Website Not Converting

[Auciker]

Howdy all,


I'm pretty new here, but there seems to be a good amount of activity. Maybe this'll be my new home ...

I built a site for a client that has really crummy conversion rates. This month it's been about 0.3%. I've tried implementing several usability improvements, but nothing seems to make a difference. Any thoughts?

FYI, I did a system upgrade the other day and unfortunately it broke several pages. The conversion issue has been around much longer than this botched upgrade. So no need to include that piece of information, I'm well aware of it and working hard to get it fixed ASAP.


Thanks,
Chris

[edited by: ergophobe at 1:05 am (utc) on Mar 6, 2010]
[edit reason] personal URL removed [/edit]

[ergophobe]

Hey Chris,

Welcome! I guess I'll ask the two obvious questions

1. Have you done any split testing?

2. Do you have any reference points for comparable conversion rates in the industry? In other words, do you know that's actually bad?

Two other questions, now that I think of it
- source of traffic (PPC or organic)?
- what platform is the site built on?

[Auciker]

Hey ergo,


1. I have not done split testing, as I have no idea how to do that using Magento. As an aside, I've decided that I hate Magento. I've worked with many CMS's and Magento has been by far the biggest pain to deal worth. I'm completely over it.

2. I have another site that has the same products at the same prices and I think conversion is 2-3%. I say "I think", because the webmaster for that site won't actually place the tracking codes correctly, so I'm pretty much making educated guesses. I am able to do whatever I want with this new site, which is exactly why it was created. We're completely sick of working with a rude, absent, and otherwise worthless webmaster.

3. Traffic is almost entirely search PPC right now. I don't do content PPC as I've never had returns that make it even close to worth it. It's a brand new site, and SEO should start giving us traffic in the next few months.

As an aside, I linked to my site so folks can see it. How can I ask folks about my site if they can't see it?


Thanks,
Chris