9 Ecommerce Website Optimization Tactics [Expert Insights]

1 week ago 12

Want to 2X, 3X, oregon adjacent 4X your ecommerce sales?

Start by diagnosing what’s moving connected your tract and what isn’t.

Then, use targeted fixes based connected existent data. Not hunches.

In this guide, I’m sharing my lessons and strategies from 10+ years successful integer marketing.

Plus, I interviewed 4 starring ecommerce website optimization experts for their champion conversion-driving insights:

  • Leigh McKenzie from UnderFit (also caput of SEO @ Backlinko)
  • Rishi Rawat from Frictionless Commerce
  • Anna Bolton from Conversion Copy Co.
  • Kurt Philip from Convertica
Leading ecommerce website optimization experts

Let’s commencement by identifying the biggest roadblocks lasting betwixt you and much revenue.

Phase 1: Analyze and Diagnose Your Site’s Existing Issues

Every effectual ecommerce website optimization strategy starts with a solid, data-driven diagnosis.

As economist W. Edwards Deming erstwhile said:

“Without data, you’re conscionable different idiosyncratic with an opinion.”

Quantitative Research: Finding Patterns successful the Numbers

Quantitative probe focuses connected analyzing information to place trends and behaviors.

It helps you reply questions astir your online store’s performance, specified as:

  • Where are visitors dropping disconnected successful the funnel?
  • What are users really doing connected each leafage (scrolling, clicking)?
  • How does behaviour disagree crossed postulation segments (e.g., mobile vs. desktop, organic vs. paid)?

The bully news:

There are galore tools to assistance you with this analysis.

Quantitative Research – Data & Key metrics

Google Analytics (GA4)

Google Analytics provides adjuvant insights into idiosyncratic behaviour and website performance.

Including however visitors from antithetic postulation sources behave.

For example, to uncover drop-off points during checkout:

Navigate to Reports > Monetization > Checkout journey.

Google Analytics acquisition  journey

This lets you analyse the travel from checkout to purchase.

And analyse abandonment rates for each signifier to place imaginable bottlenecks.

For example, a precocious abandonment complaint connected the outgo leafage mightiness awesome method issues.

Or spot barriers, specified arsenic last-minute uncertainty astir merchandise quality.

Pro tip: There’s nary cosmopolitan explanation of a precocious abandonment rate. It varies by industry, funnel, and goals. Compare it against your humanities information to spot if there’s a problem.

Hotjar

Hotjar, a heatmap and behaviour analytics tool, is incredibly almighty for qualitative probe (more connected that soon).

Hotjar – Homepage

It gives you a wide representation of however online shoppers interact with your site.

And lets you uncover friction points that frustrate users.

For example, click tracking reveals wherever visitors interact with your site.

And which elements get the astir engagement.

Hotjar – Click tracking

Scroll heatmaps amusement you however acold users marque it down a page. And wherever they driblet off.

Warm colors (like red) bespeak higher engagement.

And chill colors (like blue) awesome little engagement.

Scroll heatmap

Move heatmaps way however shoppers determination their rodent crossed the page.

This reveals areas of involvement and hesitation.

Heatmaps – Areas of interest

Session replays fto you ticker existent idiosyncratic recordings, showing precisely however visitors navigate your site.

Watch this successful enactment below:

Semrush Site Audit

Semrush’s Site Audit tool uncovers method issues that impact SEO and the idiosyncratic acquisition (UX).

For example, it flags crawl errors, which are usually caused by broken links oregon incorrect redirects.

Site Audit – Spoke – URL with a impermanent  redirect

These dormant ends confuse users and marque it harder for hunt engines to crawl your pages.

(And if Google struggles to crawl them, your ranking tin instrumentality a hit.)

The instrumentality besides identifies slow-loading pages that frustrate visitors.

Site Audit – Spoke –Errors & Warnings

It tin besides place codification bloat (aka excessively overmuch JavaScript oregon unused CSS) that makes pages sluggish.

This tin origin delayed interactions that little conversion rates.

Site Audit – Sephora – Site Performance

Qualitative Research: Uncover the “Why” Behind the Data

Qualitative probe helps you recognize why customers behave the mode they do.

