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Conversion Rate Optimization for eCommerce

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Conversion is more than just a buzzword for digital marketers. If you have an online store, you definitely have to understand what it is. After all, your eCommerce site’s success relies on how well it can convert customers. 

Once you’ve set up the digital shop, done the branding, and planned your marketing strategy, you may think that you’re all set. But it’s not where it ends. On the contrary, your journey as an entrepreneur is just beginning. 

Now that your online store is up and running, what do you do? In an increasingly competitive digital landscape, you have to learn to optimize for conversion. You have to fight for your space in the world of eCommerce. The truth is improving conversion rates is a lot of work, but it can be done. So let us guide you through it. 

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What is Conversion?

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First things first. What is conversion anyway? 

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It depends on whom you ask really. But to put it simply, conversion is the action you want a visitor to take on your website. For an eCommerce site, that would be a purchase. However, that’s just one type of conversion. It can take many forms including:

• A sale
• A new account signup
• Add to cart
• Products saved on a wishlist
• Newsletter signup
• Shares on social media
  

Aside from a completed purchase, these other forms of conversion matter because they can lead to a potential sale, an intent to purchase, or at the very least, awareness of your brand. New account signup means another customer knows your digital shop exists and later on, may buy items from you. Adding to cart and saving products on a wishlist signify an intent to purchase. The same goes for newsletter signup because the customer wants to be notified about your shop and your offers. Finally, social media shares mean your products are getting noticed. This can increase awareness and even lead to traffic to your site.

For these reasons, you would want to track these types of conversion because they can all result in a sale. You, as an online store owner, would also be informed about the users’ path to purchase that can help you make site improvements later on.

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How Do You Determine Conversion Rate?

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But how exactly do you measure conversion rate? Is there a formula for this?

Yes, there is and it’s pretty straightforward. To get your website’s conversion rate, you simply have to divide your conversions by the total number of visits to your website or landing page. Then whatever you get, multiply it to 100. An online shop with 10,000 visitors and 500 conversions has a conversion rate of 5%.
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To illustrate, 500/10,000 x 100% = 5%. 

Sounds easy enough, right? The problem lies when you don’t even measure these metrics. 

The good news is that there are different tools to help you analyze them — one of them being Google Analytics. You just need to link it to your website and your Google Ads account so you can track those conversions. It measures how many visitors you have on a certain period as well as new and returning visitors. Another cool feature is that it can also indicate how visitors found your website, whether through a direct Google search, a Facebook ad, or a link from a blog.

This way, you can see what campaigns are effective and which ones are not working as much. Don’t forget to also set up your goals for each specific landing page like add to cart, purchase, wishlist, and so on. As it is, Google Analytics is already an effective way to measure the factors that affect your conversion as long as it’s set up correctly.

If you want to go the extra mile, you may also sign up for a Hotjar account, a heatmap tool that shows you what visitors do on your website. It can even record website sessions for you so you can see what actions they are performing on your site. 

These are just two tools, but go ahead and do a quick search on your own. You’ll find that there are other helpful platforms like Crazy Egg, Clicktale, and BigCommerce. Just choose which ones are easy enough for you to use. 

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The Average Conversion Rate for eCommerce Stores

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Now for the million-dollar question. What should you be aiming for as a conversion rate for your digital store?

The short answer is 2-3%. On average, most eCommerce sites have a 2-3% conversion rate. Of course, there are exceptions like Play.Google.com that has a whopping 30% conversion rate. You don’t have to get to 30% right away, although that would be great. Realistically, if you breach the 2-3% conversion rate for your store, you’ll already be good.