Product Page Setup: 17 Tips to Increase Conversion Rate and Drive More Sales

23 min read

If you’ve got website traffic, it’s because you put in the work to make it happen. You found a good product. Set up your store. Figured out social media and search engines. And probably a whole lot more. And after all that hard work, you don’t want shoppers to leave your store empty-handed.

So what do you do when website traffic is growing, but your sales aren’t? Well my friend, you’ve come to the right place.

We’ve spent years studying product pages to understand what makes visitors convert, and we can’t wait to share that learning with you. Read on to discover simple product page changes you can make to improve your website conversion rate.

Struggling to get traffic to your store? Check out 12 ways to make your first sale for some pro-tips on driving website traffic.

Before Your Start: Understanding Conversions

A conversion is a specific customer action on your website that’s considered valuable to your business. For example, a click on the “Add to Cart” button, a subscription to your newsletter, or a completed purchase. So measuring conversions allows you to see how effective your product pages are at encouraging those desired actions.

In mathematical terms, the conversion rate is the number of desired actions on the webpage divided by the total number of visitors. So if your product page receives 100 visitors per day and 10 of them purchase the product, the conversion rate of that page would be 10%.

A conversion can refer to any action that contributes to the ultimate goal of your website — from adding products to completing a purchase — and site owners will generally identify several conversion factors to measure.

Conversion rates by traffic source according to a study of Episerver retail clients (1.3 billion unique shopping sessions across 159 unique retail and consumer brand websites)

To understand whether your product page needs improvement, measure its conversion rate against the average conversion rates for stores in your niche. To do that, you’ll need Google Analytics (the most popular free tool for tracking website data). If you’re an Ecwid merchant, you can check out our article to learn how to connect your Ecwid store to your Google Analytics account. If not, check out these instructions from Google Ads Help.

With Google Analytics reports, you’ll get information about your customers’ behavior, like how many people visited your store, how many of them completed a purchase, and if not, what pages they visited last before they left. With this information, you’ll be able to see what pages you can and should optimize to increase your overall conversion rate.

For another interesting look at your website performance, you can use tools like Hotjar to create a heat map, which is a graphical representation of where your visitors click, move, and scroll on your website.

Heatmaps show what page elements are clicked the most

Heat maps are great for understanding things, like:

Which product photos visitors click the most
How far down the page visitors scroll
And whether or not visitors notice important details, like free shipping offers, security badges, and “Buy” buttons.

Understanding how visitors behave in your store and interact with product pages can offer valuable insight to improve conversion rates.

How to Increase Conversion Rates on Your Product Pages

On any product page, your goal is to provide customers with enough information to make an informed decision about purchasing your product. A product page should showcase your product, explain why it’s great, and provide evidence to back it up.

OneSpace’s infographic on the types of content that are most important to customers

Here are some key tips to keep in mind when creating a product page:

1. Set a competitive price

With the advent of browser plugins like Priceblink, online shoppers can compare prices from different stores in an instant. Knowing what similar or alternative products are selling for will help you set your prices competitively to increase conversion rates.

Of course, lower prices aren’t always the right answer. Underpricing your items can make your product more widely affordable, but it might also give the impression that your products are inferior to higher priced options. Conversely, higher prices can give the impression of better quality, but it can also deter thrifty shoppers looking for the best deal. So the most competitive price is the one that aligns most closely to what your target audience desires and expects.

To determine the right pricing strategy for your store:

Define your target audience and develop customer profiles
Study competitor prices
Then test a variety of prices to choose a strategy that will allow you to position your store competitively while maintaining profitability.

To make things a little easier, take a look at some of the most common pricing trends. And remember to do your homework by checking in with your competition regularly.

More: 3 Bulletproof E-commerce Pricing Strategies to Consider for Your Online Store

2. State your value proposition

A value proposition is a summary of why people should buy your products and services over another. Your value proposition should be specific, memorable, and unique to you. In 1-2 short sentences, shoppers should be able to understand how your store differs from your competition and what makes your store the right choice for their specific needs.

Usually a value proposition is placed on the homepage of your website, like in your store description or reflected in your brand’s tagline. However, your product pages might also benefit from the inclusion of your value proposition. In your product description , you can explain what benefit your product provides to customers and why no one else can do that product or service quite like you. However you choose to say it, make sure it’s simple and concise.

A product name can also reflect a value proposition (Taylor Family Farm)

More: How to Create a Strong Value Proposition for Your Online Store

3. Include multiple high-quality images

The product picture is the first thing that catches shoppers’ attention. According to Clickz, it’s also the longest-viewed element on the page. People spend about 20% of their total time on product pages reviewing product images, so it’s important to invest max effort into acquiring great product photography.

share of time spent on a product page

When shopping online, customers can’t physically interact with a product, so product images are essential to determining if a certain product is right for their needs. Every product page should feature high quality and aesthetically pleasing images that showcase the product from a variety of different angles and in a variety of different use-cases.

