Magento Commerce is a great platform for building an online store. It is highly extensible and has an entire marketplace of eCommerce goodies. Too many owners let their Magento store sit without ever adding on to it.

First, let’s talk about some basic ways of increasing conversions for your online store.

Tips for Higher Conversions

High-resolution product images
People want to see large, crisp product shots. Not only does it give a perfect representation of the product, but it also gives the consumer a sense of professionalism and trust.

Simplified categories and navigation
A lot of store owners create huge category and navigation trees – thinking “the more, the better”. This isn’t the case. Users want to find what they are looking for quickly – without having to click/scroll through a giant sitemap. Keep it simple. Give your users a couple of obvious choices to lead them to what they are looking for.

Design and A/B Testing
It’s amazing how much of a difference design can have in the conversion rate of an online store. Using Google Website Optimizer and Magento’s boxed site management features, you can set up A/B Testing. A/B Testing is a process of comparing conversions for the same content displayed different (varied design/copy). This process helps you identify the best design/copy techniques for increasing conversions. More information on this can be found here: http://www.magentocommerce.com/product/features/site-management/view

Minimize choices at checkout
This is something that Amazon does very well. Once you have a user at the checkout page, you do not want them to venture away. This will delay the purchase and possibly even lead to the customer having second thoughts. Remove unnecessary navigation and all product callouts.

Extensions for Higher Conversions

Now, let’s talk about some extensions you can download and use to increase your conversions.

One Step Checkout (http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/One+Step+Checkout/extension/2809/one-step-checkout-version-2-2-)
This extension reduces the checkout process to one page and one step. Magento’s checkout requires multiple “continue” clicks to proceed to the next step. With this, all of the data is entered at once – easy and quick.

Google Analytics Plus (http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/FOOMAN/extension/171/fooman-google-analytics-plus)
This extension builds off the already included Google Analytics integration. It follows the entire funnel of the checkout process (each step) and helps you identify where conversions are dropping off.

Featured Products (http://www.magentocommerce.com/magento-connect/aheadworks/extension/733/featured-products-by-aheadworks)
Lead your consumers straight to the products that lead to the most profit for your company. Highly customizable and easy to use.