GSD
The Top Ecommerce Challenge of 2023
Posted by Jonathan Ames on February 9, 2024
When we ran our poll of e-commerce operations in January, the top concern identified from 2023 was converting traffic. This is a good problem to have, but it’s also frustrating to see such a large chunk of your web traffic leaving your site without converting!
I’ve got good news! I’ve seen our clients use two strategies to successfully lift conversion rates. The first is a program of regularly testing content. The second is aggressively working to lower page load speeds. This second strategy also has the secondary benefit of improving SEO.
Solution #1: Testing
Testing is a proven solution that often gets neglected. The application is simple:
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Find your higher-traffic pages with lower conversion rates
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Make a change to the content
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Track the results and keep changes that improve conversion
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Repeat
So why isn’t everyone doing this all the time? Usually, because the work involved in step 2 is either too great, or it happens…but very slowly. The big culprit in both cases is your platform.
Solution #2: Page speed
You may be scratching your head at this strategy, but there is plenty of data proving it does improve not only conversions but also SEO. Studies have shown a roughly 2% improvement in conversion rates for every second of page speed improvements. There are several ways to improve page speed:
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Optimize images
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Use a CDN
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Use light, fast front-end code
So why doesn’t everyone have a lightning-fast site? Just like in Solution #1, a big culprit is your platform.
Quickest fix: Turbocharge your platform
No, you usually don’t have to get rid of your existing platform. You can, however, take steps to power up your existing e-commerce platform. This is how I know these two strategies work! I’ve seen our clients add a headless CMS to their existing tech stack and be able to implement both strategies above to improve conversions for the long term.
Want help mapping out the ROI of a headless CMS for e-commerce? Schedule a call with our team!
ButterCMS is the #1 rated Headless CMS
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Jonathan is a proven digital marketer with a unique ability to build and execute end-to-end strategies. He loves cooking up videos and events that help show how to get great results. He also hosts the podcast “Cutting Edge: Web Content Development.”