Including their symptom points, motivations, and desires.

It besides helps you place barriers to conversion, specified arsenic hesitations astir buying.

And larn astir different products your web visitors are considering.

Quantitative Research

Qualitative Research Methods

There are galore information sources for qualitative insights.

And each 1 tin uncover antithetic issues and opportunities:

Research Method What to Look For Effort level
Recorded income calls Patterns successful lawsuit questions, objections, oregon recurring themes Low
Live chat transcripts Common symptom points, often asked questions, oregon sources of confusion Low
Customer reviews Trends successful affirmative and antagonistic feedback. This includes circumstantial phrases oregon words that item desires, frustrations, oregon expectations Low
Online surveys Customer sentiment toward marque messaging and code and reasons for abandonment Low to medium
Customer interviews Insights into lawsuit motivations, needs, anxieties, and desires successful their ain words Medium to high
User investigating sessions Usability issues, unexpected idiosyncratic behaviors, oregon areas wherever users conflict to implicit tasks High

But you don’t request to spell all-in connected each qualitative method close disconnected the bat.

Start with the information you already have.

Then, gradually level up arsenic clip and resources allow.

Turn Your Research Into Actionable Insights

You’ve got the research.

Now, you request a strategy to signifier it.

As Anna Bolton, main CRO and conversion copywriter of Conversion Copy Co., says:

The situation isn’t conscionable gathering research—it’s making consciousness of it. Whether you’re analyzing heatmaps, surveys, oregon reviews, you request to crook that information into meaningful insights. This starts with due investigation to place cardinal patterns and trends. And past you request to recognize that information successful context—what it means for your business, audience, and goals. That’s what turns earthy information into results.

So, what bash you do?

Build a probe repository to bring each your insights unneurotic successful 1 place.

Think of it arsenic a surviving database of findings and insights. This way, it’s easier for you to enactment connected data.

But you don’t request thing fancy.

Start with a elemental spreadsheet.

Include everything from lawsuit probe (interviews, surveys) to conversion complaint optimization (CRO) results and survey data.

For example, Anna and I usage a spreadsheet similar the 1 beneath for one-off lawsuit projects.

Spreadsheet – Research repository

For larger-scale projects, usage UX probe tools similar Aurelius Lab and Dovetail.

These tools connection much precocious ways to store, categorize, and retrieve insights.

Aurtelius Lab – Analysis board

Phase 2: Apply Ecommerce Website Optimization Fixes to Increase Conversions

The ecommerce website optimization champion practices we’re astir to screen are designed to bash 1 thing:

Improve the lawsuit experience.

And erstwhile you bash that, conversions people follow.

Side note: If you’re present for SEO tips, instrumentality around. While I’m focusing connected conversion complaint optimization, CRO and SEO are becoming progressively intertwined. Anything you bash to marque your tract amended for humans volition besides marque Google happy.

As Leigh McKenzie, caput of SEO astatine Backlinko and proprietor of UnderFit, says:

“Conversion complaint optimization is becoming much and much an SEO responsibility. Google heavy rewards websites that present a affirmative idiosyncratic experience. It’s nary longer astir conscionable bringing traffic. It’s besides astir what happens erstwhile radical get there.”

1. Boost Page Load Times

Fast-loading pages are non-negotiable for a large idiosyncratic experience.

Ignore speed, and conversions and bounce rates volition suffer.

But summation speed. And bully things follow.

Take Vodafone, for example.

After optimizing their Core Web Vitals, they saw:

  • 8% much sales
  • 11% boost successful cart-to-visit rates
  • 15% leap successful lead-to-visit rates
Vodafone's Core Web Vitals betterment  results 

Test your tract velocity (and Core Web Vitals) with tools similar Google’s PageSpeed Insights.

PageSpeed Insights – LCP

Here’s what to purpose for:

For Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) people nether 2.5 seconds.

Google's largest contentful overgarment   guidelines

For Interaction to Next Paint (INP), 200ms oregon less.

Google's Interaction to Next Paint Guidelines

And for Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS), support it beneath 0.1.

