The effect of slow load times on customer experience and conversion rates are of perpetual concern to anyone involved in e-commerce. Whether it’s the consequences of slower load rates on mobile commerce or the 7 percent drop in conversion rates that comes with each extra second of load time, a simple matter of impatience quickly grows to an industry-wide problem in need of constant attention. Even Wal-Mart isn’t immune.
However, simpler matters can also have a marked effect on conversion. You’ve lured people to your site with your brilliant, SEO-wielding Google fu and wooed them with the most lyrical, thorough, and effective content the written language has ever witnessed. But what if your innovative design has made your call to action go stealth?
Econsultancy offers 10 best practice tips that can bump conversion rates. Before rigorously testing the load time of every scrap of image on your site, consider the color or placement of the buy button or the language it uses. A vague term like “process order” can have a much deeper effect on your customer than just a raised eyebrow. For better or worse, certain design conventions and expectations have been set, and if you want to make money with your site, your sleek vision of an e-commerce revolution may have to wait. Preferably not more than three or four seconds.
Read the full story at econsultancy.com.
