The notion that “If you build it, they will come” might have worked in the 1800s, or even in the 80s classic Kevin Costner film, Field of Dreams, but unfortunately many entrepreneurs still believe that customers will start pouring in the moment their new site goes live.
But what if visitors do turn up, click around and then leave? Hw do you put strategies in place to make sure that customers do not abandon your site?
Building an online business, a website, even building it right is only part of the puzzle. Brands, today, must focus their attention on creating immersive and interactive user experiences — and then make sure that these span across channels and devices.
Here are 3 tips to ensure that when you build it, they will stay:
Site performance
How fast your website loads and responds has a large say in whether potential customers stay or leave. If a site takes too long to load, or becomes unresponsive (due to heavy images, scripts or other embedded elements), then these are critical factors that require your immediate attention.
Effortless registration, login, checkout
According to a recent Forrester research, 11% of US customers admit to having abandoned a website because it asked for too much information. Some people prefer to shop somewhere else than provide personal information, so make sure your visitors have a fast and simply way to register and login.
Plus with the rise of mobile devices, with smartphones and tablets crossing 25% of all Internet usage, lengthy forms and registration pages are a big roadblock for people with small screens.
Deliver on value proposition
Another big reason why people might stop shy of clicking the final submit button is if the value proposition is not right — even if the rest of the technical bells and whistles are. You have got to ask yourself the question of what value are you offering over other ecommerce websites.
Are your products in stock? Are your prices right? What guarantees, or return policies do you offer? What your credibility is online? Get these things right, add value to what you are selling, and improvements to conversions will not be far away.