Running an e-commerce business is a lot of work. There are so many things to think about — from sourcing products to marketing and customer service. With so much to do, it's easy to overlook the core of your business — your website.
Businesses that are just getting started selling online often think that as long as their website looks nice and is functional, they're good to go. But, unfortunately, that's not always the case. There are a lot of small details that make up the success of an e-commerce website, and it usually takes some tweaking and experimenting to get everything right.
Here we'll give you 10 tried and tested optimisation tips from our e-commerce website designers. These tips should help you increase online sales and convert more browsers into loyal customers.
When it comes to website design, the most important thing is that your visitors can easily find what they're looking for. You don't want them to have to think about where things are or struggle with understanding how your site works.
E-commerce websites for small businesses work best with a clean and minimal design. This keeps the focus on the products you want to sell.
When people shop online, they don't get the same experience as if they were in a store. So you must create an environment where your customers can trust you and feel safe when handing over their credit card details.
You can do this by ensuring your branding is consistent across your website and social media. It's also essential that you have a professional-looking logo and design.
With so many people now using their phones and tablets to shop online, it's critical that your website is mobile-friendly.
This means ensuring your e-commerce website developer tests and optimises all aspects of your website for mobile devices, from making sure it's easy for people to navigate and checkout to ensuring that the images load quickly.
Content is a crucial part of any e-commerce website. Not only does it help people find you on Google, but it also helps customers learn about your products and make the right buying decisions.
Make sure you write compelling product descriptions and attractive sales messages and use SEO best practices across all your website copy.
People buy with their eyes, so your product photography must be top-notch. This means using high-quality images and taking the time to style and photograph your products attractively.
Put yourself in your customers' shoes and think about what would make you buy. This will help you identify elements that you can improve to enhance the customer experience.
Make sure the navigation of your online shop is clear and simple for someone visiting your site for the first time. And, make sure you have a clear call to action, like a buy now or add to cart button on your product pages.
One of the biggest turn-offs for online shoppers is when they feel like they're being ripped off. You can avoid this by being transparent about your prices and shipping costs from the beginning.
It's also important to ensure that your checkout process is easy and quick and doesn't involve any extra last-minute charges.
Social proof is one of the most powerful tools to increase sales and conversions. This is when you show your customers that other people have already bought from you and are happy with their purchase.
You can do this by displaying customer reviews on your product pages. Encourage shoppers to leave a review once they've made a purchase, and feature the best reviews prominently on your site.
Another powerful way to increase sales and conversions is by offering an incentive for people to sign up for your email list.
Pop-ups work well for this, especially if they're triggered based on a customer's behaviour. For example, a pop-up with a discount code that appears when someone is about to leave your site could persuade them to stay and complete their purchase.
Cart abandonment is when people add items to their shopping cart but don't complete the purchase. This is a huge problem for e-commerce websites, as it can lead to lost sales and revenue.
Making the checkout process short and simple is a good way to reduce cart abandonment. You can also use your e-commerce website platform to send abandoned cart emails encouraging customers to complete their purchases.
Want to build a fantastic online store but don't know where to start? Our team of experts in website development and branding for small businesses is ready to help out.
We can help you build a successful e-commerce website.
Get in touch.
Kodaa