For businesses that sell and transact online, eCommerce is paramount. An eCommerce site will dictate whether you gain or lose sales. No matter how amazing your product or service is, it won't matter if your website isn't functional. Websites that don't reach customers, lack vital features, or fail during checkout will push consumers away.
With this in mind, here are five key things your eCommerce site absolutely needs in order for you to succeed online.
Good SEO should be implemented across your entire site. Especially when it comes to keywords for product and image descriptions. SEO is fundamental in having any website found online, including eCommerce websites. SEO improves your search engine rankings. Thus, ensures your target market can find the correct product page at first click.
Be sure to plan out an SEO and keyword strategy before you build your eCommerce site. Also, review it before it goes live so that you can best implement Search engine optimization as you go along.
Every eCommerce store needs discounts and promotions to create consumer buzz and, of course, sales.
You can also send promotional information to your customer base through email marketing. This can help to encourage customers to return to your site. Returning customers create a direct traffic flow that keeps your online store busy regardless of your SEO success.
So, make sure your website includes a discount code box and advertising banners to show off the latest deals. Believe it or not, not all eCommerce site builders have this feature. Therefore, it's a good idea to check before you choose to build on a specific platform.
If your website and product have impressed enough to push a consumer to purchase, you need to make sure your checkout process and cart design are fully equipped to close the deal. Your shopping cart needs to be easy to understand and responsive. It also needs to provide a variety of payment options to make it easier for the customer like alternatives to using PayPal.
Although creating an account to checkout is ideal for building your customer list information, having a quick and easy guest checkout option can always be beneficial as some customers prefer a speedy purchase. Easy payment acceptance tools like Exactly.com can take away the friction and enable more transactions to be completed.
That said, there are lots of websites online that explain, compare, and review shopping cart options, like this one. When creating and choosing the right shopping cart for your eCommerce site, it's a good idea to do some research before deciding on the right builder for you.
Even though your eCommerce site's purpose is to display and sell products, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't have some engaging content for consumers to read. A blog provides entertainment for your website visitors and makes it more likely they will spend time on your site; it's also good for SEO.
A high-quality blog or article section relating to your business and industry will help provide interesting features, push key topics, and add new keywords to your repertoire.
Filling your site with high-quality product photos is a must. Nobody wants to read pages and pages of text on an eCommerce site, and photos are the best way to show off your goods.
When shooting your product, it's always a good idea to get as many different angles as possible and follow basic tips: use natural lighting, make sure the product is the focus of the shot, use a plain background that doesn't distract from what you are shooting, etc.
If you need help, commercial photographers are a great place to start, with many specializing in product photography.
At the same time, do not neglect giving attention to your ecommerce icons. These icons enhance your brand and should have uniform brand style to be effective.
