The Internet economy has undergone a massive transformation over past few years, and so has the state of affairs in the consumer driven market. Internet has penetrated deeper into our lives, and the market has changed from being a buy-at-merchant-door to sell-at-customer-door.
The traditional method of customers going to brick and mortar shops to make purchases is fast turning to the stores creating a presence on a platform where they are accessible to their band of customers right from the customer’s living room. Yes, we had salesman, but even the novice to the workings of virtual world would easily be able to draw the parallels between a salesman and eCommerce.
Observing their growing traction towards eCommerce, the merchants are branching out to the virtual world for reaching out to their potential customers with a greater degree of assurance. Online stores can click a business into the top gear right away, or probably after a specific period, but if done the right way, the success is certain.
And that’s where we come to the “right way”
Now, there isn’t a singular success mantra to achieving success on the eCommerce turf. It rather is a blend of several techniques and practices that collectively lead to bigger and better results.
Make it Mobile
The importance of mobile friendly websites is well documented. But going by the current usage trends, simply creating mobile-friendly websites doesn’t cut the ice with users anymore. What rather the need of the hour is websites that are made for the mobile environment and swing no compatibility issues at all with the users. The websites tailormade for the mobile devices should be adaptable enough to suit different screen sizes, apart from of course the different OS platforms.
Analyze the Customer Behavior
You don’t get it right in the first go, no one does. For ensuring that you are selling the right things to the right people, you need to study the customer behavior in terms of the way they browse through the products and make the purchase or leave the store without buying anything. This way, you can customize the store so that the next time they come, the find your store more aligned to their wants.
Soak in all the feedback that comes your way, as it forms an indispensable part of creating a website. You may be the most seasoned player out there, but the market keeps fluctuating, and so should your approach to addressing the current demands and market trends.
Structure to Keep it SEO-Optimized
Let’s be honest here, an earth shatteringly good website in terms of its visual interface and an impressive suite of products won’t be able to spread its wings and flaunt its features unless it reaches out to the targeted customers. And the best way for it to spread its wings is through Google, and that’s where SEO comes into the foray. The website you are building should be shaped up after an in-depth analysis of the relevant keywords that your customers most often type in to Google or other search engines.
The product descriptions on the website should be original and so does the content on pages like About Us, Privacy Policy, etc. when you are using a platform like Magento, you are equipped with some amazingly coded SEO extensions that make it a breeze to inculcate the SEO features, and in a way that is most effective and potent. Whether it is adding meta keywords, meta descriptions or the other SEO centric techniques, the extensions kep it simple and to the point.
Uncluttered Header and Rest of the Body
Give your website all the love it needs. And it begins with keeping it clean. A website that looks messy and cluttered doesn’t attract users, it repels them, and the cluttered header of your website will do so with a greater degree of urgency and effect. You know what they say about the first impressions, right? That’s where you have to nail it.
The header of the website contains something that gives your brand a character – the logo. Now, if your logo is assailed by flashy elements all around it, you are gong awry with your focus-drawing methods. Besides, the cluttered websites only go as far as looking spammy, much to the disliking of an average Internet user. But it is not just about the flashy ads, some eCommerce websites keep the product listings right up there on the header, and while it is a necessary element, header is not the place for it. Right below the header you have the space for categories and menu, and that’s where you can put them up.
While you use the right instruments to give your eCommerce website a velvet touch, be very well aware that the mistakes made along the way are not to be swept under the rug.