Have you taken a new look at your online store, yet?
The Internet has revolutionized the way we buy. Due to the multiple advantages, increasingly more people prefer buying from online rather than in stores. So, here’s how to optimize your online store to make a great and trustworthy first impression.
With that in mind, are you ready to create your online store and start selling? Perfect! You just have to buy your domain, choose a design for the website, add products and you are ready to sell.
It all seems simple enough at the beginning, but you can have a few challenges. As anywhere else, the way you sell your business differentiates success from failure.When talking about the online environment, the first impact people have with your brand is through your website.
So, what should your website look like? I don’t think there is a recipe for success, but there are some ingredients that will help you convert visitors into customers.
When it comes to designing an online store
Missing Product Pictures – Make sure all your products have images. Customers want to know what the product they order looks like. Also, upload medium sized pictures. Larger images take more time to load. In turn, this will discourage users and determine them to choose another online store.
Mixing Different Fonts – Using different font types or sizes could be confusing and upsetting, which might determine the buyer to leave. Here are some tips & tricks on mixing several fonts.
Audio, Animation – to our surprise, there are still shops which deploy these features. Not only do they slow the site down, but they annoy most users, as well.
When it comes to usability on your online store
Write unique descriptions – Offer your visitors useful information about the products: how to use them, mention important specifications. But do not let products without description or without pictures. This is how you draw their attention, how you start the conversation with your customers. You wouldn’t want to leave your products undescribed or without pictures.
Also, give up the classic copy-paste and write unique descriptions. There are probably 10 other online stores selling the same products. You need to be different from them! Here, you can find some simple steps from Kissmetrics about how to write product descriptions that sell.
Grammatical Errors – Would you find a site with home page typos/misspellings trustworthy? Neither do your visitors. Hire a copywriter or use Grammarly to make sure your grammar is perfect.
High Page Load Time – This is one of the main reasons for which people buy from other online stores. Make sure you have all the resources you need for your site to run as fast as possible. If you have no clue where to start from, try contacting a company to help with your site’s speed optimization. Maybe some guys from AYG Romania can help you. *wink
Mobile responsive – People spend increasingly more time online via their mobiles. Though recent studies show we make more purchases from laptops (desktop), we decide to buy at our first contact – which is through our phones.
Pop-Ups – Pop-ups irritate visitors. A lot… Even if you’re offering them a subscription discount/bonus, or you just want to find out their opinion about a particular product, make sure you do it without being intrusive and disturbing.
Multiple levels of categories – Keep your store navigation short, simple and intuitive. Try to use the KISS principle (Keep It Short & Simple).
#NowYouKnow
Keep in mind that your site is the best sales tool you have. First impressions count. You know that better than anyone else. That’s why it’s so important to look and be as sharp as possible. Make sure you give your potential buyers all the information they need. But do it in a relaxed, non-disturbing manner.
Still, this is not where your optimization stops. On top of the above-mentioned bullets, you’ll also want to pay attention to the rest of the processes your buyer goes through until the product reaches him.
A well arranged online store is useless if the product arrival is delayed or the product itself is damaged. Don’t you think?
