Date: 7th September, 2017
With mobiles taking over desktop use there’s no surprise the online world of shopping is growing at a rapid speed, shopping is now at our fingertips 24/7. Online sales are expected to rise another 13% in 2018. If you have an online shop or you’re thinking about setting one up, you need to stand out from the crowd. Here are our top tips for a successful ecommerce site:
1. Choose the right platform
Getting this one right may seem daunting especially if you’re starting out. But it’s essential you choose the right one for your needs, so you don’t come across any hiccups along the way. We build our ecommerce sites on Magento, a well-known, trusted platform that has thousands of extensions, and is completely customisable. Magento 2 is also mobile friendly, so you can change your website, add/edit products on the go.
2. Focus on the user
Your site needs to look good, function and have an optimised user experience, meaning the checkout process needs to be a quick and easy to use. It’s worth writing down all the steps the user has to take from the homepage to buying a product. Do you want a quick checkout? Does the user need to register before buying a product? Do they need to log in? Can you check out as a guest?
Our Account Managers can help you figure this out to make things as streamlined as possible.
3. Test everything
When you’re ready to go live, everything needs to be checked and double-checked. We test everything on different devices and browsers. Ensure product pages are displaying correctly, with correct pricing and shipping. Look to see if all of your products display in the correct categories. Register an account, and run through the whole purchasing process to make sure everything is smooth and ready to go live.
4. Go Mobile
All websites should be mobile responsive. Google now penalises anyone with a website that’s not mobile friendly. Your ecommerce site needs to be mobile friendly too, how many times have you purchased something on your mobile? You may want to consider the apple pay payment gateway, it’s as simple as using your fingerprint to pay online.
5. Keep moving
The internet is the fastest evolving service and your website should be too. Did you know the average lifespan for a website is 2 years 7 months? Here are several questions you should ask yourself every 6 months, if you answer yes to the majority. Its probably time to look into updating your site.
- Has your business model evolved/changed?
- Has your marketing strategy changed?
- Has your industry evolved/changed?
- Is your website keeping up with latest design trends?
- Does your website look great on mobiles/tablets?
- Is your website hard to update?
- Have your rankings declined on search engines?
- Have your competitors redesigned?
6. Keep it simple
Our last top tip would be to keep it simple. Keep your products in a logical order and within logical categories. Users need to be able to find your products as easily as possible. After all, your main objective is to sell things.
If you would like us to help with your current ecommerce site or if you are just looking for advice call our team on 01743 344 911. We’re now offering free Magento 2 demo - book now.
