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How to Get the Best from Your eCommerce Site
While the Shopify era makes it easier than ever to launch a digital store, frequent site tuning is needed to become a truly successful online seller.
With that in mind, consider these four ingredients of a winning eCommerce site and how your site stacks up.
Design Minimalism
The design is the first thing visitors will notice about your eCommerce site. A cluttered, difficult to navigate, or just plain ugly presentation will blast your bounce rates like a rocket.
Simplicity in design is the way to go these days. A clean, crisp look that makes the shopping process easy will convert. While it’s tempting to go bonkers with Shopify or another platform’s widgets, know they can quickly overcrowd your site.
Routinely audit your site from the customer perspective. Are the products well organised? Is site navigation intuitive? Does the design make it comfortable and inviting to shop here?
Believe it or not, incorporating the right colours into your site design has a big impact on buyer perception.
Commonly associated with passion and excitement, red sparks action. In fact, studies show red buttons convert better than other colours—up to 34%!
Blue appears in over half of corporate logos and is known to elicit a sense of credibility. Using blue in your site’s colour scheme suggests trustworthiness and authority to customers.
Awesome Product Pages
Products are the heart and soul of your site. Showcase them well with clear product descriptions and high-quality images.
Product descriptions are a place for sales copy to shine. Tell customers everything they need to know about your product to make an informed purchase—what it is, how it works, and why it’s the best option available. Don’t forget to include technical details or spec lists.
Visible Trust Signals
Reputation and security go a long way when you sell online. Every customer wants to know the source they’re buying from is legitimate and safeguards personal information.
Let your customers know your site is on the up-and-up with trust badges—the third-party verified and issued emblems found on many sites.
And they can be found from a range of reputable vendors. Antivirus brands (ex. Norton and McAfee), payment processors (ex. PayPal), SSL providers (ex. Thawte and Comodo), and commerce organizations (Better Business Bureau) all offer trust badges.
Publishing independently verified reviews and testimonials on your site is another option. Companies like Trustpilot and PowerReviews are experts in vetting user-generated content.
Breezy Checkouts
Customers once had to get off their duffs and trek out to the store to buy something. Any online checkout process is better, right?
Various studies peg typical cart abandonment rates between 55% and 80%. Complex checkouts and slow transaction times are the most often cited reasons why customers fail to complete purchases.
Follow these tips to make your site’s checkout customer-friendly:
– Save items in cart so customers may quickly resume shopping
– Use visible progress indicators so customers can see where they are in the checkout process
– Keep checkout pages simple and limit the number of pages needed
– Inform customers upfront if a product is unavailable
– Accept payment services like PayPal and Apple Pay in addition to credit cards
eCommerce sites contain a lot of moving parts. Each one needs periodic maintenance to keep sales humming. Your site’s design, product pages, trust signals, and checkout process are areas you need to get right for optimal success.
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