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The Good is an agency focused on conversion rate optimization (CRO).
They’ve increased revenue and conversion rates by as much as 132% and 87% respectively for big name clients like Xerox, The Economist, and SwissGear.
We sat down with Natalie Thomas, Director of Strategy at The Good — aka the queen of conversion — to find out everything they’ve learned from performing hundreds of A/B tests, website audits, and customer interviews.
She dished out some zesty insights, such as:
- Why common site features like pop-ups and FAQs could be conversion killers
- A framework to build your website’s optimization roadmap
- Surprising form design principles to drive more sign-ups
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Free Conversion Rate Optimization Planner
The Complete DIY Guide to Improving Conversions in 60 Days
- How to conduct a conversion rate audit
- Constructing hypotheses
- Choosing the right experiment
- Analyzing and learning from results
Download Free
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Part 1. Five Common Site Features That Are Actually Conversion Killers
1. Pop-ups: They Degrade The User Experience and Attract Low-Value Subscribers
According to Natalie, 60%-85% of people visiting any given ecommerce website haven't been to that site before.
They’re often met with multiple pop-ups like a cookies policy, chat widget, and email capture with discount offers on products they haven’t even been introduced to yet.
Not a great first impression.
One way to think about your ecommerce site is as a physical store.
Ask yourself: If customers could only see a window display, and you wouldn't let them in without their personal information (e.g., email address), would they exchange their information for a discount without being able to browse the store first?
What’s more, capturing a bunch of low-quality “burner” email addresses in a pop-up capture can end up being an expensive exercise if your email marketing tool charges on a per-subscriber basis, which many do.
If you’re attached to your pop-ups, try to stick to these rules:
- Not on the landing page
- Use a scroll- or time-based pop-up that appears only once the visitor has shown a certain level of engagement (e.g., scrolled halfway down a category page)
- Use inline email captures to collect emails without creating barriers to entry for the user
An example of inline email capture. Source: Estee Lauder
2. Generic CTAs: They Encourage “Hunting and Pecking”
Natalie says the average user stays on a site for a few minutes and visits only 5 pages, which means that “any time lost going somewhere that isn't relevant to the user is just wasting their time.”
A sure way to send a user down the wrong path is with generic calls-to-action (CTAs), which cause chicken-like hunting and pecking behavior until the user eventually lands on what they’re looking for.
Consider the difference between “Shop Now” (a generic CTA) vs. “Shop Men’s Pants” (a specific CTA).
One way to test whether your CTAs are specific enough: Remove all the imagery from your homepage and ask yourself whether a user would be able to determine what you offer by reading only the copy on your site.
3. Blanket Discounts: They Drain Margin and Attract Budget Shoppers
Storewide/blanket discounts (e.g., “10% off everything”) attract tire kickers.
“Once a customer is trained to believe that there's a discount waiting for every burner email address they give, they're not ever going to be willing to pay full price,” Natalie said.
Selective discounts are more effective, a strategy that Glossier often uses.
“They have a really robust referral program, but they rarely do blanket sales,” Natalie told us. “They’ll have 20% off if you use a referral code, or 20% off for industry professionals.”
By doing so, they reserve their discounts to really endear themselves to industry professionals and promote word of mouth recommendations.
Alternative ways to build brand loyalty and make customers feel like they’re getting discounts include:
- Referral programs
- Points/loyalty programs
- Bundle discounts to encourage higher order volumes
- Reduced shipping for order minimums or expedited shipping for VIPs
- Free gifts with purchase
4. Feature Language: Sell Benefits, Not Features
An iconic example of a marketing campaign that described a product’s benefits, as opposed to its features, was the Apple iPod.
Unlike its competitors at the time, Apple highlighted the product’s benefits to the user, rather than its technical specs and features:
“Whenever we audit a website, we’re always looking for the little moments when a user is required to translate something,” Natalie told us.
“When they read something and say ‘Oh, I think this means [blank],’ and they have to put it in their own language, that’s usually a moment where we haven’t spoken directly to the benefits to the user.”
5. FAQs: Where Good Content Goes to Die
The folks at The Good have found that only a tiny percentage (<1%) of site visitors actually visit the FAQ page.
This means that if there’s any fundamental information about your product that can make or break an order (e.g., specs, shipping information, delivery windows), most people won’t see it if it’s only addressed in your FAQs.
You can use heat maps of your FAQ page or call logs from your client service center to find out the most frequently asked questions, and then consider whether you should incorporate that information earlier in the online experience (e.g., homepage or product page).
The key is to answer your customers’ questions proactively, not rely on them browsing the FAQs, because… yawn.
Now that we’ve covered what not to do, let’s get into how you can systematically optimize your site conversion.
Part 2. The Hierarchy of Conversion Optimization
Basic optimization opportunities at the base of the pyramid are common mistakes that most sites can improve to see immediate results.
As you work your way up, there are slightly more sophisticated changes that require research and testing. Toward the top of the pyramid, you’re looking at making micro-improvements to eke out every bit of juice from the optimization lemon.
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1. Trust and Security
Anything that makes the user second-guess the authenticity of a brand or website falls in this category.
It can range from simple things like bugs and errors to things that aren’t as easy to spot or articulate, like a checkout that just “feels insecure” to the user.
According to Natalie, “This is where small businesses probably have the biggest blind spot, because trustworthiness in the eyes of the user is based on a range of things and sometimes users don’t know why something feels off — but it can just feel a little bit sketchy to them.”
Some things that aren’t as easy for the untrained eye to spot but set off alarm bells to the user include:
- Low visibility of who’s behind the site
- Branding and website elements that look a little bit too generic
- Visual elements that change slightly from one page to another (e.g., logo)
- Novel design/breaking away from convention
charity: water has great proof-in-numbers. It’s the kind of proof that makes you think, “Wow, they must be doing something right!”
