The growing number of ecommerce stores has boosted online sales. By 2021, ecommerce sales are expected to surpass $485 billion dollars.
Running an online store opens a new world of convenient shopping for consumers. With an e-store, customers all around the world can enjoy your products. This increases conversion rates while boosting your company’s recognition globally.
As a business owner, now is the time to cash in on an ecommerce business. With high levels of expected growth, you can expect to see quick and measurable results.
But, successful ecommerce development doesn’t come easy. There are tips and tricks you’ll want to know to get the most out of your online store.
Before you get started, make sure you know the basics! Continue reading for 6 simple ecommerce development tips that will get you off to the right start.
1. Create a Plan
Setting up an online store and selling products sounds much easier than it really is.
The Internet is full of competing e-stores. In order for your store to earn revenue, you’ll need to have a well-thought-out plan.
What makes your product different from the rest? What niche do your products fit into? What is the need for your products?
Before launching your online store, you’ll want to have a plan in place. When developing your plan, a big picture approach is a must. Your plan will include various business strategies including:
- Branding your company
- Designing a website
- Creating content
- Marketing
Rushing into launching your ecommerce site can be disastrous. Remember, you only get one shot at a successful launch. Do the necessary research and legwork before announcing your company.
2. Choose a Quality Content Management System
A content management system (CMS) will influence the success of your ecommerce site. When choosing a CMS, you’ll want to consider factors such as size and scale.
How many products will be sold on your online store? How many customers do you anticipate to be making purchases at the same time?
You want to ensure that the platform you choose can handle your CMS needs.
WordPress is an ideal platform. Though it’s most known as a blogging platform, it can be used for ecommerce as well.
In fact, almost 60% of CMS applications are hosted on WordPress!
One of the biggest benefits of using WordPress is that it’s simple and easy to use. The platform offers a variety of themes as well as quality plugins for further customization.
3. Use SEO-friendly URLs
In the past, many ecommerce stores used random numbers to notate a product’s page. But, in today’s world, product URLs need to be SEO-friendly. Otherwise, search engines will never index them.
To achieve high visibility and high rankings, your website needs to be designed with SEO in mind. SEO-friendly URLs are crafted so that search engines can access and understand them.
When creating URLs:
- Use target keywords
- Avoid using special characters
- Have a set structure (ie. brand-product or category-product)
- Use dashes between words
Proper URL structure is a must. Don’t create content that can’t be found!
4. Use Customer-Focused Design
Your ecommerce website should be designed with user experience and interface in mind. But, with ecommerce development, certain parts of web design are even more important.
For example, you want to ensure that all call to action buttons are visible and accessible. This means you’ll need to pay close attention to size, color, and design.
If a customer gets lost navigating your site, you’ve lost a customer.
Important actions on your website need to stand out. Buy, check out, and shopping cart buttons should be obvious. Use icons to make the action more easily understood.
Other important design factors to focus on include navigation and content layout.
5. Use High-Quality Visuals
Online purchasing is convenient, but it does have its drawbacks. Customers are unable to see and feel products in person. Because of this, you’ll need to provide high-quality images of your products.
Customers want a clear idea of what they’re buying, so angles are a must. You’ll also want a picture for each product variation. If a product comes in many colors, provide a picture of each.
To streamline this process, considering creating videos for each product. This allows users to get a full 360 view.
For more realistic images, incorporate customers into the images or videos you provide. If your online store sells shoes, post media that shows a model wearing the shoes.
You can even take things a step further by allowing customers to submit photos along with their product reviews.
This allows potential consumers to see the product from another person’s point of view. This can help minimize the risk of customers not receiving the product they expected.
6. Provide Descriptive Content
Along with visual descriptions of your products, you’ll also want to provide detailed content. Your content should give customers all the information they need about the product.
Of course, the information you provide depends on the product. As a general rule of thumb, when creating product descriptions:
- Write with your target audience in mind
- Use keywords naturally
- Offer benefits of the product
- Provide detailed information, such as dimensions, materials used, etc.
Don’t be afraid to get creative with product descriptions! The more interesting and relatable, the better.
Leave eCommerce Development to the Professionals
As a business owner, chances are you don’t have the time to build a website, let alone maintain one. Learning the ins and outs of proper ecommerce development requires a lot of time and effort.
Are you looking for an ecommerce site that makes selling online simple? Want to avoid designing and maintaining your own site?
If so, Monster Websites is the company for you.
Our team specializes in creating easy to use ecommerce sites. We offer a wide range of functionality, including subscriptions and recurring billing.
We make running an online store a breeze!
Don’t wait any longer to start selling your products. Contact our team to learn about our ecommerce services.