If you’re new to product photography, check out our blogs on how to take beautiful product photos as well as how to avoid some of the most common product photography mistakes, like bad lighting and distracting backgrounds.

Focus-Fixers uses multiple images to showcase their products

More: Where to Find Models for Your Fashion Brand

4. Try 3D product models

A few high-quality images might be enough to give shoppers a general sense of your product, but that doesn’t mean that’s all you can —or even should — do.

The more customers can see of your product, the better. So blow your customers away with 3D product models. Not only will they let shoppers see your products from every possible angle, but they’ll also help you stand out from your competitors, which is essential to improving conversion rates.

A 3D model of a product made with the Ecwid Mobile App

5. Add cinemagraphs

Сinemagraphs are photos with one or more moving elements. The animated pictures have a surprise element which makes people stop and stare.

This cinemagraph highlights water-proofness of a jacket (Julien Douvier for Maje X K-Way)

Cinemagraphs aren’t a new trend — in fact, they’ve been around in some form or another since 2011 — but surprisingly, very few websites actually use them (probably because they don’t know how to get one). Now, they may look complicated, but don’t be intimidated: check out our blog to find out how to DIY your very own cinemagraph.

6. Add a product video

Videos are a helpful way to let customers experience your products before they buy. Videos are useful when you need to:

Show products in action,
Or educate customers on how to use a product.

Asos adds videos to their product pages

Consider Playtronica for a second. Playtronica sells unique products — playtrons — that allow customers to play music on any surface. If someone sees their products for the first time, they probably won’t know how to use them. So Playtronica uses video to demonstrate to customers exactly what their products do and how they work. Without a great video to communicate the unique benefits of their products, it would be difficult for Playtronica to sell their unique products successfully.

Here’s how to add a video to a product gallery in your Ecwid store.

7. Make prices more attractive

Nothing drives sales quite like a deal. So here are some tips on how to use sales — or the appearance of one — to increase conversion rates in your store.

Set sale prices. Even a small discount can positively influence customers’ decisions to buy. In Ecwid stores, products with sale prices get a special label to immediately lure customers’ eyes, which in turn, helps to increase your website conversion rate.

Just Saiyan Gear makes their sale prices more prominent with a contrasting label
Create bulk discounts — Let’s say you sell a product for $10. With bulk discounts, if a customer buys five items, you might drop the price per item to $9. So the more they buy, the more they save. Win-win.
Allow installment payments — Installment payments are particularly effective if you sell expensive products that can be difficult to afford outright. Maybe you sell handmade wooden chairs for $400 a piece. A lump $400 payment might be too much for some shoppers, but an option to make four monthly payments of $100 could be just the right incentive to get that purchase over the line.
Set up a currency converter if you sell to multiple countries. If foreign shoppers can see prices in their native currency, it will be much easier for that shopper to make an informed purchase decision quickly.

8. Display the number of products in stock

Create scarcity and make your products more desirable by displaying an inventory level indicator on your product pages. Bonus: you won’t have to deliver the bad news to customers when a product runs out just as they’re about to buy.

Miu Mau shows the number of items in stock under the price

9. Show shipping options

If your shipping is fast and/or free, don’t neglect to shout it from the rooftops on your product pages.

Messages like, “Order before 3:00 pm, and get it tomorrow,” can go a long way toward encouraging shoppers to convert.

And if you’ve got a free shipping offer, you can add a ribbon to your product page to make sure shoppers don’t miss it when they’re browsing.

A free shipping product ribbon on the product page

10. Add live chat to your store

Does live chat increase conversion rates? Yes, and experts agree.

Shoppers ask an avalanche of questions about products, shipping, payment, and more. The easier you are to contact, and the faster you can respond, the more trustworthy you’ll appear as a seller. And that trust can have a direct impact on a shopper’s decision to purchase.

Add live chat to your website to let customers message you right from your product pages and get answers in real-time to the questions affecting their likeliness to convert. The fastest way to add a live chat to an Ecwid store is by connecting your store to Facebook Messenger:

Messenger is one of the most popular global messaging apps, which means most shoppers will already know how to use it.
Conversations are saved in Facebook Messenger’s inbox, so you won’t miss important messages if you’re offline when a customer reaches out to you.
And you can even add Facebook Messenger live chat to your store in just a couple of clicks.

Customers can see the message button under the product description

11. Provide the right personalization options

When talking with our support team about ways to increase conversion rate, they told us a story about an Ecwid merchant who reached out to their team because his store didn’t have any sales. He was selling shoes, and while he could see traffic was coming in, he wasn’t getting any real conversions. Upon further investigation, the support team discovered that his product pages didn’t have an option to select shoe size. Interested customers were leaving his website because he hadn’t set up customization options.

