' choices. What can they see when they visit your store? Are they able to identify quickly what it is that you are selling? If you were a customer, would you trust yourself as a seller?Hint: If the answer to the two last questions is “no”, you definitely need to work on your store!

2. Home page

A home page is usually the first thing your customers see. Ask yourself the following questions:

• Which products do you promote?
• Do you inform about seasonal sales?
• How powerful are your call-to-actions?
• Do you highlight the information about discounts?

Hint: There is no one right answer in this case – different solutions prove effective for different stores. You have to experiment, introduce small changes and observe what works best for you.

3. Navigation

The links in the top of your website should reflect the actions your users are most likely to perform. You know your customers best, so it is your task to decide what they consider most important. In the majority of cases it would be reasonable to put the segmentation of customers according to their sex in the main navigation bar. On the other hand, some also find it essential to divide items by different parts of clothes (i.e. jacket, trousers, t-shirt etc), include contact information or emphasise bestsellers in the navigation bar.Take Sugarpills, one of the stores on Shoplo.com, for example. In its main navigation bar it focuses on its most important categories of items, whereas it pays less attention to things such as return policy, terms of delivery, a contact form or “About Us” section. This way, they direct customers straight to the products, which increases conversion.

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Hint: Make sure to place the categories your customers find most interesting in the navigation bar.

4. Product is the key!

This point is partly related to the previous one – since this is your product which counts most, the customers must know what you sell immediately when they enter your website. The easiest way to provide them with this info is to present big, high quality pictures of the goods you offer. A site that includes many distracting elements may discourage customers from choosing your products and will make them feel lost.Research shows that over 70% of buyers claim photos of the items have a great impact on decisions they make while shopping.Hint: Focus on your products and their presentation, also on a home page.

5. Possible payment methods

Not all the stores accept any kind of payments. Therefore, do not forget to include a list of icons of the credit cards you acknowledge not only on the sites of particular products, but also on a home page, for example in lower right corner. That will make it easier for your customers to look for the information they need and then make a purchase.Hint: Add information about the possible methods of payments to the website of your store.

6. Security

Although customer confidence online has increased in recent years, many people are still afraid to shop online. In order to convince them, you should add a 'safety policy' where you will describe the rules and guaranties valid in your store, as well as a return policy. Make sure that the regulations are accessible and easy to find for the visitors. The most common place to put them is in a footer.Hint: Provide your customers with safety guarantees and you will convince the unconvinced to shop online.

7. Testimonials

As the research shows, the decision to buy a product for the great majority of customers is based on other people's recommendations. Consequently, more and more online stores present reviews of their satisfied users to attract new customers. Not only does it persuade the prospects to buy your goods, but also is a way of demonstrating your current clients that their opinion matters. Use our Yotpo app to collect social reviews from your customers.

Hint: Including satisfied customers' reviews will attract new buyers.As you can see, there is a great range of ways to improve conversion. In order to boost your sales, take the above-mentioned tips into account and optimise your website before you start marketing campaigns.Good luck!