Outdoor Retailer - December 2020 - 25

THE OR CHAT

Eight Ways to Improve Your
our Website's Profitability
It's time to fine-tune your online experience in the
post-pandemic world. by Larry Becker
AS THE COVID-19 CRISIS CONTINUES, NOW,
more than ever, your website is your brand.
Here are eight steps to help you start optimizing your site for better results.
1. START WITH EMPATHY
The first rule of communication is to know
your audience, and in times of disruption, this
becomes your foundation. Right now, empathy
is an important piece of your overall strategy.

Photo courtesy Larry Becker

2. LEVERAGE THE VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER
The best way to empathize with prospective
buyers is to listen . If you're like many retailers,
you're strongest on programs that measure
outcomes, clickstreams, and competitive intelligence. Those are important, but if that's
all you're looking at, you're getting the what
but you're likely missing the why. You need to
understand the why to get to root causes and
make meaningful changes to your site.
How strong is your Voice of the Customer
(VoC) Program? Pay close attention to resources like site search reports, exit and postpurchase surveys, and the commentary from
customer-facing teams, such as service and
sales. Segment these reports by buyer and
non-buyer, and by time.
3. EVERY PAGE IS AN OFFER PAGE
Effective websites meet business and user
needs. To serve both requires designing for
usability and with a clear end in mind. In The
Big Red Fez, web-marketing guru Seth Godin
points out that every webpage can be seen as an
offer page. To stay focused and deliver a clutterfree retail site, think of each page on your own
site as persuading your visitor to do one of
three things: buy something, give some information, or click further into your site.

sortment to highlight newly relevant products.
As you bring in-demand products front and
center, keep current categories and navigation
intact, and spotlight new heroes with themed
collections and contextual merchandising.
6. HIGHLIGHT YOUR WHY
One of the most important jobs of your site's
UX (User Experience) is to provide a platform
for your unique selling proposition. Does your
site clearly communicate the reasons why
someone should shop with you? As you review
your selling proposition, check for elements
that need updates. Pinpoint areas that require
further emphasis in the post-pandemic world
and consider shifts in consumer needs.
7. TEST YOUR WEBSITE WITH REAL USERS
There's no substitute for the insights you gain
when you watch real customers think out loud
while they shop your website. With your team
and your customers spending more and more
time at home and online, now is a great time
to introduce a remote user-testing program.
85% of a site's usability problems can be found
by testing with as few as five users.

Larry Becker

4. ANSWER THREE CRITICAL QUESTIONS
Your home page's primary offer is to get visitors to click through. With all those links present, you'd think that would be easy. And yet,
the average time spent on a website hovers
around 15 seconds. To start improving your
home page stickiness, look at it through your
customers' eyes and make sure it answers
these questions within seconds: What is this?
What can I do here? Why would I do it here
and not somewhere else? While your homepage is likely your site's top landing page, other
key landing pages-such as your product
detail and category pages-need to effectively
answer those questions, too.
5. KEEP NAVIGATION CONSISTENT
While some retailers have added pandemicoriented products like masks to their inventory,
many others can reconfigure their existing as-

8. REMEMBER YOUR INTERNAL CUSTOMER
When you take a user-centric approach to online selling, you're making your customer the
hero of your story and increasing your chances
of success. But as you work hard to optimize
the experience of your external customers,
tune in to the needs of your colleagues and employees too. When you take care of both your
internal and external customers, the best possible results will follow. O.R
Note: A version of this story first appeared on
retailx.com
- Over a 20-year career, Larry Becker (larrybeckerconsulting.com) has worked in multichannel retail, agency, and higher education
environments, proving his expertise in website
optimization, brand and content strategy, and
digital marketing. Learn more from him about
how to improve the usability and effectiveness of
your website when he joins us on The OR Chat.
You can find more details and register here.

December 2020 / OUTDOOR RETAILER 25

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Outdoor Retailer - December 2020

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