When it comes to PDP optimization and trying to boost conversion rates, marketers always dread one thing: changing their PDP template or design. It takes so much time, money, and effort, and it can feel like a lost cause if you don’t see A/B test winners quickly. In this article, I’m going to show how you can begin optimizing your product page without changing your template or design and still see results.

Micro-improvements are worked on after the Deconstruction step is complete.

Instead of making big design changes, we’ll rely on micro-improvements. A micro-improvement is a small but strategic update to the page designed to improve impact.

Your only limitation is that you are working within the space available at a location. So if it a location has a one-sentence description because that’s the only room available you can’t alter the page design to make it a 4 sentence detailed explanation. But you could turn a keyword in that sentence into a hyperlink and on click show a lightbox with as detailed an explanation as you like. Lightboxes don’t break the design of the core page since they visually appear on top of the page, so any changes like that are totally allowed. We show an example lower in this article.

Don’t let the term micro-improvement signal the change is small– let me show two examples:

In the video above we mentioned the following:

– Long-form sales pitch article.
– Price justification example.

The video above showed two examples of micro-improvements. Here is the entire list of possible micro-improvements starting from the two covered in the video:
1: Adding a simple question to personalize based on buyer psychology. We have a case study about this: How Understanding Shopper Psychology Boosted Product Sales 30.56% for Oransi.com.
2: Adding a call-to-action for Price Justification.
3: We can improve the persuasiveness of a line.

Example– Update this line:

To this:

4: Important terms can be converted into lightbox links for Diggers.

Example– Update this:

To this. The text pointed by the red arrow is a hyperlink. Clicking it will show a modal with an explanation about our revolutionary 14 cyclone design:

5: We can remove unnecessary words and sentences. Remember, every idea expressed on a page is a tax. The copywriter needs to ask, “is this particular tax absolutely needed?”

6: The clarity of a sentence can be improved. Guess what happens when they aren’t clear? They don’t buy.

7: Words used in a sentence can be updated. Every word has a vibe, an energy. We want to ensure our sales pitch is setting the right mood. For example, in the sentence, “This air purifier was manufactured at a specialized production facility” manufactured could be replaced with assembled to evoke a premium feel.

8: You can make a design tweak to make an important point stand out more.

An example that uses points #5, #6, #7, and #8 above– Update this:

To:

You’ll notice I’ve shortened the whole block (#5), improved the clarity of the sentence (#6), used a term like overwhelm for dramatic effect (#7), and made a designed tweak by adding an arrow connecting the word bristles to the actual product photo (#8).

Individually, such small tweaks may generate 0.05% improvements, but across a whole page, with dozens of such improvements, things add up.

Ok, so continuing on with this whole micro-improvement philosophy to optimize conversion rates.

Why Am I Ignoring Design When Doing PDP Optimization?

When it comes to your product page, the most important thing isn’t how beautiful it looks (I have seen product pages that look like they’re from 1999 convert at amazingly high rates). Instead, what your shopper ultimately cares about is the information. For example:

• Will this accomplish what they need it to accomplish?
• Will it arrive in time?
• Does it have the right features?
• Is the price fair?

Your page can be the best-looking one in the world, but if it doesn’t answer those critical questions, then who cares? Your visitor sure won’t.

That’s why I’m not too concerned about design when I start optimizing a client’s product page. As long as the page is functional and easy to use, I can focus my attention elsewhere. 

Ok, so where exactly am I focusing my attention?

Your Copy Is Your Biggest Conversion Killer or Booster

There are two types of people who visit your site: Skimmers and Diggers. Skimmers like short, quick info, and Diggers like detailed explanations.

To appreciate the difference between how Skimmers and Diggers process information, let’s look at the copy on this Lightning product page on renovaworldwide.com (click to see a zoomed-in image):

A Skimmer would look at the copy underlined in red and think, “I had no idea that bioavailability was such an important detail. I learned something new today.”

The Digger would look at that same copy and think, “WTH is this bioavailability thing? Is that even a real thing?”

This means the Digger is stuck at this point and can’t really appreciate the rest of the sales pitch lower on the page.

The solution is simple. Just convert the term bioavailability into a clickable link. The Skimmer will ignore the link because they are already satisfied with the short explanation. But when the Digger feels stuck at the introduction of the term “bioavailability”, they now have a mechanism to satisfy their itch. On click, the idea is to show a tight and detailed explanation about how fundamental bioavailability is (and be sure to demonstrate your expertise as you are explaining it).

This type of change is what I call a “micro-improvement”. The process of making micro-improvements to your page involves making a bunch of important changes throughout the page without fundamentally changing the PDP template or design.

Each change affects maybe 1% of your page. But after you make 30+ different micro-improvements, you’ll realize you’re actually improving a huge portion of the page. The impact of each micro-improvement adds up.

What Are the Benefits of This PDP Optimization Approach?

1: You don’t have to worry about changing your PDP template or design and the impacts that could have. If you’re here not as a CEO but as a copywriter, marketing director, conversion strategist, etc., then this has an additional benefit: you don’t have to worry about the long approval process that often occurs with design changes.

2: When it comes to A/B testing, big design changes can cause a flicker effect when your testing tool tries to render your test variation. This results in a poor user experience, which will likely have a negative impact on conversions. These micro-improvements, which are entirely focused on improving the sales pitch, dramatically reduce the likelihood of this flicker from occurring.

3: Most micro-improvements don’t require the help of a developer. You can often make all the changes on your own.

4: Design changes often result in page content shifting. Google doesn’t like it when the page layout shifts as the page is loading. The technical term for this is Cumulative Layout Shift. So when your test dynamically inserts new content blocks on the page (or removes content blocks), it causes the page layout to shift. Learn more in this great article: Cumulative Layout Shift – Overview of 2021 Google Ranking Factor.

Now, it’s not like I will never change the design of the page. I just won’t do it during the initial phases of projects I work on. We can gain many conversions right away by simply focusing on micro–improvements.

The Actual Process of Identifying Mircro-improvements

You don’t want to be in a situation where some important improvements have been made to one section of the page but other areas were missed. Remember, our brain is blind to many details on a page. If the idea is to not miss anything then you need to apply an approach called Deconstruction.

What To Do After You’ve Applied This PDP Optimization Approach?

You will get to a stage where you’re having difficulty finding new micro-improvements for the page—the conversion juice has been fully extracted. At that point, you’ll want to shift your focus toward constructing the long-form sales pitch for the page. This is the most important step in the conversion optimization approach I use. I explain this concept in full detail here: Applying Your Sales Pitch.

Not Sure Where to Begin?

Conversion optimization and copywriting is our bread and butter. If you like the sound of this approach but you’re not sure where to begin, check out our Case Studies page to see our ideas in action. Then, if you like what you see, reach out to us and we’ll be happy to chat.