Starting your own online shopping platform is incredibly easy. If someone seriously tried to charge you thousands of dollars to install eCommerce functionality, walk away. If you are going to spend thousands, you should invest it on SEO and pay-per-click campaigns to generate visibility and visitors. The key results to consider is conversion and retention. The goal is to influence the visitor to complete a transaction and purchase again in the future.
Here are 7 things you ought to do or think about when beginning your own online shop; It is not quick or easy, but it is definitely doable!
1. Pick Your Method
Steer clear of technical solutions built on old code that is difficult to adjust. Pick a system that’s popular, well supported, has a fantastic community, and has seamless store layouts. If you would like to prevent any contact code, a hosted platform such as Shopify is a breeze to get up and running and costs about $30 a month. You can also have a custom online shopping site designed to your liking if Shopify is not for you. There are even more alternatives such as Opencart, Bigcommerce, Magneto and Big Cartel. Any of these shopping systems can be integrated with Squarespace or WordPress. Alternatively, you can invest in business website design to create a custom feel. You will likely have to pay for additional functions and layouts, but the core operating system is free.
2. Boost & Optimize
Ensure the page is fast loading. A slow loading page will produce a high bounce rate and damage sales. Simple steps you can do to improve your website speed would be to ensure the files of the images are not too large, and videos are embedded on the page. If problems persist, consider transitioning to a more reliable host.
3. Check Out The Competition
This applies to all businesses in a similar vein to yours, and be sure they also have eCommerce functionality. Have a look at the keywords that define them and the density of these keywords. Begin to incorporate relevant keywords into your own web copy. You have to consider your capability of competing with other businesses. You have to understand your financial power, and your unique selling points.
4. It Is Not Enough To Only Sell
The online marketplace is super competitive. It takes a single click to enter or leave your website, and minimal effort to find an alternative seller. As a new business, it can be tough competing on cost. You have to ensure that you are MORE than just an eCommerce store – create an experience through your website. There are a range of factors you can implement to improve on this. You could seek to have security certified badges near your checkout symbol, uploading high-quality blog content, custom images or video of products. Share your knowledge and expertise of your products and get people involved.
5. SEO Methods
Google loves new content. From a content point of view, blogs are a goldmine, as they are often on dynamic pages that are constant. eCommerce pages are often not the primary landing page, meaning the core website has to be powerful enough to attract visitors. Visibility is crucial.
To be successful in this, you need to do everything you can to tick off Google’s 200 signal indicators and the constantly changing algorithm. Firstly, you can ensure the meta descriptions and meta titles of your pages are highly relevant and within the proposed character limit. Ensure your products have embedded meta-data so search engines can crawl them. Products in multiple categories create duplicate URLs, ensure you’re using ‘rel=canonical’ to get that extra link juice.
6. Run a Newsletter
Customer loyalty is paramount. There is an extremely high value in the forming of loyal customer relationships. Whenever you make a purchase, prompt the consumer to register for a newsletter and then tick it. Additionally, make sure there is a definite signup place on the site or sidebar and when your system permits it, incentive that has a little coupon off their original purchase.
In the example of hospitality, particularly luxury accommodation, competition is stiff. A range of competitors will be competing for a place on page one of Google. You may have had a customer decide to lodge with you, and you gave them a 10% discount as incentive if they signed up to your newsletter. You can now advertise your other services, such as a luxury day spa treatment.
7. Obtain a Social Presence
People love a sense of realism to when they browse the Internet. It is another marketing tool which you can and should utilise: interacting with clients, answering questions in an open and public manner, offering sneak peaks to future products and advertising sales. Adding onto the previous hotel example, you could advertise your romantic getaway packages and then add a Valentines promotional code.
It should also go without saying that a pair of societal share buttons on each page is essential. Look into your favourite social media pages and take note of what they are doing. Create a list and begin to draft some material.
Starting an online store is hard work, but it can pay off. These suggestions should help you somewhat on the road to sales success.
