How To Build a Shopify Product Page That Converts Using PageFly

But does it convert?

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That seems to be the question on everybody’s lips these days. Does it convert? Just three simple words, causing a whole bunch of confusion. A lot of people will go around telling people how important a shop’s conversion rate is, but not a lot of people out there will actually buckle down and tell you how to improve your CRO, never mind helping you to do so. That’s what makes PageFly different – that and the fact that they’ve 2500 5-star reviews on Shopify’s app store.

Starting an online business is a daunting undertaking. It’s an entire new world where things work exactly like they do in the real world except for all the times that they don’t work anything like they do in the real world. Just take the sheer amount of abbreviations that this industry has spawned… In an industry where it’s perfectly acceptable to say “We are a B2B store selling to B2C stores and we concentrate mostly on improving CRO and lowering CAC by focusing on UGC.” it’s perfectly acceptable to feel a little bit intimidated or confused.

But that’s exactly where an app like PageFly cuts through all the abbreviations and marketing mumbo jumbo and focuses instead on results. That’s why what they provide their customers is so simplistically brilliant – a great looking online store that converts.

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Ah, yes, the big eCommerce C-word: Convert. Convert as in converting visitors to your online store into customers of your online store. Of course, these days every new initiate into the eCommerce world knows something about conversion rates. The abbreviation CRO (conversion rates optimization) is thrown with reckless abandon and a quick search yields pages upon pages offering the latest tips, do’s and don’ts, and best practices. The number of blogs claiming to have that one single nugget of truth, the holy grail of advice and tips, all promising to beef up online business is staggering. But, the question is: if this information is so readily available and the results promised so widespread and far-reaching, why is the average CRO still only 2.5%?

The answer lies in the fact that most online store owners tend to trust their guts. They need to. They are, after all, entrepreneurs. Their entire existence is built upon trusting their guts and their instincts. It’s the one ability that allows them to do what they do. But it can also be an entrepreneur’s biggest blindspot. By trusting their guts they often tend to disregard information that they don’t agree with. That’s why sometimes, for instance, when an expert explains all the mistakes on a product page, a person will listen and nod and agree only to go home and do nothing about it. It’s simple human nature. After all, humans have been trusting our guts long before logic or logic showed up. That’s why PageFly is so effective: when everything on the app is already designed to increase CRO, there’s very little our instincts can do to mess it up.

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How PageFly Can Help To Increase A Store’s Conversion Rate

>People new to the online store scene don’t really know any of the mistakes that they are making. Why should they? If it weren’t for data analytics and loads of research no one would’ve known any of the mistakes that they were making. And then, of course, there’s the sheer speed at which information moves, as it goes from being revolutionary, to common, to ultimately redundant and obsolete. Trying to stay at the top of the information crest as it speeds forever forward would require the hiring of an entire agency. There’s no way someone who’s just opened up a business can spend that kind of energy and capital on staying informed of the best practises. To see how quickly things move just google a couple of eCommerce best practises from 2015 and look for yourself.

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But with PageFly all of that, the analytics, the best practises, the staying abreast of the crest, it’s all done for the customer. And best of all, a customer can have all of this for free. And that only seems fair. How can an app charge a consumer to fix something that the consumer had no idea was broken in the first place? Instead PageFly is so confident in their product that they say: “We’ll give you a fully functional version of our app for free because we know that as soon as you realise what the potential of our product is, you’ll be more than happy paying for it.” It’s brilliant. It’s arrogant. It’s brilliantly arrogant.

Now people might think they tend to get what they for. PageFly, however, is that odd exception. It offers all of its functionality for zero of the cost. The app allows a consumer to build one page per page type, which will enable them to design and build an entire store. With this comes all of the insights and features that have been mentioned, plus some great online support. The fact that this product is free enables people to try it with nothing to lose. Later when they see the product working for them they can then scale up to a better paying plan as soon as they need to.

But what makes PageFly a near perfect page building app is all of the little CRO tips and practises that are already ingrained within the templates on the app. It is like having an architect help design and build your store while not allowing any of those annoying salespeople through the door to start with.

As if all of this was not enough, PageFly also offers an extensive online academy that everyone has access to, even if you don’t actually download and use their app. And unlike a lot of the other apps out there the academy isn’t wholly product specific. This means that where other apps have academies to help consumers use their product, PageFly offers information about other topics. Want some web design tips & tricks that will help you convert? Right this way. What about some CRO advice and case studies? Here you go.

To give the reader a better idea we’ve gathered some of the info and tips available on their academy to help build a Shopify product page that converts. We’ll include the link to the academy page in the Header if you would want to go check it out later. Which we strongly recommend.

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1. Optimise Your Product Listing Page

People tend to get confused when you say “Product Listing Page.” They usually ask you if you meant product page, kinda implying that they are one and the same. They are not. The product listing page is the page that displays all your products or those in a specific category, depending on your type of store. It’s the page that customers tend to scan over in search of the product that they are looking for. And now that we are all on the same page, pun most definitely intended, let’s move on to those promised tips.

