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Online shoppers are a fickle lot. They drop by to see your stuff and then poof; they’re off chasing a better deal or chatting up a friend on Facebook. Consequently, optimizing every aspect of your ecommerce program is absolutely essential. Here’s a list that should help, compiled based on the findings of 100+ top ecommerce sites that are currently optimizing 50 million conversions per month.

1. Don’t be the tortoiseWhen it comes to page loading times, lack of speed kills. One study suggests that every 100 milliseconds of extra load time can cost 1% of your potential sales. And while lots of rich media content can slow you down, so too can all the tags you’re using to track performance. Analysts like Forrester are now recommending tag management systems to mitigate the page weight related issues created by all your tags.

2. Start at the topSince we’ve already established the importance of a fast loading page, you now have some decisions to make as to what should load first. The answer is surprisingly basic. Work your way from the top down, loading items above the fold first, demonstrating to your visitor that you value his/her time. It is a simple truth that if a site looks fast on first glance, people are more likely to hang around long enough to complete a transaction.

3. Serve no tag before its timeWithout a tag management system in place, sites simply load all their tags at once, even when they’re irrelevant to the visitor. This slows down the page and ignores all the data you probably have on your visitor. For example, why load the re-targeting tag if the user has already been cookied? Or if a visitor has come in search of a low-margin product why load Live Chat? Aligning the tags you serve with visitor data improves results all the way round.

4. Clean up with a clean lookJust like in the real world, a messy storefront will cost you customers, a loss that will be compounded if the mess carries over to the inside of the store. Both your landing page and subsequent pages need to be more than broom clean, carefully organized with idiot-proof navigational paths. Avoid the “and another thing” syndrome after the initial site launch or makeover, substitute new for old rather than trying to cram in more.

VIEWPOINT

10 Essentials of Ecommerce Optimization & Attribution

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5. Get the band back togetherEven a cleanly designed site won’t make the cash register sing if all the marketing contributors aren’t marching to the same drum. Whether you do all your marketing in-house or with a myriad of partners, ecommerce won’t be optimized until email, display, social, re-targeting, SEM and SEO activities are all working in concert. Orchestrating monthly/quarterly meetings of the whole “band” should be music to your ears.

6. Wait wait come back here Every second, millions of potential customers abandon shopping carts, leaving ecommerce sites like jilted brides alone at the alter. But don’t waste your time on tears, figure out why they left you and respond accordingly. If they are off doing more research, retarget them, ideally with specific offers that will bring them back. If they are current customer, a personalized email with a gentle nudge could also save the day.

7. Do it yourself couponsOnline shoppers in great numbers regularly dart away from the shopping cart in search of discount codes/online coupons. Promulgated by ubiquitous couponing sites, these coupons bring the customer back but bite into your margins. One way to fight this is by creating your own couponing sites that load customized coupons based on user data. This approach will bring more customers back and lower your affiliate/commission payments.

8. Take it personalLike the concierge who knows your favorite table or the bartender who remembers shaken not stirred as your martini preference, provide a personalized service wherever possible. If you know they browsed guns and swords last visit, you probably don’t want to start the next one with glasses and sinks. Similarly, if you know their zip code, you’ll want to let the customer know if their purchase will be tax free, information that could help close the sale.

9. Make time for real-time attributionWhile the arrival of pay-per-click advertising transformed digital marketing forever, the accompanying dependence on the “last click” metric became an unfortunate by-product that many, including Forrester, insist must be revisited. But in order to have a clear picture of the customer journey, ecommerce marketers need new tools, like tag management systems that allow them to monitor and attribute performance in real-time.

10. Have a happy holidayA huge percentage of sites depend on holiday sales for a disproportionate amount of annual sales and profit. Site traffic goes way up and on Cyber Monday, can spike to the stratosphere. Are you ready for this onslaught? Expanding your bandwidth should not be limited to server capacity. Remember to bolster things like inventory and customer service. A little preparation in these areas will go along way to insure that this year, even you will have a happy holiday. Cheers to that!

Find out more: www.TagMan.comEmail: contact@TagMan.comFollow us: @TagManConnect with us: LinkedIn.com/companies/TagMan