Can't Increase Website's Sales? Step into your users' shoes and make the Right Fixes! (The easy way)

How many times have you wanted to purchase from an online store, but instead of buying online, you preferred to place an order by phone? This is the most common behavior when something isn't right with a site. It may even be happening on your site, and you may not even know it.

In this case, the chances of a phone order being completed are slim. If your product is available from competitors or on Skroutz and Shopflix, the most likely scenario is that the user will abandon their cart and buy elsewhere. The reason is simple—they want to easily find what they’re looking for and quickly complete their purchase.

What Skroutz and Shopflix offer, besides a wide variety of products and prices, is that they load quickly, the search bar works excellently, and the filters cover most basic searches. Additionally, the checkout process and payment are made in the simplest way possible.

So, if your website makes it difficult for users to navigate, why would they buy from you? This isn't a rhetorical question—you need to answer it.

The answers you provide are the strengths of your business that set you apart from your competitors. These strengths must be displayed on your website. But where should you display each piece of information? What should you remove from what you’ve written, and what information should you replace?

And this is how the process begins to identify the changes needed on your site, which will bring about a change in your sales.

If you've made changes to your website, how do you know if the changes helped? Are you sure they didn't make your sales worse?

If you are now in the process of improving your website, do it right:

Keep a backup of your website: In case something goes wrong during the changes, you need to be able to revert to your original version.

You can't improve what you can't measure: Record the statistics related to your site's loading time, the time users spend on your site, the number of pages they view, the carts created, and completed orders. These will help you make comparisons and show you if your strategy was correct.

Don't start changing everything at once: List what you want to change and prioritize based on their importance. The most important changes are the corrections at points where users struggle to make a purchase or contact you. It's better to make slow and steady progress than quick and unorganized changes.

How do you identify if something isn't working properly on your website?

First, study the statistics you've recorded. Find out if there are recurring patterns in user behavior. Is there a specific point where you notice higher abandonment?

Use your website: Put yourself in the role of a customer—visit your website "in your customer's shoes." Think about their needs and the solutions they’re seeking so you can follow their steps.

Example: Let’s say your online store sells women's clothing. Put yourself in the role of someone looking to order a summer dress in a blue shade and some accessories for an evening out. Don't forget that there's always a budget issue when buying, so set an amount you want to spend, up to €X.

Visit your website. Start from the homepage and proceed using the site's search and filters until you find what you like and is within your budget. Add it to the cart, and now search for the second product. Once you’ve found both items, proceed with the process. Fill in the shipping and billing details.

How was the experience so far? Was there any point where you got bored? Any point that tired or frustrated you? If so, the same points will likely cause your users to hesitate and not purchase! Take notes at every stage.

Now is the moment of truth!

If you, who know your site, were frustrated at some points, there are probably other issues that you’ve overlooked from seeing them so many times. So, it’s time to ask for the audience's help.

Give the same scenario you executed to people who have never bought from your site and ask them to go through all the steps to the end. Don't interrupt them while they’re searching, just ask them to talk—tell you what they see and express their thoughts.

When they complete the process, ask them about their experience on your site. Did they find the process easy? Would they buy from you? Was there anything that puzzled or displeased them? You, just take notes without arguing!

This process is called user testing, user experience testing, usability testing, or simply usability test and it should be a basic procedure before making any changes to your site. Why? Simply because your website is made to be easy for your customers, not just to please you. To ensure it pleases your customers, you have to ask them.

The most common and affordable ways to do usability testing are three:

1. In-person usability testing: In a cafe or even on the street, find people who seem to be in your target group. Offer them ~€20 to use your site and give you their opinion. At the start, you can ask them about their demographic details. This will help you get to know them and make it easier for them to share their thoughts.
2. Remote usability testing: In this case, things are simpler. You join a platform that has thousands of users who are paid to give their opinions. They mainly do usability tests on websites, online stores, and apps. However, you can also show them designs sent by your designer for your new logo, cards, or brochures. They will find mistakes and help you decide which design to go with. You’ll receive videos where you’ll see users' screens and hear their voices expressing their thoughts. Five tests per device are enough to reveal 80% of the problems on your site. It’s usually recommended to run 5 tests on desktops and 5 on mobile devices.
3. Assigning the research to experts: The easiest and fastest way to get all the information you need is to have a team with experience in usability testing handle the research. At Netstudio, we offer usability testing research services. We structure the scenario and actions according to your target group and, after analyzing all findings, prioritize the issues and suggest solutions with high-level consulting.

The most popular usability testing platforms, in case your target group speaks English, are usertesting.com , userpeek.com , trymyui.com , userlytics.com , and our own userfeel.com . If your target group speaks Greek or any other language, userfeel.com is the only option. The process to set up the test is easy, and in the first steps, you enter the demographic details of the audience you want to conduct the usability test. If you need help, speak Greek in the support chat—they’ll understand you. ??

In markets where usability testing isn't yet popular, like in Greece and Cyprus, significant opportunities arise because, at a low cost, you can stand out from the competition and be more appealing to your target group!

If you want to work with Netstudio, you can call me at 2108004447 ext. 92 or schedule an online meeting with me via Calendly: https://calendly.com/d-skourlis/20min .

Did you find my article useful? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Dimitris Skourlis - Netstudio.gr