If you sell products that offer a variety of configurations, make sure to include that in your products’ pages by offering customers the ability to customize their purchase, for example choosing the size, color, pattern, or material. If you’re on an Ecwid store, you can set this up easily with the help of options and variations.

Don’t forget to add pictures of your various options to your product pages. For example, if you sell t-shirts in multiple colors, make sure you show your customers what those t-shirts looks like in each color. Don’t leave anything to the imagination. The more informed your customer is, the more likely they’ll be to convert.

The Little Boat House provides a variety of options to make every purchase feel special

12. Add evidence

One of the ways to increase conversion rate on a product page is to demonstrate that your store is trustworthy. Buying online can be scary because it’s impossible to interact with a product before placing an order. So it’s your job to make your customers feel secure while they shop. To do that, customers need to know that the products they’re buying are high quality and easy to return. Here are some elements that will help to communicate that:

return & refund policy
warranty period
product certificates and quality labels, bestseller marks
safety precautions
reviews, testimonials, and case studies
FAQ

Cakesafe’s evidence in their product description

13. Add emotions

A while back, researchers analyzed case studies from 1,400 of the most successful advertising campaigns over the last 30 years. They compared two types of campaigns: those that relied on emotional appeals and those that relied on rational information. What they found is that the campaigns that relied purely on emotion performed twice as well as those based purely on rational information.

Creative copy in a product description on Fenty Beauty

We’re all only human. And as much as we like to pretend that we make all our decisions logically, more often than not, emotion plays a bigger part than we’d care to admit. So it’s important to make your product page appeal to emotions as well as logic. Opt for lively pictures and words that make customers react: laugh, be surprised, pause to think, etc. If you use pop-ups or banners, this applies to those too.

Informal and emotional language on a banner from Too Cool for School

14. Test different page layouts

The design of your product page also plays a role in conversions. For example, a wide layout may discourage customers, while contrasting elements can attract interest (that’s why call-to-action buttons should use colors that contrast with your website background).

One of the most popular frameworks for designing a web page is the “F”-pattern. The “F”-pattern of web-design is based on the fact that users tend to read content in an “F”-pattern when browsing a web page. While this pattern is a great starting point, don’t forget to test multiple layouts to find the design that best resonates with your specific audience.

Heatmaps from user eyetracking studies by Nielsen Norman Group

15. Use images of people

Fun fact: According to Instagram researchers, pictures with faces are 38% more likely to receive likes than photos without faces, based on a study of more than 1 million Instagram photos. More interestingly, the number, age, and gender of the faces in the photos didn’t impact the likelihood of receiving likes. So, when it comes time to add images to your product pages, opt for photos with people.

Now, this is probably obvious if you sell clothes or fashion accessories, but other stores can benefit from this insight as well. Showing how people interact with your products can also help educate customers on your products’ use-cases.

Sephora uses pictures with people to show how products look in real life

16. Offer more payment methods

One of the most important steps to improving conversion rates online is making the purchase process easier for your customers. While some shoppers prefer to pay with a card, others might use PayPal. If you’re not sure how your various customer segments like to pay for purchases online, it might be a good idea to set up a quick poll. The more you know about your customers’ preferences, the better equipped you’ll be to create a product page that increases conversions.

Pro tip: Don’t wait until checkout to show your customers your payment options. Add icons or messages about popular payment systems like PayPal and Afterpay or logos for bank cards like Visa and Mastercard. And if you add payment options in Ecwid, some icons will display on your product pages automatically.

Les Fermes Valens displays payment options on each product page

17. Keep it simple

It’s common advice, but one far too many websites fail to apply: keep it simple. In a brick-and-mortar store, shoppers can usually find their way to the products and cash register fairly easily (hopefully). It’s when things get complicated that people start to head for the parking lot. Online stores should strive for a similarly intuitive experience.

Too many ads, too many buttons, too many steps to place an order and your customer’s attention will ultimately be drawn away from the purchase you’re trying so desperately to get them to make. If you want to improve your website conversion rate, don’t distract customers with anything but what you need to get them through the checkout process.

Too many distractions can ultimately confuse customers

Upgrade Product Pages to Increase Conversion Rate

Following this guide will clear a path between your customers and their purchase. You’ll likely see an increase in time spent on page in addition to growth in those all important conversions.

If after implementing this guide, you still haven’t seen an increase in conversions, you may need to attract higher quality website traffic, i.e. an audience that actually needs your stuff. Make conversion-optimization an ongoing process, but don’t tie yourself to what you’ve read here. Keep testing and finding what works for your store, and with a little determination — and maybe a few cups of coffee — you’ll be on your way to improving conversion rates in no time.

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Feb 25, 2020

About the author

Jesse is the Marketing Manager at Ecwid and has been in e-commerce and internet marketing since 2006. He has experience with PPC, SEO, conversion optimization and loves to work with entrepreneurs to make their dreams a reality.