How can an e-commerce website help you?
An e-commerce website is a great way to start, support and grow your business. With more than 87% of shoppers beginning product searches online, a profitable e-commerce website can be achieved.
An online store is a big step, it requires careful planning and strategy but in turn, can generate great success. These are some store aspects to go through: layout design, creating an FAQ, product descriptions, product images and website security.
Easy Layout
Choosing the right layout for an e-commerce website is very important, taking into consideration the functions and use.
The navigation of your website should be easy to use and clutter-free. With the top bar, navigation should show a set of categories and subcategories will entice your customers.
A mobile responsive website is also a must, as many of your users will come from mobile. You should also spend time on the checkout design, ensuring it best fit for all your users. The best way to do this is to minimise fields, such as making the shipping address as billing address by default.
FAQ Pages
A FAQ page (or section) gives a customer reassurance about any common questions that they may have. A good FAQ page will not only provide answers but help them decide to make a purchase. Creating a comprehensive yet easy to digest FAQ page and this will add value and more reason to buy your product.
Good product descriptions and details
A product description should spark customer interest, this can be the difference between the user buying the product and never returning. At the core, the description should provide important details about the product that also adds value to your customer.
An important note is to make unique descriptions, anyone can copy text from the manufacturer. Also include sensory words to gain the audience emotion, using easy to read and broken-down points.
High-quality images
The sole purpose of an e-commerce site is to entice customers to buy your product, using high-quality, realistic images will do this. Your product image should be able to sell your product, if you are taking the photos yourself it is crucial that they look professional.
Security
SecurityThe security of websites today is more important than ever, with hacking and data breaches at the centre of attacks. The easiest security problem to solve is fixing the missing security certificates. Security certificates provide secure connections between the user and your website and are a must-have on any website.
User data is another important aspect of security, with credit card details being the users most important data. As a website owner, you need to know where and how your data is stored. If you intend on keeping this information on your servers, keep sensitive data safe and encrypted.
Third-Party e-commerce websites such as Shopify and Squarespace store this data on their end rather than on your website. Even plugins on WordPress such as WooCommerce do not keep credit card numbers and rather passes this data onto the payment processor.
Revaluate and repeat
The most important part of having an online store is knowing what works and what does not.
Revaluating your performance can show you what needs to be improved. Using analytics tools, like Google Analytics, gives you insights on customer behaviours and interests. Keep what is working and change what doesn’t drive online sales to a profitable e-commerce website. With an e-commerce website, you should be regularly evaluating it’s performance.
Conclusion
In conclusion, an e-commerce site is a great way to build and grow your business, of any size. However, requires careful planning and strategy to set yourself up for success. Making sure you have an easy layout, FAQ pages, product descriptions, product images, and good website security. An e-commerce website is more than just a website, it is a shopping experience.
