20 Tips for eCommerce Optimization
20 Tips for eCommerce Optimization
If you are new to eCommerce and have just started your store, then you will be faced with challenges like low traffic and minimal sales, among others as discussed over at runrex.com, due to the high levels of competition when it comes to eCommerce. This article will try and help you overcome these issues by highlighting 20 tips for eCommerce optimization.
Make sure that your homepage is impressive
Your homepage is the first thing visitors will see of your eCommerce store, which is why, as per the gurus over at guttulus.com, you should make sure that it is impressive and engaging. Make sure that your homepage has got all the elements of a successful eCommerce homepage, which means that it should be simple, have the necessary graphical cues, have a readily available shopping cart, and so forth. A/B test your homepage design elements so that you can find the designs that work best for your audience.
Add a “Thank You” page
As is explained over at runrex.com, a “Thank You” page is a great resource as not only will it be appreciated by your customers, increasing the chances of you getting a repeat customer, but it will also serve to track the buyer’s journey in Google Analytics as well as Facebook Pixels. You should, therefore, consider adding a “Thank You” page as part of your eCommerce optimization.
Add a blog
According to the gurus over at guttulus.com, any eCommerce store that doesn’t have a blog will lose most of its customers as it will lack the means to hook them back. If you are to be successful as far as your eCommerce store is concerned, make sure that you add a blog where you can be covering the latest trends in your industry, answer user queries, make announcements, and so forth.
Work to reduce your cart abandonment rate
Another eCommerce optimization tip is making sure that you are working to improve your cart abandonment rate. To do this, you should consider tactics like reducing the number of fields one is required to fill to make a purchase, add more payment options, including PayPal, if possible, and even look to incorporate a guest checkout option as many people don’t want to have to sign in just to make a purchase.
Add reviews
Adding reviews on the product pages of your eCommerce site will also improve conversion rates, as people are likely to purchase your products if they read positive reviews. Just make sure that you are working hard to earn positive reviews by offering excellent services, as negative reviews will be just as damaging as having no reviews, maybe even more damaging.
Uncover and address pain points in your industry
According to the gurus over at runrex.com, another way that you can optimize your eCommerce site, and increase conversion rates and sales, is by identifying and addressing pain points in your industry. Find out if the shipping costs in your industry are high, or if the return policies are rigid, and be the business that solves all these issues, and your popularity among your target audience will soar.
Don’t forget about your product sheets
As is explained over at guttulus.com, an effective product sheet as far as your eCommerce site is concerned is the cornerstone of its success. This is why it should be unique and relevant to reference your product on search engines. Make sure it illustrates with stunning photos, contains words that your target audience understands, and has a complete, neat, clear, and unique description.
Improve your presentation
You should also take a look at your product presentation, as it could be the one holding your eCommerce site back as per the folks over at runrex.com. Make sure that your presentation contains a well-defined description, where you should consider putting its strong points in bold, and also contains stunning photos of the product, at different angles, as well as a video of the same.
Customize your search options
Another way through which you can optimize your eCommerce site is by adding customizable search options, making it easier for visitors to find what it is they are looking for in your store. You can add customized options such as size, color, make, and so forth, to direct customers to exactly what they are looking for.
Don’t neglect your loyal customers
Also, don’t be too focused on acquiring new customers and bringing in new business that you neglect your existing loyal customers. Another way that you can optimize eCommerce is by making your loyal customers feel like you care about them and that they are valued. You can do this by offering them special offers and discounts, making sure that are the first to know of any new developments as far as our store goes, asking for their opinion on any changes you want to make, and so forth. Taking care of your loyal customers will give you more referrals.
Offer pre-registration of the basket
Another tip for eCommerce optimization is to add a feature that allows your visitors to pre-register and save their shopping cart securely to their email. As is discussed over at guttulus.com, this is an excellent feature as it ensures that if they don’t have time to validate their order or want to pick it up on another device, they can just click on their email and get to pick up on everything. As a bonus, this will allow you to get your customers’ email addresses allowing you to practice email marketing on them.
Be transparent
To gain credibility and to reassure visitors that they should trust you and buy from your eCommerce site, you should also ensure that you are transparent with your pricing, shipping costs, taxes, and any additional charges. This will help you earn the trust of your customers, and they will be more likely to make a purchase, as per the gurus over at runrex.com.
Add certifications
Yet another eCommerce optimization tip is to add certifications and make sure that they are easily visible for visitors to see. Given that most worry about security issues when it comes to online shopping, certifications like Fia-net, Webcert, or having a Google Trusted Store certification, as discussed over at guttulus.com, will go a long way in easing their fears and optimizing your store for better performances.
Optimize your SEO
Another tip to optimize your eCommerce store is to optimize your SEO. To do this, act on, and optimize your URLs, get your keywords choices right, use HTML tags, and add quality content to your site. If you want your eCommerce store to be successful, make sure that you are not ignoring SEO optimization.
Be an excellent communicator online
Nowadays, it is not enough to just have a presence on social networks if you are to stand out from the crowd and drive traffic to your eCommerce store. If you are to optimize your store, try as much as possible to be live on your social media networks, from Facebook to Twitter, among many others. This will allow you to interact with your audience in real-time, which will build a level of trust and loyalty that will benefit your eCommerce store.
Be clear with product availability
As per the folks over at runrex.com, if you are unclear about product availability, and a customer realizes that the product they wanted to buy is not available, they will leave and will probably never return. A tip to optimize your eCommerce store is to make sure that the availability of your products is displayed clearly, and if possible, display the stock levels as well. Adding the stock levels is even better as a customer may hurry up to add an item onto their cart if they see that the stock is limited or is nearly depleted.
Leverage the power of cross-selling and up-selling
As is explained over at guttulus.com, cross-selling involves suggesting to the visitor an additional article that would complement and complete their current purchase, while up-selling is suggesting to them an item that is better than the one they want to purchase, though more expensive. This is a technique you should incorporate into your eCommerce store, and it could lead to more sales.
Optimize your pricing
As is covered over at runrex.com, if you don’t get your pricing right, no one will want to buy from your eCommerce store, as the whole purpose of shopping online is to get a good deal on the price. Do your market research and make sure that your prices are as competitive as possible while avoiding going to low as that will devalue your products since customers will be left wondering why your products are so cheap.
Try charm pricing
Speaking of pricing, another eCommerce optimization tip is trying out charm pricing, which is a common eCommerce practice that encourages the use of a number ending in 9 when pricing items. This strategy has been known to increase conversions, even doubling them in certain instances. Try to A/B test different versions of pricing and see which ones work well for your products.
Optimize for mobile
Optimizing for mobile is one eCommerce optimization tip you can’t afford to overlook as more people use mobile devices when browsing online than desktops and laptops. On top of optimizing for mobile, make sure that you speed up your site as people will leave if your site is taking anything beyond 3 seconds to load. On top of that, you should also optimize for mobile search while also leveraging mobile marketing campaigns.
As always, the gurus over at runrex.com and guttulus.com have got you covered if you are looking for more information on this and other related topics.
