Ninety-eight percent of consumers don’t make a purchase the first time they visit a site. While getting people to sign up for an email list can help you convert more visitors in the long run, optimizing your product page is just as important. A good product page design will help you convert more visitors, whether it’s the first time they’re visiting your website or not.
1. Optimize With Interactive Designs
An interactive product page encourages engagement. That starts with your product images. One of the challenges of ecommerce is that it can be hard for consumers to get an accurate view of the product as they would if they were shopping in a physical store.
Some ways to compensate for that can include:
- Adding interactive 3D visuals of the product
- Uploading videos
- Showing the product from multiple angles
- Adding annotations to help customers notice different product features
- Showing real humans using the product
- Allowing users the ability to customize the product to see how the product will look when it arrives
- Size charts
If the product has several variations, such as different colors or logos, make it possible for customers to change the displayed product image. Furthermore, if there are accessories that come with the product, make sure there are images that clearly show the accessories and what they are used for.
You can also add images that users can click on and expand, showing a picture of the product scaled to its actual size or allowing users to zoom in and see more detailed features.
However, there are other ways to make your product page more engaging overall. You can add social sharing buttons, a review section, and other interactive elements.
2. Invest in High-Quality Product Visuals
High-quality images are essential if you want to increase sales on your product pages. A lot of sellers steal photos from the manufacturer’s website, but that’s a mistake. Those images are often generic and don’t fully display the product’s features and benefits.
Hire your own photographer to take images of the product that will appeal to your customer base. Make sure the lighting is on point and there are real humans in the images (if appropriate).
Videos are also very effective for increasing sales. Hire a professional video editor to create engaging videos with transitions, voice-overs, music, and other interesting effects.
3. Create a Sense of Urgency With Banners and Pop-Ups
One of the most effective sales tactics is creating a sense of urgency to push people to make a decision. Many people who visit your product page will be undecided.
Perhaps they’re not sure whether their budget allows them to purchase the product or if it’s a necessary purchase. Maybe they’re wondering whether they can find the same product for less elsewhere or if a different product would better suit their needs.
If they feel like there is no urgency and can always come back later to purchase the product, many people will procrastinate. One way to overcome that is by creating a sense of urgency, which you can do with pop-ups, banners, and header or footer bars.
Such pop-ups will often contain countdown timers that indicate the ending time of a promotion, sale, or discount. If people realize they won’t be able to enjoy the current price for long, they will take advantage of the sale and purchase right away.
However, limited-time discounts are not the only method for creating scarcity. Another option is having limited stock. If you only have 100 items available, and it’s first come, first serve, people will want to purchase quickly.
Of course, you may have thousands of the item in stock, but you can still create scarcity by offering a special discount on the first 100 sales starting from a specific time. Alternatively, you can provide free shipping or a unique bonus product to the first 100 people who make a purchase.
Urgency and scarcity are closely connected. The latter example demonstrates how to use scarcity (limited stock) to generate a sense of urgency.
Creating urgency often relies on people’s fear of missing out – also known as FOMO. Nobody wants to miss out on something others are enjoying; FOMO is a powerful tool that marketers can use to their advantage.
4. Take Advantage of Personalization
One way to personalize product pages is by changing the currency based on the visitor’s country or showing estimated shipping fees and shipping times based on their location.
Cross-selling is a tactic that involves showing related products based on the user’s previous site searches and browsing history. Amazon does this exceptionally well – when you view a product on Amazon, the platform will recommend additional products.
5. Don’t Forget About CTA
CTA stands for “call to action.” It’s an important element that will drive people to take a desired action. The most common CTA on product pages is “Add to Cart.” This button allows users to save the product to their shopping cart and continue shopping. Make sure this button is prominent, easy to see, and easy to click on.
However, you may also have a “Buy Now” button that skips the shopping cart, eliminating several steps in the checkout process and potentially increasing sales. Amazon often has such a “quick buy” option on its product pages, allowing users to instantly purchase the product if signed into their accounts, using their default credit card attached to the account.
Other calls to action may include:
- Save for Later
- Add to Wishlist
- Add to Shopping List
Sometimes, a visitor might be interested in a product but not ready to buy it yet. Perhaps they still need to do additional research or check the specifications of the product. Maybe they just don’t have the money yet and are waiting for a paycheck or cash gift.
In that case, having an Add to Wishlist or Add to Shopping List CTA can help increase sales in the long run. Users can revisit their wishlists later and purchase products they wanted to buy but couldn’t afford before.
You might allow users to have multiple shopping lists for different categories, such as one for electronics and another for clothes.
6. Show Social Proof With Badges, Sales Records, and Testimonials
One of the most effective tactics for increasing sales is social proof. It’s a term coined by psychologist Robert Cialdini, and it refers to what people do when they are unsure of the right course of action: They look at what others are doing and copy their behavior.
In marketing, social proof requires you to demonstrate that others have purchased your product and were satisfied with it. That will convince potential customers to purchase your product as well.
There are several ways to create social proof. Testimonials and reviews are incredibly effective, as they show that people not only purchased your product but were so delighted with it that they took the time to leave you reviews.
Every product page should have a review section, and you should encourage customers to leave reviews by sending them follow-up email reminders after their purchase. The more reviews, the better; you need at least a few reviews for people to start taking them seriously.
A review section is also important for SEO, as it will contain natural keywords that you can rank for.
Another way to create social proof is by adding certifications and badges to your product pages. They can attest to the product’s quality, safety, and effectiveness. It’s similar to the “#1 Dermatologist Recommended” label you often see on creams.
The badges can also attest to your own trustworthiness. For example, adding a site security badge to show that your customer’s data is safe will make them more likely to enter sensitive payment details. Even having the logo of Visa or Mastercard is often enough to increase trust.
Finally, you can generate social proof by displaying sales records showing the number of people who have already purchased your product. There are many WordPress plugins that will also display real-time notifications of when someone last purchased your product.
7. Tell Your Brand’s Message and Product’s Story
Your product page should focus mostly on the product’s benefits, applications, and features. However, people also want to know who they’re purchasing the product from. They might land on your site from a Google search and be completely unaware of what your site is about, who you are as a brand, and what your company goals are.
Somewhere on the product page, touch on your brand’s message, history, vision, and goals. Discuss why you are offering the product and what sets it apart from others. Why did you create the product? What problem did you notice people were having, and how does your product help them solve it?
Final Thoughts
It’s also important to pay attention to SEO on your product pages. That will help you get more organic visitors to your product pages and, in turn, increase sales. Target buyer-intent keywords and build backlinks to your product pages and blog posts to increase your site’s DA score.
