subject: Ecommerce Website - Outstanding Design And Vigorous Marketing Are Crucial For Success [print this page] E-commerce websites can boost sales of a business. E-commerce offers the tremendous opportunity of enlarging your customer base while saving costs. This appealing combination requires a lot more effort than just launching an e-commerce website. An internet site will not improve your business prospects unless backed with well calculated, and bold marketing and advertising.
The success of an e-commerce solution is dependent on how successfully you pull in prospects, keep them there, turn their visit into a sale, and turn one-time visitors into regulars. These points are reviewed in greater detail below.
Increase website traffic
Directing traffic to your e-commerce web site is an important 1st step. A few effective strategies for pulling in more prospects to the website are:
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) of the website
SEO refers to the optimization of web content by including significant keywords that are popular amongst internet surfers on search engines and making the website search engine friendly by designing good navigation and meta tags. Optimization of your e-commerce website will bring it up higher in search engine results.
Strategic placement of internet advertisements
Internet ads can be strategically inserted in relevant websites. You can also pay to have your advertisement appear in relevant search engine results.
Cross promotion of website with the brick-and-mortar store
Businesses that have both a physical store and an e-commerce solution can use cross-promotional strategies. Existing customers should be encouraged to use the e-commerce outlet to avail discounts or to make further purchases. By encouraging them to your e-commerce website, you are also guarding your business against other e-commerce competitors that can attract your customers.
Engage the interest of website visitors
Once your e-commerce website has got a user's attention, its design and content should hold her interest and keep her browsing the site. This is possible through:
Interesting headlines
The website content should be simple and to the point. Forceful headlines should be used to lure shoppers into exploring the products and services on the e-commerce website.
Direct attention to offers
Offers and promotions should be showcased prominently on the website so that they get immediate attention. Offers should include deadlines to make customers act swiftly.
Get visitors to buy
The main purpose of an e-commerce website is to sell goods. You can convert visitors into customers by:Make value offersDiscounts and combo offers can make visitors finalize purchases. Offering gifts and deals on spending a minimum amount also makes people add items to the shopping cart.Make products easily availableThe design of the e-commerce website should make access to products easy. Shoppers should be able to easily browse, quickly add items to the shopping cart, and pay without any pain or delay.Make checkout straightforward and fastTiresome forms and drawn out checkout processes make customers ditch the shopping cart in the middle of finalizing an order. Prevent this from happening by streamlining the checkout process by requiring minimal information to enter and clicks to complete a purchase.Encourage customers for repeat visitsCustomers need some attraction to make a repeat purchase at your website. Following are some inducements to make it possible:Reward points for repeat customersCustomers who purchase from the e-commerce website regularly should be granted discounts and faster shipping.Good quality fulfillment serviceE-commerce websites should provide high quality delivery services. They should also promise timely assistance and support to customers, promptly address customer issues and any problems connected to orders.Successful marketing and website design are influential factors in the success or failure of the e-commerce solution. Every company should follow the above mentioned guidelines to maximize profits and build customer relationships.by: Daljeet Sidhu.