2. Pain-Free UX
Creating a pain-free UX is about removing all the “micro frustrations,” or small annoyances standing in the way of people making a purchase.
It’s not the same as creating a good user experience. Instead, it’s about solving all the issues that may be small individually, but that users won’t have the patience to overcome when combined. They can be things like:
- Convoluted purchase funnels
- Repeated tasks
- Cumbersome checkout processes
- Search widgets and pop-ups
- Bad categorization and poor organization
- Customization processes that put the user in an endless loop
3. Content Rich
This is where ecommerce operators spend most of their time, and what most people think of when they think “optimization.”
It includes things like images, copy, value propositions, and making sure that the site matches the brand vision.
It’s about looking at the nuances of how a site delivers information to the customer, and answering the questions that the user is still asking when they’ve already viewed the site for a while.
Natalie told us that “one of the last questions we ask website users before the checkout overview is, ‘What questions do you still have that you need answered in order to make a purchase?’ And you’d be surprised how much comes back from that.”
But it’s not so much about adding missing content to the screen as it is about making sure it’s delivered to the user quickly, seamlessly, and high enough in the funnel that high-intent users don’t burn time looking for it.
It’s summed up nicely by one of Natalie’s favorite phrases: “Show when you can, tell when you can’t.”
Stumptown has no shortage of well-timed content: How to use, how to make, who the producer is, flavor profile, etc.
4. Guided Path
We all have that friend who needs a live concierge for their lives, leading them to where they need to go and giving them guidance to help make decisions.
In the context of ecommerce, this includes anything that helps the user navigate seamlessly to a perfect product for them. It could be banners, highly curated collections, or landing pages that are tailored to a specific audience.
Natalie suggests talking to a group of customers right after they have received your product, at the peak of their excitement and motivation, to find out how they intend to use it.
Doing this will help you determine “buckets” of different customers and create curated collections on your site to suit their needs.
5. High Incentive
There’s a portion of the audience, often referred to as “cart parkers,” who have every reason to purchase, but they just need a little added incentive.
They need something to turn their desire into a purchase — something that makes your product more appealing to purchase than a competitor’s and more appealing to purchase now rather than later.
These can be things like:
- Points/loyalty programs
- Limited time/abandoned cart offers
- Bundle discounts
- Reduced shipping for order minimums or expedited shipping for VIPs
- Free gifts with purchase
And not just about that purchase, it’s about providing users with value from the transaction beyond just the product that they’re buying.
A nice example is Kencko fruit snacks.
The top of the product page shows users that they get access to nutrition coaching with their purchase.
Further down the page, they show that you can get rewards, discounts, and exclusive flavors, too.
According to Natalie, “It’s never been just about fruit snacks. It’s about all the motivation behind you looking into these healthy snacks.”
6. Untapped
The final step in the hierarchy is about understanding your customers’ deepest motivations, and how you can help them achieve their full potential, or Maslow’s “self-actualization.”
In many cases, this understanding can only come with time and research into your customers’ personal motivations, things that probably have nothing to do with your site.
“Think about what your customer is really trying to do with their lives. It might be wanting to be a great mom, or a well-respected athlete, or someone who’s seen as professional. When we can tap into that deeper motivation, we can understand how to help customers get to their next spot in life,” Natalie said.
Part 3. Drive More Sign-Ups with These Surprising Form Design Principles
Now let’s talk about something you can put into action right away — form design.
Over 67% of site visitors will abandon your forms forever if they encounter any complications. So how can you make simple but effective changes to drive responses on sign-up, questionnaire, and checkout forms?
Here are four design principles to minimize the cognitive load on your users and drive conversion, according to Natalie:
1. Let The User Know What to Expect
Use design elements to guide user behavior and expectations. Things like:
- How long will the form take to complete?
- What kind of information will I need to complete it?
- What will happen once it’s done?
One way to achieve this is with a progress bar that shows them where they are in the process.
Make sure that your form is short and easy to complete, and demonstrate this by using words like “instant” and “free.” Only ask for crucial information and follow up for more at a later stage, if necessary.
P.S. When we asked Natalie if there’s any specific form design software she would recommend she replied “Other than HubSpot? No :)”
2. Build Momentum
Give users motivation to complete the form by showing them what benefits they stand to gain.
You can do this by showing a bulleted list of your product’s features, like Headspace does, or use a lightbox effect to hint at the goods, similar to Monday.com.
By showing their dashboard in the background, Monday gives users a taste of what they’ll get once they register, motivating them to go through the process (and giving the impression that they are almost there).
3. Give Users Visual Feedback Cues
Clear visual cues let users know they are on the right track, nudging them closer to completing the form with minimal frustration and confusion.
The best way to do this is to communicate in real time. Cues should be attention-grabbing, but not fear-inducing or alarming. For example:
- In-line validation that confirms the user is entering the correct/incorrect information (e.g., Amazon)
- Password guidance to minimize frustration (e.g., Mailchimp)
- Positive feedback to make the user feel accomplished and excited about your product (e.g., Asos’ or Hum Nutrition’s success messages)
4. Provide Social Proof
Use social proof to foster a sense of credibility that encourages users to convert.
This can come in the form of:
- Customer testimonials
- Expert testimonials (e.g., InVision)
- How many people use your product (e.g., Unscreen)
- A list of well-known customers (e.g., Scale)
Free Conversion Rate Optimization Planner
The Complete DIY Guide to Improving Conversions in 60 Days
- How to conduct a conversion rate audit
- Constructing hypotheses
- Choosing the right experiment
- Analyzing and learning from results
Download Free
All fields are required.