Google's cumulative layout displacement  guidelines

How to Optimize Page Speed

Not hitting Core Web Vitals benchmarks?

Here’s however to hole that:

Start with a contented transportation web (CDN) similar Cloudflare oregon AWS CloudFront.

It speeds up your tract by delivering contented from servers person to your users. This reduces lag and load times.

Implement a CDN to boost speed

Next, upgrade to high-performance hosting to minimize server effect delays.

Plus, usage tools similar Tinify to shrink uncompressed images portion preserving quality.

Tinify – Compression tool

Then, cleanable up unnecessary code.

You tin bash this with tools similar Terser, which helps amended rendering speeds.

Terser – Homepage

Lastly, don’t hide browser caching.

Activate browser caching

This helps repetition visitors load your tract faster by storing assets locally.

Note: Use the Semrush Site Audit Tool to place and hole Core Web Vitals issues. Get a 14-day Semrush proceedings here.

Site Audit – Homebase – Core Web Vitals – Metrics

2. Optimize High-Impact Pages First

Want to spot results fast?

Begin with the pages that connection the quickest wins, specified arsenic merchandise and checkout pages.

This is what Rishi Rawat, merchandise leafage optimization specializer astatine Frictionless Commerce, does.

I enactment exclusively connected bestselling merchandise pages due to the fact that they person the highest impact. My extremity is to crook first-time visitors into buyers. Since these pages already thrust a large stock of the store’s revenue, I don’t dispersed optimization efforts thin. Instead, I amended the income transportation and sharpen the merchandise story. And past I marque what’s already moving adjacent much persuasive.

So, however bash you place your site’s high-impact pages?

Look astatine wherever a leafage fits successful the marketing funnel.

Consumer Goods Marketing Funnel

Start with the pages closest to the sale.

These are the pages that pull visitors successful the determination and enactment stages. Such arsenic merchandise pages oregon the cart page.

But you mightiness besides see different pages based connected idiosyncratic behavior.

For example, optimize the merchandise and cart pages if your tract has precocious cart abandonment.

GA – Purchase journey

This ensures the product page sets the close expectations.

So, erstwhile shoppers get to checkout, they consciousness assured successful their choice.

But, if your extremity is to boost mobile sales, optimize the mobile acquisition first.

Want to maximize paid ads conversions? Make merchandise landing pages a priority.

3. Make Navigation and Search Intuitive

Shoppers don’t ever permission due to the fact that they dislike your products.

Sometimes, they permission due to the fact that they can’t find what they’re looking for.

That’s wherefore navigation plays a large relation successful ecommerce website optimization.

If your navigation makes users rethink their adjacent step, you’re already losing them.

For example, ideate you’re searching for canine crates connected favored institution Chewy’s website.

Chewy – Intuitive navigation

You benignant the results by price.

Chewy – Filter – Price debased  to high

But now, the archetypal products you spot are fastener latch replacements and crate pans—not canine crates.

Chewy – Filtered by terms  – Low-to precocious   – Results

That’s a atrocious idiosyncratic experience.

And it mightiness outgo them the sale.

The solution?

Always trial filters earlier motorboat to guarantee they enactment arsenic expected.

And plan navigation to accommodate to assorted browsing behaviors.

Make backtracking casual with breadcrumbs and a “Recently Viewed” section.

Plus, usage AI to suggest applicable filters, related categories, and apical products.

Chewy – Related Searches

Navigation besides impacts SEO.

As Leigh enactment it,

Good navigation isn’t conscionable astir getting users to a page. It’s astir keeping them engaged successful the buying process. Shoppers privation to spot merchandise variations, comparison options, and refine their choices easily. When they do, they enactment longer. And that’s what Google values. It favors sites wherever users prosecute alternatively than bounce backmost to hunt results. That’s wherefore you privation to optimize for getting radical deeper into the experience.

4. Fix Product Page Issues

Have low-converting merchandise pages?

They mightiness beryllium missing cardinal information, similar sizing oregon dimensions.

So, don’t springiness shoppers reasons to uncertainty the purchase.

Provide captious details intelligibly and compellingly.

Product leafage   issues

Here’s what I mean.

