When it comes to e-commerce, boosting conversion rates is always a priority, but if your site doesn’t get significant traffic, you may feel that conversion rate optimization (CRO) is out of reach. While high traffic can make testing easier, CRO isn’t just about volume but also about strategy. Even with fewer site visitors, making the right improvements can lead to significant gains, helping you to get more value from your existing traffic and maximize your marketing efforts.
By implementing the right testing strategies, refining user experience, and optimizing every aspect of your site, even low-traffic businesses can see impactful results. In this blog, we’ll explore the most effective methods to optimize conversion rates for websites with limited traffic.
Choose A/B Test Ideas with High Potential Impact
When traffic is low, every test must count. Unlike high-traffic sites that may see significant results from small tweaks, low-traffic sites must be more selective in their testing strategy to generate the most impactful results. Prioritizing testing elements that have the greatest visibility for users and the highest potential impact will help ensure that each experiment provides valuable knowledge. For example, if the majority of your customers only scroll 10% of the way down, don’t test changes that are halfway down a webpage. Instead focus on:
Headline and value proposition clarity: The headline and hero section are the first things users see. Ensuring you clearly communicate the value of your offering can significantly influence conversions.
CTA button design and placement: The call-to-action button should stand out, be easy to find, and use compelling language to drive user action.
New Features: Test the addition of new features like upsell sections within the cart, a subscription option on the PDP, you might also like recommendations, enhanced search…etc.
When conducting tests, be mindful of where users spend the most time. Heatmaps and session recordings can help provide valuable insights into how visitors interact with your site and which areas need the most attention.
For low-traffic sites, running effective A/B tests can be challenging, but Compose makes it easy with a completely scalable, pay-as-you-go model. With the most affordable A/B testing platform on the market, you only pay for the users you are testing, allowing you to optimize your site efficiently while staying within your budget.
Define a Specific Trigger to Avoid Sample Pollution
Restricting the test audience may seem counterintuitive when traffic is low, but reducing sample size can significantly improve accuracy. Sample pollution occurs when irrelevant users are included in an A/B test, and produces misleading conclusions.
Examples of Preventing Sample Pollution:
If you are testing mobile navigation improvements, ensure the audience is defined as “mobile users who open the navigation.’ This will guarantee that only relevant users are included in the test, making it easier to detect meaningful conversion rate changes.
If you are testing something in your cart that only displays once a customer has added an item, only trigger the test after a customer clicks “add-to-cart” and the cart page opens.
By refining your test audience, you ensure the results reflect real behavior changes rather than random variations
Focus on Site Performance
Page speed and overall site performance play a critical role in conversions. A slow-loading site can lead to increased bounce rates and lost opportunities. According to HubSpot research, pages that load within 0-4 seconds deliver the highest conversion rates, while even a one-second delay can reduce conversions by 7%. Ensuring that your site loads quickly and performs efficiently is crucial in optimizing conversion rates.
To improve performance:
Optimize images: Large images that are uncompressed can significantly slow down loading times on your site. To improve this, use image compression tools to reduce file sizes without having to reduce the quality of your images.
Minimize third-party scripts: Each additional script can slow down your site. Regularly monitor your site and remove unnecessary plugins and third-party scripts.
Continuously monitor for 404 errors: Broken links and missing pages frustrate users and can even harm your SEO rankings. Continuously check your site for 404 errors to ensure your users are not being directed to a missing page. Pro tip! You can also design a custom 404 page that includes best-selling products or links to popular resources to keep customer’s engaged.
Investing in site performance not only enhances user experience but also contributes to higher conversion rates. Faster-loading pages keep visitors engaged, increase trust, and improve search engine rankings.
Optimize Your Ads
Your conversion rate is only as good as the quality of traffic you attract. If you’re bringing in visitors who aren’t genuinely interested in your offerings, conversion rates will remain low regardless of your efforts to optimize your website. Ensure that potential customers landing on your site are the right audience by refining your ad targeting.
Strategies to Improve Ad Performance:
Use intent-based audience segments: Instead of targeting broad demographics, focus on users who have shown purchase intent through past behavior, such as searching for related products or engaging with similar brands.
Test different ad creatives: Experiment with headlines, images, and CTA phrases to determine what resonates most with your audience.
Ensure ad messaging aligns with landing page content: Consistency in messaging between the ad and landing page improves trust and prevents confusion, reducing bounce rates.
By optimizing ad performance, you can attract higher-quality traffic that is more likely to convert, making the most of your existing site visitors.
Conclusion
Optimizing conversion rates can have substantial impacts on performance for any business and isn’t just for high-traffic websites. CRO is a powerful tool for any business looking to make the most of its visitors. Even with lower monthly traffic, small but strategic changes can lead to significant improvements.
With Compose’s fully scalable, pay-as-you-go model, you can experiment at your own pace and test as much or as little as needed. You’ll only pay for the users you actually test each month, making CRO accessible and cost-effective, no matter the size of your audience.