Getting customers to make a purchase or ‘convert’ on your site is big business – it’s possible to hire companies that specialise entirely in conversion rate optimisation (CRO) in order to help businesses make more sales. But not all companies can afford to bring in professionals to work on their conversion rates, and it is still vital that they should improve them. This is especially true for e-commerce businesses utilising Magento, the open-source e-commerce platform.

Thankfully there are plenty of things that you do that will make an enormous difference to the level of conversions. From something complex like altering the layout of the checkout page to a task as basic as thorough proofreading, all can make help the site convert better. Here are five important ways that you can improve the conversion rate of your Magento site.

Improve page loading times

Google has revealed that page loading speed is one of the factors used by its algorithm to rank pages in the results, so it’s been clear for a long time that websites need to ensure their pages load quickly. But from a customer perspective it is arguably even more important – when a page loads slowly it can make a customer frustrated even to the point where they leave your site.

There is nothing worse than losing a potential customer due to slow page loading speed, because effectively it means that you have done everything right and they are interested in buying – this suggests that they’ll head straight to one of your competitors with a faster site.

One of the best ways to improve your page loading times is to work with a hosting platform that is optimised for Magento. When the software is specifically designed for Magento sites rather than just generic hosting, it will provide far better performance for your site meaning your customers won’t be waiting around for pages to load.

Speed up the checkout process

The checkout page is the most important page on your site – it’s vital for your conversion rate that you get it right. Once a customer is on your checkout page that are at the most advanced stage of buying, and it is vital that you don’t lose them here. But having a complicated and difficult to navigate checkout process can do just that.

Think about the most successful sites online and you’ll find a very simple checkout process – Amazon’s one-click buying technology, for example, revolutionised the marketplace.

Find the right CTA

When you are looking for ways to improve your conversion rate, it is often the small and seemingly-insignificant things that can make a huge different. Take something like the Call to Actions (CTA) phrases on your site – a different between ‘add to basket’ and ‘buy’ can make a difference to whether someone chooses to complete the transaction.

Even at less purchase-critical stages such as sending an email or an enquiry, the right text can be very important. It’s a good idea to A/B test the different options available to get a good idea of what can work best on your site.

Include reviews and star ratings

If you want a customer to convert, they need to have confidence that they are making the right purchasing decision. So it is important for you to remove any barriers to the sale and put their mind at ease. This is where it can be hugely valuable to have customer reviews visible on your product pages.

Nothing helps customers feel confident about a purchase like knowing that someone else has already bought it and likes the product. And it should also be noted that you shouldn’t try to censor bad reviews, customers will feel much better about purchasing if the reviews feel like a real life experience rather than just something that has been made up.

Don’t skimp on the proofreading

This is another thing that might sound insignificant, but proper spelling and grammar can be the difference between a sale and a missed opportunity. It goes back to trust – it has been revealed in a recent study that 59 per cent of British customers would not use a company if they found obvious grammatical and spelling mistakes on the site.

This shows just how important it is that you need to proofread every page on your site thoroughly. It’s even worth hiring a freelance content professional to proofread it for you, as it’s easy to miss things.

See also: Black Friday – 12 e-commerce conversion tips to boost sales