There are a few facts about the conversion rates of websites that need particular emphasis. It is not sufficient to have a reasonable hit rate if people do not follow through and make purchases. Thus the conversion rate does get to decide the overall success of a website and particularly one that deals in some merchandise.
What can be considered to be a good conversion rate?
This is at best a very subjective topic, and with the niche e-commerce websites, the rates could be somewhat on the lower side comparatively. Most industries do have an average conversion rate, and it is the key to the success of a website or shopping portal to achieve a conversion rate that is above the average for the category under consideration.
In a talk with Mr. John Smith of invespcro.com, he was quick to point out that the best approach was to aim at reaching the top ten percentile of conversion rates for the particular type of websites under consideration. This is a continuous process that can be rather long drawn out, and it is the more persistent of the SEO consultants that do get to achieve this result time and again.
Making sense of the average conversion rates
One of the first things that have to be understood when it comes to the conversion rates is that it is highly subjective. So what would have been a good rate for a general merchandise website would not do for a more niche e-commerce website? It is thus essential to take the results achieved in the right sense, and a proper interpretation of the results arrived.
Thus any typical site like The LED TV that would specialize in selling only LED TVs would look to achieve a conversion rate that would bring in the desired result for the effort expended. Here the return to the website owner must be taken in the right context so that someone taking the time out to promote the website could expect to get a good return for the time and money spent in going about hosting such a site at best.
Having an expectation that is on the higher side
When people go about promoting a product on the internet, often they would take the whole process to yield results in quick time. Thus expectations are on the higher side as to the kind of returns that can be achieved and more importantly the time frame that they would give for noticeable results to be produced.
It is no doubt important that the results of the efforts to promote an e-commerce website do produce effect quickly. Often with major commercial ventures, it is a fact that vast sums of money would have been borrowed as finances to start the business. If a quick return is not achieved this would lead to a situation where the debt just cannot be serviced, and the venture would just go bust. This is what came out as being the most critical aspect of an e-commerce venture when in conversion with the chartists of marketingsherpa.com.
The balanced approach to marketing products on an e-commerce website
Like any traditional methods of marketing e-commerce products, it is essential to allow sufficient time to come out with results. But at the same time, there must be a quick enough payback to enable a healthier approach to the marketing activity. The creditors need to be paid on time, and it does not help anyone to go slack with the payment schedules.
The conversion rates of a niche e-commerce website would take a lot more time to improve and come within the expected figures, and people who embark on such activities must be patient enough to let the site establish itself. The internet must not be seen as a quick fix replacement to hard work and perseverance.