For covering and shoes, indispensable buying criteria see fit, size, and instrumentality policies.

Include details similar aggregate “fit” subscore (a summary of however good an point fits based connected idiosyncratic reviews). Especially for items similar jeans.

The covering tract Everlane includes user-reported acceptable information close connected their merchandise pages.

Everlane – Reviews

For furniture, you’d privation to see dimensions, materials, assembly, warranty information, and more.

But displaying this accusation isn’t enough. It needs to beryllium casual to find and absorb.

That’s wherefore Wayfair includes a clear, at-a-glance merchandise details section.

Wayfair – Furniture cardinal  informations

For nutrient and supplements, ingredients and nutrition details are non-negotiable.

Supplement institution AlgaeCal prominently displays these details close successful the leader section.

AlgaeCal – Product details

Your merchandise representation assemblage is different imaginable crushed for debased conversions.

But don’t conscionable amusement your product. Use it to archer its story.

I emotion however Huel, a plant-based nutrient company, does this.

It adds cardinal selling points straight onto merchandise photos.

Like nutrition facts and merchandise benefits.

Huel – Nutrition facts & merchandise  benefits

User-generated content (UGC) besides works good arsenic an summation to your photograph gallery.

It tin besides boost credibility by showing your products successful existent life.

Popov Leather – Product – UGC

Videos supply an adjacent richer view.

Clothing institution ASOS includes abbreviated video clips that amusement however covering moves and fits connected existent people.

5. Make Checkout Easy

Checkout is simply a fragile portion of the conversion funnel.

It’s the infinitesimal erstwhile the lawsuit is closest to buying.

And astir apt to hesitate.

That’s wherefore 65% of shoppers wantonness their carts earlier completing a purchase. Ouch.

Abandonment

So, what should you do?

Make the checkout process effortless.

Consider Amazon’s one-click checkout.

Amazon – Product – Buy Now button

The little reasoning required and the faster the process, the higher the conversions.

One mode to bash this?

Strip the checkout process down to the essentials.

For example, lone inquire for the bare minimum successful your checkout form.

  • Name
  • Email
  • Delivery address
  • Billing address
  • Payment details
Nike – Checkout form

If you indispensable inquire for further details—like a telephone number—explain why.

Transparency reduces friction.

Felix Gray – Product checkout – Phone question   mark

If checkout requires galore steps, usage a advancement indicator. It shows shoppers however acold they are successful the process.

This reduces uncertainty and keeps them moving forward.

Booking – Checkout process

Guest checkout is non-negotiable.

Why?

Forcing users to make an relationship hurts conversions.

Over 26% of shoppers wantonness checkout erstwhile forced to make an account.

Abandon – Checkout statistics

Let them bargain first.

Then, invitation them to make an relationship after the purchase.

That’s what Boots, a wellness and quality retailer, does.

Boots – heckout arsenic  guest

As Kurt Philip, CEO of Convertica, says:

Forcing radical to make an relationship is an unnecessary barrier. You tin conscionable auto-generate 1 for them. Let them cheque retired first, and past nonstop them a confirmation email with their details. And a ‘Set Your Password’ enactment later. That way, the process stays frictionless, and they inactive get an relationship without effort.

But see this:

Your occupation doesn’t halt erstwhile idiosyncratic adds an point to the cart.

This is your accidental to region immoderate last-minute hesitation and get the sale.

Ridge Wallet, an accessories manufacturer, does this well.

It displays societal impervious astatine the apical of the checkout leafage by highlighting its “100K+ 5-star reviews.”

It besides includes spot boosters similar a risk-free proceedings and accelerated shipping.

Rdge – Product checkout – Social proof

Outdoor cogwheel institution Patagonia highlights its “Ironclad Guarantee” connected the checkout page.

This reassures buyers that buying is risk-free.

And it besides strengthens Patagonia’s credibility.

Patagonia – Ironclad Guarantee

Clothing institution Everlane besides understands the powerfulness of timing.

It reminds shoppers of first-time purchaser discounts astatine checkout to promote them to instrumentality vantage of savings.

Helping to trim cart abandonment.

And person hesitant buyers.

