Making it easy for your online customers to pay is important if you are to increase your conversions and sales be it as an entrepreneur or organization. It is for this reason that you need to make your checkout page as appealing as possible. Actually, the checkout page is the final stop for customers who are doing shopping on your site.It is the page where they will have to submit their payment information before parting with their hard-earned cash in exchange for a product or service.
It is quite easy for you to slap any payment method on your site as is the case with surveys that pay through PayPal. But if you are really serious about increasing the sales of your business, you will have to take maximum control of the full checkout process thus making it easier for your customers to pay. To help you out, here are some of the most notable ways in which you can make payment easier for your online customers.
- Offer a Seamless Design
In terms of branding, you will have to keep everything on your website as consistent as possible. This will mean making use of the same fonts, design and colors on your checkout page as is the case with the rest of your site. Through this action, you can be able to increase the brand awareness of your business without having to go through a lot.
Of course, there are a number of online payment providers who are known to offer a ready-made checkout page. Unfortunately, business owners who go this route will have to give up the full control over the feel and look of their checkout page. And with all the scams available online, it is reasonable for customers to doubt a checkout page that is quite different from the site they were shopping on.In order to raise your brand visibility, you should make sure that you are using a design which is consistent across all the site channels, especially your checkout page.
- Provide Multiple Payment Methods
It might appear obvious, but there are so many websites that only have one payment method in place.This might not come as good news to many customers especially when the payment method in place does not favor them.To capture the majority of people who are visiting your site, you should consider having a look at the payment methods they use. For instance, you can allow direct bank payments and transfers from all major credit cards.
- Do Not Redirect People When Making Payments
You might have probably put in all your effort in order to drive traffic to your website. So why redirect them to another website when making payments? Since you have no control over your check out page, some customers may feel as if they are making payment to another website rather than your business. In the end, you will lose most of your clients simply because they do not feel secure with the method of payment.
Checking out and making payment is the last thing that your customers will do. That is why you must not redirect your customers to another site since the name of your business should be the last thing in their mind. It is only through this action that you will achieve customer satisfaction while at the same time winning new clients.
- Reassure Your Customers About their Security and Privacy
Payment security is one of the first things your customers will look into before making any payment on your website. It is for this reason that you need to showcase the security measures you have in place if you are to win over as many customers as possible. It is highly advisable that you put in place a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate for your website. This is because it will guarantee a secure connection while at the same time encrypting credit card information.
Additionally, you should adhere to all the standards set by PCI Security Standards Council (PCI SSC). The compliance by PCI SSC has been put into place by payment card companies. Furthermore, the council is tasked with the main responsibility of managing the security standards of any person who processes, transmits or stores cardholder data. Make sure the customers can see your security credentials containing PCI and SSL badges.
- Only Ask for Important Information
As is the case with creating a list for email marketing, you will want to limit the amount of information that you need from your customers. Nothing puts off customers like having to fill numerous information that are not mandatory whenever you are making payments. To avoid losing customers, you should try as much as possible to limit the information you need. And if you really need that information, it would be better if you include an explanation as to why you want it.
- Fix Errors Easily
It is not surprising to see people making mistakes when paying for a product or services. One such mistake is forgetting a letter when writing their email address or overlooking a zip code. In order to fix this problem easily, you need to make sure your checkout page displays an error message. Most site owners are known to display this message at the top of their page. Unfortunately, not many people will realize this thus missing out on the problem. You should try as much as possible to display the error message in the field it occurred if you are to help your customers.
While all the above methods may work for your business, it is important to choose one you are familiar with. By making it easy for your customers to make payments, you will never again have to worry about increasing your sales or conversions. Remember the customer is the reason as to why you are in business thus the need to make them happy.