Getting more visitors costs more every year. Converting more of the visitors you already have is often the cheaper way to grow. Conversion rate optimisation (CRO) is about removing the reasons people leave without buying.
Here are 30 practical tips I use when reviewing online stores, grouped by where they appear in the customer journey.
First: find where you lose people
Before changing anything, look at your funnel in analytics:
- Sessions → product views
- Product views → add to cart
- Add to cart → checkout started
- Checkout started → purchase
Split by device. The step with the biggest drop is where you start. Watch session recordings and read customer service questions too: they tell you why people leave.
Product pages
1. Use large, high-quality images and zoom
Show the product from all angles, in use and in scale.
2. Add video where it helps
Especially for products where size, movement or texture matters.
3. Put the key information above the fold on mobile
Price, variants, stock status, delivery time and the add-to-cart button.
4. Show the delivery date, not just “in stock”
“Order before 16:00, delivered tomorrow” is more convincing than “in stock”.
5. Answer the top questions on the page
Size, fit, material, compatibility, what is in the box. Your support inbox tells you what is missing.
6. Show reviews and photos from customers
Including critical reviews. A product with only five-star reviews looks less believable.
7. Make variant selection clear
Show swatches for colours, mark unavailable sizes clearly and update images when a variant is chosen.
8. Add a size guide or fit finder
Reduces both hesitation and returns.
Category pages and search
9. Make filters useful
Filter by what customers care about (size, price, use case), not only by internal attributes.
10. Show key information on product cards
Price, rating, key variant info and stock or delivery badges.
11. Improve internal search
Handle typos, synonyms and plural forms. Track searches with zero results and fix them.
12. Sort by relevance and popularity by default
Not by newest or alphabetical.
Cart
13. Show the total cost early
Unexpected shipping costs are one of the most common reasons for abandoning a cart.
14. Show a free shipping threshold
“€12 away from free shipping” increases order value.
15. Let customers edit the cart easily
Change quantity, size or remove items without leaving the page.
16. Keep the cart persistent
Customers often switch devices. Keep carts for logged-in users across sessions.
Checkout
17. Allow guest checkout
Forcing account creation is a well-known conversion killer. Offer account creation after the purchase.
18. Reduce form fields
Remove anything you do not need. Use address autocomplete.
19. Offer the payment methods your market expects
For example iDEAL in the Netherlands, Bancontact in Belgium, Klarna or PayPal in many countries, plus wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
20. Show clear errors
Inline, next to the field, in plain language.
21. Remove distractions
Simplify header and footer in checkout so the focus stays on completing the order.
22. Show trust at the moment of payment
Secure payment, return policy and contact options near the pay button.
Trust and service
23. Make return policy and contact easy to find
Linked in the header or footer and on product pages.
24. Show real trust signals
Review platform scores, guarantees and recognised quality marks, if they are real and verifiable.
25. Offer fast answers
Live chat or an AI assistant that can answer product and order questions immediately (see AI customer support for e-commerce).
Speed and mobile
26. Make the site fast
Slow pages lose buyers before they see the product. See Core Web Vitals for e-commerce.
27. Design for thumbs
Large tap targets, sticky add-to-cart on long mobile product pages.
28. Test on real mid-range phones
Not only on the latest iPhone over office Wi-Fi.
Retention
29. Recover abandoned carts with email
A well-built abandoned cart flow recovers a part of lost sales. See 10 email flows every store needs.
30. Test, measure, repeat
CRO is a process, not a one-time project.
How to test changes properly
- A/B test when you have enough traffic and conversions to reach a reliable result
- Before/after comparisons for smaller stores, over equal periods, keeping seasonality in mind
- Test one meaningful change at a time
- Look at revenue per visitor, not just conversion rate. A discount can raise conversion and lower profit
Prioritising ideas
Score each idea on impact, confidence and effort (the ICE method), and start with high-impact, low-effort ideas on high-traffic pages.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good e-commerce conversion rate?
It depends heavily on industry, price level, traffic source and device. Compare your own trend over time and by channel rather than chasing an industry average.
Should I focus on traffic or conversion first?
If your conversion rate is far below what similar stores achieve, fix conversion first. Every future visitor will then be worth more.
How long does a CRO project take?
Quick wins can be implemented in weeks. A proper test programme runs continuously.
Want more sales from your current traffic?
I review stores, find the biggest leaks in the funnel and implement the fixes on Magento, WooCommerce and Shopify. See my conversion optimisation service or request a CRO review.