Everlane – Checkout savings

6. Write Copy That Educates and Persuades

Conversion copy isn’t conscionable astir clever wording.

It’s astir guiding shoppers to enactment done wide accusation and persuasive web design.

Clarify Your Message

First-time visitors should instantly recognize what you merchantability and who it’s for.

Boom Beauty’s merchandise leafage is simply a large example.

Their transcript intelligibly communicates some merchandise purpose, perfect customer, and benefits:

  • “Three multitasking quality essentials”
  • “Three sticks. Endless Possibilities.”
  • “Simplify your quality routine”
Boom Beauty – Product description

Layer Persuasion Principles into Every Page

Preemptively code objections with persuasion principles.

Kitchenware institution Caraway does this by answering a cardinal question upfront:

“Is this cookware safe?”

Caraway – Persuasion principles

Right away, shoppers spot “Non-Toxic Coating.”

And the transcript underneath provides much details astir the toxic materials you won’t find successful their cookware.

Balance Benefits and Features

As they browse, shoppers are perpetually thinking:

“What’s successful it for me?”

That’s wherefore you request to database benefits on with features.

Menswear marque Spoke London does this well.

On their homepage, they item what makes their menswear different.

Like a “flawless fit” and “uncompromising design.”

Spoke – Copy

Use Design to Support Your Copy

Strong transcript needs arsenic beardown visuals.

When I wrote transcript for a look disguise merchandise page, the plan amplified my cardinal messaging by:

  • Showing however the disguise is worn
  • Using close-ups to beryllium prime claims
  • Creating a clean, scannable layout

Together, they created a much persuasive buying experience.

Irestore – Design supports copy

7. Optimize for Mobile Buyer Behavior

Mobile shoppers think, browse, and bargain otherwise than desktop users.

In fact, determination are 4 cardinal behavioral differences, according to a study.

This includes their hunt behavior, cognitive effort, engagement, and presumption successful the funnel.

Behavioral Differences Mobile Shoppers Desktop Shoppers
Search Behavior Less divers searches More divers searches
Cognitive Effort Prefer tasks requiring little cognitive effort Have the patience for tasks that impact much probe oregon exploration
Engagement Fewer visits and less searches per visit More visits and much searches
Position successful the Funnel Tend to beryllium much precocious successful the conversion funnel More evenly distributed betwixt probe and determination stages

This means you can’t conscionable shrink your desktop tract and telephone it mobile-optimized.

Instead, plan for however mobile users really shop.

First, trim cognitive load—the intelligence effort required to implicit a task.

It’s higher connected mobile owed to smaller screens and constricted navigation options.

Show lone indispensable accusation first, past uncover much arsenic needed.

This “progressive disclosure” keeps pages focused and reduces overwhelm.

Sephora is simply a large illustration of this.

Sephora – Progressive disclosure

Like galore ecommerce sites, they archetypal utilized a hamburger paper to simplify navigation.

But, their research showed users were inactive experiencing friction.

So, they replaced the hamburger paper with a scrollable navigation and pop-up filters.

Top categories appeared first, and much filters were accessible arsenic needed.

Sephora – Mobile – Homepage

The result? A measurable increase successful mobile engagement and conversions.

Another mode to amended the mobile acquisition is by minimizing typing and input friction.

You tin bash this by:

  • Auto-switching to the close keyboard (numeric for recognition cards, email for logins)
  • Enabling autofill for addresses and outgo details to trim manual typing
  • Using dropdowns and prefilled options to velocity up signifier completion
  • Ensuring buttons and links are ample capable to pat easy without zooming
Sephora – Mobile – Prominent button

Mobile users besides privation accelerated hunt and filtering options.

Use predictive hunt with auto-suggestions based connected past searches and fashionable queries.

Sephora – Mobile – Search – Blush

8. Personalize the Shopping Experience

Forty percent of ecommerce customers expect a personalized experience.

Personalize the buying  acquisition   – Study

But you don’t person to personalize everything.

The extremity is to marque shoppers consciousness similar you recognize their needs. Not that you’re watching their each move.

For example, motorcycle cogwheel institution Revzilla dynamically adjusts shipping accusation based connected idiosyncratic behaviour and location.

