Ecommerce CRO checklist: rules 6-10, basic usability in PrestaShop

Week two of our series on the 194 CRO rules for ecommerce by Flag Agency, the PrestaShop web agency based in Frattamaggiore (Naples, Italy). We stay on the General page of the checklist, Basic usability section: after the first five rules about speed and foundations — you’ll find them in CRO checklist rules 1-5 — here are rules 6 to 10.

Five checks that cost almost nothing and can be done in an afternoon. None of them is a legal requirement: they’re common-sense choices that remove doubt. And a visitor with no doubts buys more easily.

Rule 6 — Write buttons that say what happens next

What to check. Every button in your store needs a label made of verb + result: “Add to cart”, “Go to secure checkout”, “See the deals”. Never “Submit”, “OK”, “Click here” or a bare “Continue”.

Why it matters for sales. The button is where the decision happens. If the label doesn’t say where it leads, the brain stops for half a second and looks for reassurance somewhere else. Half a second of doubt, multiplied by every button in the journey, is pure friction. “Go to secure checkout” also says what doesn’t happen: you’re not paying yet, you’re moving forward.

How to do it in PrestaShop.

• Default button texts are edited in International → Translations → Theme translations (pick language and theme, then search the string: “Add to cart”, “Proceed to checkout”, “Submit”).
• Don’t edit theme files by hand just to change a word: the next theme update wipes it. Use translations.
• Check every language of the store: Italian is often polished while English is still on the default strings.
• Review module buttons too: contact form, newsletter, “Notify me when available”, quote request.

Common mistake. The contact form with a “Submit” button. Change it to “Send my request” or “Request a quote”: one extra word that says exactly what happens.

Rule 7 — Give every page a next step

What to check. Open the “service” pages of your store and ask: from here, where do I go? They must lead to products, categories or search — including:

• the 404 page;
• search with no results;
• blog articles;
• About us, Shipping, Contact.

Why it matters for sales. People coming from Google or social media often land on something that isn’t a product. If that page is a dead end, the visit ends there. A clear next step turns an informational page into a door to your catalogue.

How to do it in PrestaShop.

• In CMS pages (Design → Pages) always close with a block linking to a category or a product selection, with an explicit link: “See products on sale”.
• On the no-results search page, show best sellers or main categories instead of a grey line of text.
• In blog articles, link products inside the body text, not just at the bottom.
• For automatic selections (most viewed, new arrivals, related) you can use the blocks in Flag’s PrestaShop theme or add a dedicated module.

Common mistake. A beautifully written “About us” page with not a single link to the catalogue. That’s the page where people decide whether to trust you: the worst moment to leave them stranded.

Rule 8 — Make the 404 page useful

What to check. A 404 shouldn’t be a bare error. It needs a clear message in plain language, a search field, the main categories and a few recommended products.

Why it matters for sales. 404s always happen: discontinued products, old links shared on WhatsApp, mistyped URLs. That person wanted something from your store. A good 404 puts them back on track; an empty one sends them to Google, meaning your competitors.

How to do it in PrestaShop.

• Customise the theme’s pagenotfound template: a plain-language title (“This page isn’t here anymore”), a prominent search bar, the category menu, 4-8 products.
• Make sure the page really returns a 404 status code and not a 200: a fake 404 confuses Google.
• Watch real 404s in Stats → Pages not found and in Search Console: if one URL gets a lot of traffic, set a 301 redirect to the right product or category.
• For the logic behind the error, we go deeper in our article on what a 404 error is and how to turn it into an opportunity.

Common mistake. Redirecting every 404 to the homepage. The user lands there without understanding why and starts from scratch. A 404 that helps them search is better.

Rule 9 — Keep the logo in the same place

What to check. The logo sits in the same position on every page (usually top left) and links to the homepage. Two accepted exceptions: checkout and landing pages, where the link can be disabled so people stay in the flow.

Why it matters for sales. A clickable logo is the safe exit: “I didn’t find what I wanted, let me start again”. It’s an automatic gesture. If it doesn’t work, the visitor doesn’t complain — they leave.

How to do it in PrestaShop.

• Upload the logo in Shop Parameters → Contact (header logo, email logo, favicon) and check it looks sharp on mobile.
• Check the “special” pages: checkout, order confirmation, maintenance page, external payment module pages. That’s where the header quietly changes.
• Removing the link at checkout is a legitimate choice — but then keep a visible contact (phone or WhatsApp), otherwise it feels like a trap.

Common mistake. A logo that differs in size or colour between home and inner pages, because one comes from the theme and the other from a module. Small detail, real trust damage.

Rule 10 — Use popups that don’t attack

What to check. No newsletter or discount popup the moment someone arrives, and never a full-screen popup on mobile (Google penalises those). The popup appears after a signal of interest (seconds spent, pages viewed, scroll) or on exit, and closes with a big, visible X.

Why it matters for sales. A popup firing at second zero interrupts people before they even know where they are. They close the popup — and often the site. The same popup shown to someone who has already viewed three products arrives when interest is real.

How to do it in PrestaShop.

• Set a delay or a condition (pages viewed, scroll percentage, exit intent) in your popup module; you can start from one of Flag’s PrestaShop modules.
• On mobile prefer a small bottom bar or banner instead of a box covering everything.
• The X must be at least fingertip-sized, and the popup should also close by tapping outside.
• Show it once per session: store the choice in a technical cookie.
• Don’t let the promo popup overlap the cookie banner: if they stack, people can’t use either.

Common mistake. Two different popups (newsletter and discount) from two different modules, firing together. It happens more often than you’d think: check your homepage in incognito, on a phone.

In short

• GEN-06 — Buttons with verb + result: “Add to cart”, never “Submit” or “Click here”.
• GEN-07 — Every page, including blog and About us, leads to products, categories or search.
• GEN-08 — A 404 page with a clear message, search, categories and recommended products.
• GEN-09 — Logo in the same place everywhere, linking to the homepage (except checkout and landing pages).
• GEN-10 — Popups after a signal of interest or on exit, never full-screen on mobile, easy to close.

If you’d rather someone else runs these checks on your store, let’s talk: we handle them inside PrestaShop ecommerce projects or as one-off jobs through PrestaShop support. Next week we continue with the General page.