Continued from Page One.

Make it simple
Recommending that an e-tailer simplify their site navigation to increase sales conversion is probably the most often-repeated advice in e-commerce. It's like your mother telling you to eat your vegetables -- it's a constant.

But it's still true, especially as the Web matures and sites offer shoppers a blizzard of choices. It's important to streamline your site so shoppers get what they're looking for as soon as possible. "Eighty percent of visitors will leave after three pages," Eisenberg said. If you haven't presented a compelling sales pitch by the third page, your conversion rate falls.

"Your goal is to minimize the amount of clicks and the amount of work to complete checkout," Seacrist said. Think about removing non-essential questions in the checkout process. Do you need to offer all those e-mail sign-up options?

E-commerce superstars Amazon and eBay are essentially ugly sites, Berkowitz noted, because they've placed functionality above cosmetic appeal. Despite lacking Flash and limited other rich media, they're efficiently giving people what they want. Amazon's "1-Click" ordering technology has borne out an undeniable truth: simplicity improves conversion.

More trust equals more conversion
Before customers give you sensitive information -- credit card number and home address -- they need to feel it's a safe thing to do. A shadow of doubt decreases your conversion rate.

At point of sale, shoppers need to see a brief security and privacy guarantee. You need to reassure them their information won't be sold and they won't be spammed into oblivion.

And any guarantees about return policy or merchandise quality should be in plain English rather than legalese, Berkowitz noted. "Even if your lawyers say you need to have this 20-page window to scroll through, you can still put the top five bullet points on top."

Also aiding the trust factor are the logos that many e-tailers display to prove they're approved by third party verifiers. Logos from companies like TRUSTe, Verisign and BBB Online help reassure buyers that you're not a scam artist operating offshore.

"Very few of those options will break the bank, and what they can do at the shopping cart page is phenomenal," Berkowitz said.

Worship your repeat customers
The people who've bought from you in the past are good people; they're smarter and better looking than the average person -- or at least they should believe that you think so.

It's obvious, but it's true: Romancing your repeat buyers is one of the easiest ways to bump up conversion.

"It amazes me how many sites don't pay attention to their repeat customers," Eisenberg said. "It's a huge problem that so many sites don't have a large percentage of repeat customers."

The methods of pampering repeaters are myriad -- from the kind of message you send with the product, to the sorts of discounts you offer (you are offering them discounts, aren't you?). But whatever you do, remember that the resources spent on previous customers can cost you less in the long run than acquiring new customers.

Think about free shipping
If you offer free shipping, you'll see an immediate and direct boost in conversion, experts say. Forrester Research's Carrie Johnson calls free shipping "the Holy Grail" of e-commerce, noting that it's a hugely attractive sales persuasion technique.

But the effect of free shipping can have a downside. It requires careful study to determine the appropriate order size or situations in which to apply discounted shipping -- lest you cut into your profit margin.

If you're leery of free shipping, remember that it can be offered on a short-term basis -- say, during your off season or any sales slump. Even if you don't normally offer it, free shipping can be cost effective as an occasional sales stimulator.

James Maguire is a contributor to eCommerce-Guide.com.

Do you have a comment or question about this article or other e-commerce topics in general? Speak out in the SmallBusinessComputing.com E-Commerce Forum. Join the discussion today!