E-commerce is a
very competitive field because your rival is just a click away. If a customer
doesn’t like your site, they will simply look for another to buy the products
they require from. Therefore, your website needs to be as usable and as
customer-friendly as possible.
Design
Make sure the
design you choose complements your products and is easy on the eye.
Navigation
If customers get
confused navigating your website they aren’t likely to buy from you regardless
of whether your prices are very low or you have the best products in the
market.
Try to think
like a consumer and put your products in more than one category. By making your
goods and services easy to find, people are going to be inclined to purchase
more.
Photos
It is important
to use clear, colourful images of your products as people like to have an idea
of what the product looks like before they buy. Try not to use large images as
this means the page will take longer to load and people will be put off
waiting.
Wording
People don’t
want to read really long product descriptions, a good rule of thumb is to try
and keep headlines to eight words or less and make sure sentences are kept
short. Aim for summaries to be 30 words or under and keep paragraphs to no more
than 70 words.
It is also
important to use simple language that is easy to understand. Avoid the jargon,
even if you are selling to the trade.
Description of any product plays an important part in selling that product. Still, description is the part which is the most undervalued while building an ecommerce site. The description needs to be targeted and persuasive. It also fulfils the SEO part of the ecommerce website. The descriptions work as your salesperson.
Contact
When there is a
problem most customers will prefer to have someone they can talk to, so putting
a phone number in a visible place on your site is a good idea. Feedback forms
put people off.
Be
clear
Make sure you
display clear pricing, shipping and returns information. There is nothing worse
than getting to the checkout only to find out that it is going to cost more than
you thought it would.
Create
loyalty
Repeat custom is
vital to a business so it is important to create customer loyalty. Creating a
newsletter on email so you can keep in touch with your existing customers is
also an excellent sales device and gives customers the opportunity to take
advantage of your latest offers before everyone else.
M-commerce
More shoppers
are using their smartphones or tablets to browse or buy products online, so it
is important to make sure your site is compatible with mobile devices.
SEO
Internal
links are a great way to improve your site’s SEO. For example, if you have a
blog on your site you can link back to products when
appropriate.
Promote your
site
It is important
to leave yourself plenty of time to build your website before your launch date.
Also, make sure you factor in for delays.
Many people are
of the belief that once the site is live they can sit back and wait for people
to find them. However, this is not the case and as with any business you need to
promote it so people become aware of you. Even when you do start to make sales,
you still need to keep this momentum up.