A Guide to eCommerce Optimization

If you’re thinking about opening an online store or perhaps already have one, you might be wondering what makes one online shop better than another. The obvious answer would be the quality of the product and service. Although quality plays a role, it’s not going to mean much if shoppers don’t know about your business.

With thousands of competitors, being seen can be a challenging task. Yet, there are plenty of new stores that jump to the front of the line in no time. So, how do they do it, and what do these frontline companies have in common? 

In the following article, we’ll take a closer look at what it means to optimize your eCommerce website. We’ll also provide tips on optimizing your site and discussing the benefits of working with industry professionals. 

What is eCommerce Optimization?

eCommerce optimization is a method to improve your website. It aims to attract more traffic to it and aspires to convert visitors into customers. eCommerce optimization focuses on enhancing design, product description, search engine ranking, and shopper experience. 

When optimizing an eCommerce website, there is one specific end goal: to sell more products or services. There are two ways to achieve successful optimization. You can either do it yourself or hire a professional online marketing company to do it for you. 

What Can eCommerce Optimization Experts Offer?

If you’re not tech-savvy, hiring a professional is your best bet when it comes to website optimization. Marketing companies or individuals can optimize or create your online shop from scratch. They can identify your store’s strengths and make suggestions on how to overcome obstacles.

Experts Focus on the Following Marketing Techniques

SEO 

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It refers to making a website rank higher in search engines like Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc. 

Website Design and Layout

Most top-ranking eCommerce websites have clear and simple websites that make it easy for shoppers to navigate. A professional web designer can help you keep up with the latest trends and ensure that your website is user-friendly. 

Keywords

To rank higher on search engines, you need to focus on keyword research. SEO experts use online tools to determine keywords to describe your product or service better. 

PPC Campaign

A Pay Per Click campaign can highlight your best-selling or most best selling product and get it a higher ranking when users search for similar products on Google. 

Call to Action

A Call to Action is a phrase that drives visitors to purchase goods or services. Marketing experts don’t only develop such phrases; they also know where to place them for optimal success. 

Tips on How to Optimize Your eCommerce Website

eCommerce optimization marketing techniques can be tedious and overwhelming, especially if you’re unfamiliar with them. 

But, it’s always a great idea to learn more about what each factor should achieve. In this way, you can either make changes to your website or know what to ask when looking for an eCommerce expert.  

Search Engine Optimization

Search engines like Google value high-quality and trustworthy content. But at the same time, search engines demerit duplicate content. So, if you want to rank in the top 10 search slots, there are several factors to consider. 

There are two types of SEO techniques to focus on, namely on and off-page SEO. On-page refers to your site’s content and focuses on the following:

• A user-friendly URL structure for your homepage, product pages, and category pages. 
• Compelling meta titles and description as these are what users will see when they look up a specific product on a search engine. 
• To increase click-through rates, rich snippets for product or service pages are vital. Snippets provide users with a summary of what your product has to offer. 
• Use keywords to describe services.
• Avoid keyword stuffing and duplicate information. 

Off-page SEO refers to external factors that influence your website. You can improve your off-page SEO by considering the following elements:

• Get high-quality backlinks by posting guest posts on authoritative websites. 
• Post your product or service to social bookmarking forums like Reddit and Pinterest. 
• Get your product more exposure by working with social media influencers. 
• Have customers leave product or service reviews. It can be a text, photo, or video review. 
• Teach users more about your product with an online blog or social media posts. 

Benefits of Hiring an SEO Expert

• Your website won’t be at risk of being penalized by search engines. 
• You’ll have access to data reports on how your website fares in search engines
• Updated and well-researched keywords.
• SEO agencies can link you with external role players to increase off-page SEO, which can be beneficial for your content marketing efforts.

Building Trust

If you want shoppers to purchase goods or services from your website, you need to make your website trustworthy. The best way to do this is to provide as much information on your products as possible. Your website also needs to be transparent and give the visitors contact details.

You can also ask your customers to leave a review on their purchases. In this way, you can monitor customer satisfaction and identify weaknesses. Research shows that customer reviews can boost sales by up to 76%. 

Advantages of Hiring an Ecommerce Marketer

• Avoid clickbait tactics.
• Thoroughly researched visitor to client conversion methods. 
• An online marketer can provide a complete analysis of your site’s trustworthiness. 

Design and User Experience

If you want your online store to stand out among hundreds of competitors, a customized website is the way to go. However, search engines quickly identify poorly designed websites. So, you want to make sure that your website is easy to navigate, loads within two seconds, and doesn’t overwhelm shoppers with advertisements. 

Here’s What an eCommerce Web Design Company Can Offer

• A website customized for all search engines and mobile devices. 
• You can choose a color scheme, layout, and content placements.
• Web designers conduct competitor research and keep up with trends and innovative developments. 
• Your website will load faster and be tested on different platforms. 

Shopper Experience

When converting website visitors to shoppers, there are several tweaks to improve the shopping experience. We’re going to discuss three of the most critical factors in this regard. 

Firstly, you need to ensure that your site offers shoppers all the information they need. Inform your customers on how long delivery takes which you can easily manage with a vehicle fleet management software and be clear about your business terms and conditions. Ensure that this information is easy to find. 

Secondly, you need to avoid generic phrases when describing your products. You’ll have to find ways to express your product in an interesting way. It’s also essential to write detailed descriptions of each product. Google favors in-depth content, so adding a buyers’ guide is an excellent way to improve on-page SEO. 

Thirdly, user tutorials or demonstrations can improve conversions. You can present a demo with pictures or videos to show shoppers the benefits of your products or services. 

Perks of Working With an eCommerce Professional:

• Provide your website with detailed information.
• Describe products by using keywords and compelling call-to-action phrases.
• Content creation.

Checkout

Studies have shown that before reaching checkout, 70% of online carts are abandoned.

Here Are Some Reasons Why Shoppers Don’t Complete a Purchase:

• Shoppers leave when they have to open or create an account before proceeding to the checkout point. 
• The checkout process is too long or complex. 
• Expensive shipping costs or a lengthy shipping period. 
• Slow-loading websites.

A Marketing Specialist Can Optimize the Checkout Process by Doing the Following:

• Show shoppers how many steps are left or how far they have come in the checkout process.
• Keep checkout pages to a minimum and keep the checkout straightforward. 
• Inform shoppers beforehand if a product is out of stock. 
• Allow shoppers to resume shopping if they come back at a later stage. 
• Offer free shipping.

Conclusion

A great product at a reasonable price alone doesn’t guarantee that an online business will be successful. These days entrepreneurs have to think out of the box to ensure that their eCommerce website is one step ahead of its rivals. 
eCommerce Optimization is an excellent way to achieve that goal, as it focuses on creating a straightforward experience for shoppers. It’s also a proven way to ensure optimal sales. So, if you want your online business to reach its maximum potential, we highly recommend hiring online marketing professionals.