The ad metrics look good: CTR is high, cost per click is reasonable, traffic is arriving. But there are no sales.
In this picture the problem is usually not the advertising. The ad did its job and brought a person to the page. The loss is happening on the page.
The list below covers the loss points we run into most often on the sites we audit. Check them in order.
First measure: where are you losing people?
Before guessing, find these four numbers (GA4 or your back office is enough):
- Product page views
- Add to cart
- Checkout started
- Purchase
Work out the drop-off at each step. Wherever the loss is, that’s where you look.
Rough benchmarks (e-commerce average):
- Product → cart: 8-12%
- Cart → checkout: 45-60%
- Checkout → purchase: 55-70%
If you’re clearly below these bands, there’s a problem there.
12 checks on the product page
Imagery and the first screen
1. Is the price visible on the first screen? A user who has to hunt for the price leaves. It should be visible on a phone without scrolling.
2. Are there at least 5 images? One studio photograph isn’t enough. You need the product in use, a scale reference, a detail shot and a rear view.
3. Do the images load fast on a phone? If the first image takes more than 2 seconds on a 4G connection, the loss has already started.
Copy
4. Does the title say what the product is? “Elegance Series 3080” is not a product name. “Cotton duvet set — double” is a product name.
5. Is there a benefit in the first three lines? The technical specification list can sit further down. Up top there should be an answer to “what does this do for me”.
6. Is sizing uncertainty removed? In apparel this is the single biggest cause of returns, and returns eat your margin.
Trust
7. Are there reviews, and are they visible? With no reviews the page looks like a brand-new site. A handful of genuine reviews beats none at all.
8. Are the returns and shipping terms on the page? Not in the footer menu — near the buy button.
9. Is there a way to make contact? A phone number or WhatsApp. People don’t buy from a site that doesn’t look reachable.
Action
10. Is the buy button single and obvious? “Add to cart”, “Buy now”, “Add to favourites”, “Compare” — four side by side makes the decision harder.
11. When does the shipping cost appear? A surprise shipping charge at checkout is the number one cause of cart abandonment. If there’s a free-shipping threshold, say so on the product page.
12. Can people buy without registering? Forced sign-up creates serious loss, especially on a phone.
Test on a phone, not a computer
Usually 75-85% of ad traffic is mobile. But most sites are designed on a computer and checked there.
Do this: click your own ad from your own phone. Turn off Wi-Fi and use mobile data. Add the product to the cart and go as far as checkout.
That five-minute test shows more than most analytics reports.
The role of speed
Page load time affects sales directly. Practical targets:
- First content visible: under 1.8 seconds
- Page usable: under 3 seconds
The usual culprits: uncompressed images, unnecessary third-party code (live chat, heatmaps, multiple pixels) and a heavy theme.
Order of priority
Don’t change everything at once — you won’t know what worked. Go in this order:
- Measure and find which step the loss is in
- Fix the single biggest problem in that step
- Wait a week, measure again
- Move to the next one
Complete this list before raising the ad budget. The same budget does twice the work on a page that’s been fixed.