If you have been planning on opening an eCommerce store, we couldn’t think of a better time to do it. Since COVID-19, the growth of eCommerce has accelerated beyond any predictions that had been made, and it has simply not stopped.
Not only are consumer bases expanding, but platforms and tools to aid eCommerce are also evolving, and products and services are pivoting for the digital landscape. But, just how do you get in on the action? What are the main things that you need to know before joining this highly lucrative world?
We thought we would take a look at some of the ways that you can get your eCommerce store off the ground. We took a look at what some of the more successful brands did to launch and brought you our expert tips.
Contents of Post
Get Your Website Right From Scratch
Many people make the mistake of starting their business by creating a website that will suffice for the time being. We have seen a lot of businesses make the mistake of thinking that they can launch something simple and improve on it later, whether it’s due to a limited budget or a lack of time. The problem is that it costs you more in the long run and takes longer to fix the mistakes you made.
For example, you could look into a hosting solution that provides services like SEO hosting multiple IPs and then use those IPs to set up micro-websites that link back to your primary one. This will help you boost your website’s rankings and expand its regional scope. Or, you can hire a company like ecommerce dubai to do the job for you.
Secondly, spend time on getting the layout of your site correct. Pay attention to sales funnels. You will want to get your customer from the product pages to checkout as quickly as possible. So, take yourself through a few tutorials, or choose a sales funnel tool that can optimize the process for you.
Take advantage of existing plugins
The best thing about WordPress is that you can find amazing plugins for any functionality you might need. You rarely need to code everything yourself and it would just be a waste of time and money. So once you have a list of all the functionality you need try searching for a plugin that can accomplish it before you do it yourself or hire a developer.
One WooCommerce plugin we recommend whole-heartedly is WooCommerce Order Export which also comes in a free version and offers you the ability to export all your orders, customizing the fields that you export as you need. You can also set it up to export orders at scheduled intervals and it can even email them if needed.
Another very useful plugin is WooCommerce Table Rate Shipping which allows you to create advanced shipping rules based on weight, item count, and more. It also allows you to create different shipping rules for logged-in users.
Focus On Your Web Design
Let’s look into this a bit more. Many companies somewhat overlook the highly critical process involved in designing their website; the UX design phase. The customer journey is a crucial part of designing your brand, so we highly recommend you spend some time on this.
Have a look at what your customer sees when they enter your site. Spend some time coming in through various touchpoints and follow the path your customer will take. How effective is it?
Your landing pages should be properly optimized to heighten conversions. So, take a look at where your CTAs are on the page. Are they above or below the fold? What do your images look like? Are they simple, web-optimized but high-quality images?
Landing pages, and home pages especially, should have great lifestyle images associated with your products and services. Product pages should have great, simple images of the products giving your customer enough detail of the product to buy it.
Lastly, look at your content. Are your descriptions simple? Do they give enough information about the product? Have you provided a place for existing customers to review the products?
Not only will this help with your SEO, but it heightens conversions as customers are more likely to buy when they see positive reviews from previous customers. Vital information like payment processes, fees, and shipping time costs are also crucial for your landing pages.
Let’s Chat SEO
This is the next big thing to get right, and we know it could send a shiver down your spine. But SEO doesn’t need to be that daunting once you get the basics right. When creating your site, it is important to do keyword research and know what keywords you need to be targeting on the landing pages.
Add keywords organically and simply into the content. Don’t stuff your content with the keywords because you will be penalized, but add it naturally. Keep your content simple and informative with the right keywords dotted throughout the text. It is also worth your while to add keywords in your headings and subheadings.
Having a plugin such as Yoast is one of the simplest ways to get your SEO right and be guided along the way. This will show you where you are going wrong, how you can optimize, what needs to be added, and what you can do without.
Measure, Monitor, And Test
The last tip we want to leave you with is to keep an eye on your metrics. Do you know where your traffic is coming from or how much traffic is coming into your site?
How well are your campaigns doing when you start launching them? Tools like Google Analytics are great to carefully measure your traffic at all times.
How much is coming in? How is it behaving on your site? If you are losing traffic somewhere along your sales funnel, where is it bouncing, and why? You can integrate this data with metrics from your email tool and social media platforms. So, going forward, you can map what works for your marketing campaigns and what doesn’t.
The Bottom Line
Keep testing everything, keep reaching out to your customers to find out what they want, and keep an eye on your competitors. Don’t be afraid to change and evolve your website, and above all, keep that content coming at all times.