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TIP #1: Clarity is key

You should make it absolutely clear to the visitor what your store is about. Are you selling shoes? Then have a page header declaring "Shoes" complete with a beautiful picture banner of your stunning shoes. Add some catchy copy to seal the deal and you're halfway there.

Now, this advice might sound obvious but you wouldn't believe how many people neglect it. They assume that people know what they are selling because they're on the online store. But more and more traffic is what's referred to as "cold traffic" or visitors who have limited information about the store they are visiting. You need to tell these people what you are about and be quick or else watch that hated bounce rate rise.

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TIP #2: Navigation is a necessity

People like to know where they are, and they want to know where to go. This is just one of those unavoidable facts of human nature. If your page doesn't feature decent navigation you're gonna have people bounce. If you use search forms to help visitors navigate, be sure to have an auto-complete suggestion. This will make things easier for you shoppers, especially those visiting your store on a mobile device without a good old fashioned keyboard.

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TIP #3: Presentation counts.

How you present your product has a massive impact on how that product is perceived. Ultimately, there are only two types of presentations: Grid view and list view. Grid view is ideal for products that are sold because of the way they look. It showcases the products next to each other and allows the consumer to select which one they want.

        List view is perfect for products that are bought because of their specifications. How the product looks is still important, but what's under the hood is what is really importan

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Now you’re ready to go on to the next step, the product page.

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2. Optimise Your Product Page

The product page is ultimately where the deal goes down. People have scrolled through your product listing page, selected what they want and they are now standing with it in their hands, weighing up whether they should commit or not. You want to try and make their decision easier…

TIP #1: Warm up that cold traffic

Unlike revenge, traffic is best served warm... But, as mentioned before, more and more traffic is cold, i.e. they don't know what your store is about. You need to give them a brief sales pitch on the product page, hitting them with your product's unique selling point.

TIP #2: Presentation... the tip so nice we named it twice.

This time the presentation refers to the product images. Each product should have about 5 images of that product. These images should be used to highlight the product's features, show it from different angles, and allude to the type of lifestyle that accompanies the product. One image should show the product to scale so people will know how big it is. You don't need a banana for this, just a hand holding the product will do.

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TIP #3: The price is right

The price of a product is one of the first things people look for when they enter a product page. Place and style the price in such a manner that people don't waste time looking for it. So after completing that we can have a look at those much-vaunted conversion rate optimisation tips.

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3. Conversion Rate Optimisation Tips and Best Practices

Okay, so the info on the Academy with regards to Conversion Rate Optimisation is comprehensive. If you want to grow your business and break free from those 9 to 5 shackles this is where you start. But to give a taste of what’s in store, I’ve gathered some advice that has been helpful to me.

TIP#1: Know thy customer.

It is of the utmost importance that you should know who's buying your products. The best way to do this is by creating buyers personas. How you do this, through market research, online polls, or questionnaires - that much is up to you. But what you should have is a couple of clear personas of the people buying your stuff. This allows you to tailor unique offers, communications, and even products with a specific type of customer in mind. Think of it as your favourite coffee spot. You're a regular so the barista knows exactly what you want or if he's gonna waste his time telling you about the new pumpkin spice latte. Buyers personas are the online industry's answer to creating 'regulars'.

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TIP #2: Content is very much still king.

Heads up, there’s some stats heading your way!

• Quality content gets 3x as many leads as paid ads.
• Quality content can generate 3x as many leads as outbound marketing but it costs 62% less
• 60% of people will look for a product after reading quality content about it.

So the question is, what is "quality content"? In short, quality content is content that inspires or entertains, and sometimes both. It's one of those things that's difficult to define, but you’ll know immediately when you come across it. Luckily for you, the entire chapter 2 of this guide is dedicated to that precise question.

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4. Website Design. Tips and Best Practices To Maximise Conversion Rate

It sometimes takes people a while to  realise this, but no matter how much energy and time you pour into the other aspects of your store, if the design is faulty it’s going to negatively affect your CRO numbers. This is why so many people enjoy PageFly because it’s like learning to ride a bike with training wheels. The templates are there to help you understand what is the best practice, but as soon as you get the hang of it you can start to play around a bit and see what works for you and what doesn’t. Once again it’s worth noting that PageFly’s academy talks about this aspect in-depth and it is well worth a read.

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TIP #1: Keep it simple stupid.

Nothing is as irritating as a website loaded with info and images that don’t relate to the info or images that you're looking for. "We've been doing this since 1984!" Great, but keep it for the "about us" segment, not your product listing page.

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TIP #2: Design with user interaction in mind.

Before you start designing your online store, sit down and think about the types of visitors you will get and the journeys that they are on. Try to pre-empt the type of info they'll be after by thinking about the questions they'll be asking. Then try and base your design on the answers you get from these thought exercises.

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TIP #3: Use A Page Building App like PageFly.

    Seriously. Do it. Take some time, look at the options available to you and make your decision. It's going to save you so much time and energy, while also helping your company grow. And next time when someone says “We are a B2B store selling to B2C stores and we concentrate mostly on improving CRO and lowering CAC by focusing on UGC.” just answer “I don’t worry about all of that. I sell my stuff and let PageFly take care of the rest.”

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