7 eCommerce Site Redesign Hacks

Redesigns are part of a website's lifecycle. It's a chance for you to let loose and unleash your creative talents. However, a redesign is much more than the visual design of a website. There are other factors at play – factors that impact the overall traffic and conversions. Yes, an attractive website is important, but looks won't mean anything if your website cannot convert visitors into paying customers.

Thankfully, some redesigning tips and tricks help drive up traffic and increase conversions easily. These are listed below.

Visitors who use the search bar on your site have almost double the chances of conversion than the ones who do not. It happens because visitors using the search function seek to buy products later compared to users who are just browsing. However, if the search function on your site does not work efficiently or is hard to find, you might lose out on potential buyers. The placement of your search bar and the ease with which it can be used determine a lot of your sales success.

• Make sure the search bar is situated front and center on your website.

• Make the search button a different color from the rest of the color scheme so that it stands out prominently on your page.

• Use the right tags to ensure users get correct results for your products.

• Add filters to increase the effectiveness of your results page. Make sure the filters display products according to not only parameters like size and color, but also clearance items, price, popularity, and release date.

• Include the auto-complete function so that users can find the correct results faster.

• Use semantic-based search instead of plain text.

Exit pages are those pages which visitors use to exit your website. Use sophisticated traffic and sales analytics intelligence tools to know who's visiting your site. Monitor their behavior to determine the exit pages on your website. Improve these pages to convince users not to leave your website, or at least visit again.

• Update all outdated content on your website.

• Fix any links that are broken or display page errors.

• Add links to similar pages at the bottom of your blog post.

• Post relevant internal links in your content to retain visitors on your site.

• Add an effective CTA, such as free downloads or email sign ups on your exit page so that customers quickly know what to do next.

• Offer a free download related to the content on your exit page. This process is also known as a content upgrade.

• Do not attempt all these things on your exit page; go with the ones that make the most sense for your website. Your goal should be to guide your visitors to the logical next step. Make sure they have somewhere to go, so they will want to leave less.
  

Buyers should know that they can trust you before they make a purchase from your website. One of the most effective ways to establish trust is to showcase your contact details directly on the front page. Include live chat features on your site to increase this trust. Having their questions answered by a live person during an online purchase boosts the trust levels of the consumers.

Live chat has become a significant part of customer service, overtaking phone and email support, and it has been found to boost ecommerce conversion rates. Add live chat features to your website using solutions like Olark and LiveChat.

• Add progress bars to your website to indicate how close your visitors are to unlocking the next reward.

• Implement loyalty programs that give out badges and points.

• Add silly games to your website to up the fun element.

• Give customers points for the site or product reviews.

Never overwhelm your visitors with too many options. When trying to increase traffic and boost conversion rates, remember fewer is better. Make it easy for your clients to figure out where they need to click. Simplify your website using the following tricks:

• Provide one-click checkout.
  

• Ensure the checkout page remains clean, containing only the necessary details.

• Use big, eye-catching CTAs, such as "Read more" or "Buy now."

• Limit the number of categories available to ease the browsing process.
  

Reviews can change the minds of customers when it comes to choosing what to buy. Add real user reviews and videos to increase brand engagement. Encourage clients to leave positive product reviews to stand out from the competition and increase conversion.

• Showcase the reviews so that customers make up their minds more easily.

• Send reminder emails some days after your clients receive the product, requesting them to write their reviews.

• Form a loyalty program to reward honest reviewers with points or discounts.

• Simplify the process of leaving reviews.

Make sure the server of your redesigned website is ready to handle the influx of traffic and conversions. Use products like Load Balancer to optimize the traffic distribution across the servers. This ensures that your website performs at 100 percent efficiency, and accommodates more traffic. When your website handles smoothly, clients will find it easier to purchase products, resulting in more conversions.