Ecommerce is growing at a quick pace and having an online store is getting increasingly important for your business to stay ahead of the competition. Ecommerce stores provide a great opportunity for businesses to explore several geographical markets and attract new customers that were not accessible with only a brick and mortar store presence.
Your company’s growth and success will be determined by your Ecommerce website. Hence, the need for a well-designed Ecommerce website to increase traffic, high conversions, and achieve more sales. We know how important it is to set up an Ecommerce website in this highly competitive online environment. In this article, we have compiled seven best practices for running a successful Ecommerce website.
- Simple and Effective Design – Ecommerce websites with simple designs offer customers a better user experience which results in a higher conversion rate. A well-designed home page is crucial for visitors as this will be the first thing that they see on your website. You should design your home page with a clear point of focus to drive visitors to perform the desired Call-To-Action (CTA). The right CTA would depend on your business objectives – to register a user or sell a product or draw attention to a specific point. A too complicated and cluttered design would make it difficult for visitors to identify your CTA.
A simple design eliminates confusion and makes everything easy for visitors. Simple menu features, search bar, filters, etc are key components of a well-designed Ecommerce website. Concisely introducing your products can boost your value proposition and enhance the experience of your users.
- Page Speed Optimization – Page speed is the time taken for the content on a page to load. It is an important element when it comes to measuring the effectiveness of a successful Ecommerce website. Research indicates that even a delay of a second in the page loading time leads to a 16% decrease in customer satisfaction and a 7% loss in conversions. There are various ways to optimize page speed such as the selection of an Ecommerce platform based on your business needs, using a fast and reliable hosting service provider, using the appropriate server network for content delivery, etc.
- SEO Optimization – Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is very important to get noticed and drive traffic. Most visitors start their buying process from search engines like Google. Therefore, your Ecommerce website needs to feature in the top results of any relevant searches. Based on industry research, almost 40% of Ecommerce traffic comes from direct searches, and hence most successful Ecommerce stores invest in good SEO plans.
- High-Quality Images – Once a visitor starts looking in your Ecommerce website, having high-quality relevant pictures helps you engage and connect with the visitor. A high-quality picture can influence visitors in making a purchase.
- Customer reviews and testimonials – Customer reviews and testimonials help add credibility to your products and brand. When it comes to buying online, customers mostly tend to buy products with the most reviews. Customer testimonials can be a powerful tool for a successful Ecommerce website. Not only do they help build credibility but also help spread your products and brand; thus, effectively reducing your marketing spend and increasing profitability.
- Customer Service – Online businesses need a customer service division to help their users. This includes everything from helping them complete their purchases to resolving shipping/ refund/ payments issues. Having a well-thought-out customer service plan is a prerequisite for a successful Ecommerce store. These customer service touchpoints would vary depending on businesses but would cover topics such as shipping, returns, product feedback, etc. By having seamless customer service functionality, you can create greater customer loyalty in the overall process.
- Responsive Website – A responsive website design is essential when it comes to a successful Ecommerce store. Mobile makes up almost half of all internet traffic, and having a responsive design allows your website to properly load across all devices, and ultimately provide a good user experience.
Conclusion
Running a successful Ecommerce website in today’s highly competitive online environment requires adhering to several best practices. While we have listed down some key best practices, there are many more considerations in order to drive maximum traffic and have high conversion rates. If you’ve any doubts related to Ecommerce platforms and if you need assistance developing one, then feel free to talk to us here.
