6 Ways to Instantly Improve Your Product Page Conversions

More often than not, a product page is the last thing that separates a digital window shopper from a fully-fledged conversion - so you need to get it right.

A recent study showed that millennials look to their peers, rather than ads, when making a purchasing decision online. As digital natives, Millennials are a hugely influential generation - win their trust, and you've a lot to gain.

So, when you’re building your product page, you have to make sure that your sales message sings and speaks to people on a personal level. Which brings us to our first point...

Tell a story

A good advertisement is one which sells the product without drawing attention to itself - David Ogilvy

Storytelling may be a marketing buzzword, but in today's world, it holds the key to success.

According to a recent study from Origin, crafting product copy that tells a story is more likely to convert than a standard product description.

3,000 consumers were presented with two variations of the same wine product page. One page provided a basic product description and the other wove the winemaker's story into the product details. The results? The page telling the winemaker's tale was 5% more likely to convert - and the participants confirmed that they would pay up to 6% more for the same bottle of wine.

By tapping into your buyer personas and taking people on a journey, you stand a great chance of increasing conversions and encouraging brand loyalty.

If you need to brush up on your writing skills, check out our beginner's guide to writing copy that sells.

Add reviews and trust seals to your product pages

Products with customer reviews boast a 10% higher conversion rate than those without.

You can build trust and encourage conversions by allowing your customers to leave reviews on your products, these can also be used as testimonial based content on your social channels.

Trust badges and SSL certificates add a seal of approval to your website in the eyes of your customers. In fact, a recent survey showed that 61% of respondents had cancelled a purchase simply because trust badges were absent from the site.

The Baymard Institute discovered that the top three performing trust badges are those from Norton, Mc Afee, and TRUSTe, gaining the approval of 35.6%, 22.9%, and 13.2% of respondents respectively. A sure-fire reason to add reviews and trust badges to your product pages.

Plug your 'add to cart’ button

Your product page should always include a clear call to action (CTA).

Clearly, the most effective CTA is the button that allows your customer to add an item to their cart or basket. The button can be labelled 'buy now', 'add to basket', 'add to cart' - it's up to you - but whatever you do, make sure it stands out from the rest of your page content and provides a simple instruction for your customer.

The design of your CTA can have a dramatic impact on performance, incorporating basic color theory into your UX design can improve user experience and increase conversions.

US retailer, RIPT Apparel, changed the color of its 'add to cart' CTA and added a countdown timer next to the product, these small strategic changes earned the company 6.3% more conversions.

Regular A/B testing of your buttons will help you to decide on the combination of colors, fonts and positioning that converts the most users on your site.

Video Marketing

Did you know that American adults spend five and a half hours a day viewing video content?

The rise of social media has led to a shift in the way we communicate - increased use of emoji, gifs and video snippets for everyday communication has become commonplace. A short, snappy video can help you bring your product to life and excite people, making them more likely to buy what you have to offer.

Companies like Amazon and Zappos have seen an increase of between 6% and 30% by adding video content to their product page.

Online eCommerce giant AO is an excellent example of effective use of video on a product page. The company uses a video on almost every product on their site and when a consumer decides press play, the video displays in place of the product images. In addition to this, AO uses a mix of in-house video content, videos from brands, and user-generated (UGC) video content to sell their products. According to studies, using a mix of UGC and professional video can help to drive sales by up to 35%.

Analyze User Behavior

In a recent survey, Nielson found that 79% of users scan content rather than reading it word-by-word, a figure that highlights the importance of UX design within your product pages.

A balance between aesthetics and data is recommended when designing product pages and heatmaps provide a simple yet informative way of designing for success.

Heatmaps allow you to track where your customer looks, how far down they scroll through your content and what they click on when visiting your product page - allowing you to easily remove any unwanted distractions that might see them navigate elsewhere.

Hotjar is a handy tool that can help you to track user behavior, optimize you pages and easily increase conversions. If you’re interested in collecting valuable data that informs your buyer personas and increases ROI, check out this handy video on how to get started with heatmaps.

Remember, you want to make it as simple as possible for your users to convert. By optimizing your page and using a data-centric approach to design, you stand a far better chance of increasing your conversion rate.

Speak with your imagery

Much like video, images are critical when it comes to grabbing consumer attention and selling your product.

If your content includes compelling images, you can garner on average 94% more views than pages with dull, poor quality images.

But a high-resolution image on your product page is just the starting point, these simple techniques can also help boost conversions:

• Add a zoom function to your images so consumers can view your product up close and personal
• Add multiple pictures that show your product from different angles
• Use multiple pictures to provide a visual breakdown of your product (see image below)

ASOS is one of the world’s leading online fashion brands. By displaying one main product image with a zoom function and accompanying it with several thumbnails, the customer is able to view the image in detail from multiple angles, giving them a better idea of the look and feel of the garment.

Below the main images are complementary product suggestions to ‘complete the look’, accompanied by a CTA button. By enticing their customers to buy the entire outfit, the company stands to increase their ROI per customer.

Encouraging trust, building brand loyalty and improving sales conversions is a journey, but get it right, and it's sure to be a rewarding one. Follow these tips and you'll see increased conversions in no time.

Develop a detailed understanding of key social media specialisms including content marketing (both creation and distribution), and the social media platforms on which you can promote this content.