If you are finding that your checkout conversions are lacking, don’t take it in stride. There are factors that have been shown to have a significant impact on your conversion rate, and many of them are fixable.

Determine which contributor may be the culprit for your website, address and resolve the issue, and watch your conversion rate rise.

Here are six great places to start looking:

 

1). Security That Isn’t Secure

We are more worried about our personal information and credit details being compromised than we are about someone swiping the stereo from our cars, so it makes sense that consumers aren’t going to give their personal and financial information to a site they don’t trust. There are factors that will make your site look more “trustworthy”, and even small changes to verbiage can improve the level of implied security. Beyond appearances, however, take extra steps to ensure that you are providing the highest level of safety for your buyers’ personal and financial data. Then, let customers know what they can expect when they provide you with their information. When they feel safe, they are more likely to buy from you.

 

2). Not Being Mobile Friendly

Buy this stage in online consumerism, this point shouldn’t need to be reiterated: A mobile optimized site doesn’t make you look good anymore; it makes you look good enough. According to PracticalEcommerce, “having a responsive website is not a competitive advantage in 2015; it is a competitive requirement.”

If your checkout process isn’t seamless for mobile users, they won’t wait until they can sit down at their PC – they’ll go to a retailer who will let them buy on-the-go. Short version: Mobile optimize your checkout.

 

3). Outrageous Shipping Costs

Even if you ship overseas, or your items are heavy (so they cost a lot to ship), high shipping costs are going to cause people to stay away from your company. By offering flat rate shipping, or building some of the shipping costs into the price of the item, you can keep customers happier. It’s why website like Amazon have Prime programs. Consumers not only pay an annual fee, they pay more for “prime” items because they don’t have to worry about calculating shipping.

4). A Boring Call to Action

The people who have come to your site to look at your products already know that you want them to buy something, so your call to action needs to spark their interest in a unique way. You can make it funny, witty, tear-jerking, or whatever works for what you’re selling, but it should be something people remember (in a good way). Can’t think of anything? Check out your competitors. Better yet, go to the last website you made a purchase from. Was the call-to-action compelling? Look at what works, and incorporate a bit of that strategy into your own.

5). Forced Account Creation

Forcing account creation for someone who wants to buy something from you is one of the fastest ways to get them to change their mind. We get why you’re doing it, but – if you’re worried about checkout conversions – the best practice is to just not.

6). Taking Too Long

People get impatient. If your shopping cart (and the rest of your site, for that matter) takes too long to load, they will leave. Even if it takes longer to go somewhere else and find the same product to buy, their impatience will make them crave action – searching for a new site is better than waiting for yours. Don’t let that happen. Optimize your site properly for mobile and computer, and make sure it loads quickly.
If you pay close attention to the areas of your site that can cause you the most trouble, like the six things