The banner updates instantly erstwhile I visit, displaying region-specific shipping details.

Though it’s a U.S.-based site, it tailors contented for my determination successful Croatia.

Revzilla – Shipping

It’s 1 tiny change.

But it resolves a cardinal interest earlier it adjacent becomes a question.

This reduces friction successful the buying decision.

So, what other tin you personalize?

Here are immoderate examples.

Tiffany & Co. has a slide-in model for returning visitors that welcomes you back.

And encourages you to “continue shopping” by reminding you of the products you’ve viewed.

Tiffany & Co. has a descent  successful  model   for returning visitors

Amazon personalizes its homepage based connected your buying behavior, displaying:

  • Products you’ve viewed and bought
  • Deals related to your past interactions
Amazon – Homepage

Effective personalization relies connected 4 cardinal information types to make tailored experiences:

  • First-party data (profiles, quizzes, preferences): This lets you personalize recommendations based connected lawsuit input
  • Browsing behavior (page views, hunt patterns, cart activity): Helps accommodate contented successful real-time
  • CRM data (buying history, abandoned carts): Powers retargeting campaigns and perfectly timed offers
  • Predictive insights: Uses AI to analyse patterns and foretell needs

9. A/B Test to Learn. Not Just to Win.

At the bosom of ecommerce website optimization is A/B testing.

But here’s the thing:

Your extremity isn’t conscionable astir uncovering a “winning variation.”

It’s to larn much astir the science of your buyers.

As Jonny Longden, main maturation serviceman astatine Speero, puts it:

When you tally a test, whether it wins oregon loses is successful immoderate ways irrelevant due to the fact that you tin larn thing from it. Some of the astir palmy tests that you volition tally hap arsenic a effect of a trial that lost. When you pursuit winners, you disregard that fact.

For example, if a spot badge increases conversions, the existent takeaway isn’t conscionable that the badge works.

It’s that customers request much reassurance earlier they springiness you their recognition card.

This penetration goes beyond checkout.

It suggests that spot signals should beryllium reinforced earlier successful the buying journey. On merchandise pages, successful the cart, and adjacent successful post-purchase messaging.

Why?

If hesitation exists astatine checkout, it apt started agelong before.

One much thing.

A/B investigating lone works if you person capable postulation to scope statistical significance.

Kurt says your trial leafage should person astatine slightest 10,000 visits per month.

This gives you meaningful insights successful a tenable timeframe.

But postulation unsocial isn’t enough.

What matters is whether you tin scope statistical significance. This ensures your results aren’t conscionable owed to chance.

To find the close illustration size, usage Optimizely’s A/B Test Sample Size Calculator.

Optimizely – Sample size calculator

Now, if your postulation is excessively low, A/B investigating whitethorn not beryllium the champion instrumentality yet.

But that doesn’t mean you can’t optimize your ecommerce website.

Here’s what you tin bash instead:

Multi-armed bandit (MAB) investigating dynamically directs postulation to better-performing pages.

It doesn’t hold for statistical significance.

Instead, it continuously reallocates postulation successful existent clip to maximize conversions arsenic information is collected.

AB vs Bandit Testing

Another alternate is pre/post testing.

Instead of splitting traffic, trial 1 saltation for a acceptable play and past power to another.

Finally, marque high-impact changes similar a afloat rewrite and redesign of a merchandise page.

These larger changes are much apt to output noticeable improvements.

Ways to optimize for debased  postulation   sites

Transform Your Ecommerce Site into a Sales Machine

The bottommost line:

You could beryllium leaving thousands of dollars connected the array with your ecommerce site.

Optimize it the close way, and you could double—or adjacent triple—your revenue.

Remember, diagnose first and past marque strategic, high-impact changes.

Want much proven ecommerce website optimization strategies to boost your sales?

Our definitive usher to conversion complaint optimization includes:

  • A/B investigating basics
  • A blueprint for high-converting landing pages
  • Conversion transcript tactics that persuade

The station 9 Ecommerce Website Optimization Tactics [Expert Insights] appeared archetypal connected Backlinko.

Read Entire Article