What are those mysterious success factors that will raise your business initiatives straight up to heaven? The products you offer? Sure. The best quality/price ratio? Of course. Outstanding customer loyalty program? It also matters. However, will it work for you properly if you website looks as if it was created by a 13-year-old in the early 2000s? Probably not.
Tip 1. Gorgeous website: make it or break it!
Your website is the #1 key to success. And here’re some crucial parameters you’d better keep in mind:
The simpler the better
Whoever persuades you that it’s a good idea to add the maximum number of photos, banners and ads, popping up every single minute form different corners of your website, can be officially considered your enemy. Having 35 sections instead of the main 5, will do nothing else than confuse your visitors and potential customers. Keep it clear and simple.
Good quality graphics only
Bad Photoshop, splashy colors, and extravagant fonts can feel like a good choice to you, but don’t forget to ask a designer. Just let the professionals do their job properly, even if it seems a bit pricey for you.
Informative vs. overloaded
Lack of information can be as bad as the information overload. No one cares to read long, arty descriptions, as they simply try to buy a standard white t-shirt. At the same time, everyone will be glad to know the manufacturer, available size range and the price. So, you should carefully differentiate between what info you really need to present and what you don’t.
Easy pay, easy go
Don’t ask a customer to give you more information than he is willing to provide. Once I’ve came across the form containing 17 obligatory fields to fill out before you could proceed with the action. If you want to make your life easier and never lose customers at the final purchasing phase, sync your e-Commerce website with a reliable payment service.
Tip 2. Social media and web presence: get out of the shadow
When we talk about our personal life, we still have a slight chance or even a rare privilege never to use different social media networks. However, being social creatures, most of us have already experienced the great variety of social networks firsthand.
If we talk about e-Commerce business owners, the situation changes. Now you just can’t ignore the enormous opportunities, provided by social media. According to Shopify experts, only in 2014 the number of e-Commerce orders, coming from social media users, grew by extraordinary 202%!
It means that people tend to trust the opinion of people they know, their numerous social friends and acquaintances, constantly liking, sharing or following the resources they find interesting. The higher social media engagement you have, the more popular your e-Commerce website gets among the potential customers all over the world.
Your satisfied customers are your brand ambassadors, so make it easy for them to leave positive reviews and testimonials of your perfect job in order to boost your sales.
However, speaking about social media networks, don’t forget about web presence in general. Take your time to hire a professional SEO specialist to carry out an intelligent internet marketing campaign.
Tip 3. Learn your audience and choose the right software
If you don’t want to get in the situation when you seem to do everything right, but something still goes wrong, figure out which people form your target audience, collect customer information and create databases for your future launces. Many business owners don’t pay much attention to this issue, which usually ends up with a lot of time and money wasted on marketing efforts that do not convert.
And the last but not least important tip for today concerns the choice of the right software. In order to win the competition your e-Commerce software should be secure, flexible, scalable and user-friendly. Keep it in mind and make a research to find the best solution that will satisfy all your requirements.
Tip #3 bears repeating: Know your audience. Creating a customer avatar makes it very easy to relate to them and know what to expect as a response from them. Having a powerful customer relationship management program takes it further, showing your interactions with them, what they respond to, and what are their ongoing needs. Really nice article – thank you!
Thanks, Joyce!