Website development is quite a challenging task to do, as not everyone can get it right in the first go, especially when you are planning to get your e-commerce website developed. There are a lot of things, which an entrepreneur has to look for. There are many eCommerce development companies available in the market, but choosing the right one is a tough choice to make. One has to be very wise and prudent in selecting the one, which fits perfectly with all your requirements. There are a lot of things to take care of like layout, navigation, shopping cart, payment integration, and many more that can enhance the user experience.
These days, the market for an e-commerce business is booming. Seeing the current scenario, there is everything that you can find online from a book to groceries to electronics to a lot many things. According to the Statista, in the year 2019, the global retail e-commerce sales amounted to 3.53 trillion US dollars and e-retail revenues are estimated to grow to 6.54 trillion US dollars by the year 2022. Online shopping is something that everyone around the globe cherishes and is a good business too if you talk about numbers.
How can I make my e-commerce website appealing and profitable?
These are the two main questions which most entrepreneurs have in their mind. It is very important for you to understand that e-commerce is not just about buying, the online business has so much evolved with time, and with all the digital transformation going on, it is all about giving a wonderful user experience to your customers. Customers leaving your website unhappy and unsatisfied is the last thing, which you may want for your business. So, today in this blog we are going to talk about some of the tips and tricks to keep in mind for e-commerce website development.
Let’s get started with knowing some of the important things to look at, during e-commerce website development.
An Intuitive Design
Someone once said that seeing the design and look of your website, it takes approximately 5 seconds for a customer to decide, whether or not to stay. If you want your customers to stay on longer on the website, you must focus on your improving your front-end development. Hiring UI/UX designers for your website will surely help you in reducing the bounce rate of your website and deliver what users actually want.
Simplicity is the key to attract users. You must surely focus on getting a simple yet innovative design for users to easily use the website. You website layout, graphics, grids, navigation, CTAs, all these play a vital role in attracting and retaining users on your website. Everything should be pretty much easy to use yet attractive and appealing enough to the eyes of users.
Also, ask your web developers to focus on responsive web design. Your website should be able to run across all platforms and devices of varied sizes. These days approx. 60% of users prefer buying things via smartphones, so your web design must be optimized for mobile users. If you already have an e-commerce website, developed way back, try revamping it as per the modern times. The cost of revamping a website would not be much as compared to getting a whole new website created, but it’s worth getting it done if you want your business to give higher ROI.
Design in Sync with your Brand
Also, before getting your website designed and developed, always keep in mind the people you are planning to target. Knowing your target audience will definitely help you in strategizing design. For example, if you are into a business of selling kids items, say for example clothes or toys, then your website design should be all colorful and full of graphics, it should represent your intention of selling kids’ products.
Read Also: Top Reasons Why E-Commerce Businesses Need a Mobile App
Search Engine Optimization
You do not want to have a website, which is not visible to anyone online. If you want your business to flourish, and people to know more about what you are selling, then you must focus on online visibility. One of the easiest and most effective ways of doing is Search Engine Optimization (SEO). This means that you must focus on making your website rank good on search engines like Google, Bing, etc.
You can either do this by yourself or you may hire professional help from a proficient e-commerce development company. Your website must be very strategically optimized for the products you are selling and for this, targeting the right keywords, is very important. For example, if you are selling women’s sneakers, then your website must not turn up for anything like men’s sneakers or kid’s sneakers. Following the right approach will definitely give you profitable results.
Focus on Website Security
It takes years to build trust and credibility but seconds to lose it. You do not want your customers to mistrust your business and for this, making your website is the first thing which you must focus on. Hire eCommerce developers who have both experience and expertise in developing highly secure websites.
If you have an online payment system or e-wallets attached, it is all the more important for you to focus on the security as without it users will not trust you with their money. Ask your e-commerce web developers to integrate SSL as this will encrypt the information on your website.
Social Media Integration
People are always in rush and this is the reason why they love shopping online, as they do not have to stand in long queues, waiting for their turn to pay money. This is the main reason why you should focus on everything, which can make their shopping experience quick and easy. Apart from the traditional login and registration process, you must also give the option to login via their social media accounts.
This will speed up their job and also, they can share the products they like, share their feedback and reviews on their social media handles. Apart from the login and registration process, you must also allow your users to guest checkout. This is when users do not want to spend time to create an account but just want to get away with shopping.
Website Optimization
Although we have discussed this point earlier, you must focus on optimizing your website as per the latest search engine guidelines. No one wants to wait for too long for your website to load. Most website development services include this service wherein they focus on website optimization, or you could even hire a remote contractor that specialises in identifying and eliminating website performance issues.
If your website takes too much time to load, it will increase your bounce rate, which is not good for your business. Ask your web developers to reduce the code, if possible, optimize and compress the images, check for broken links, if any, and lot more. All these things will ensure that your e-commerce website runs just fine and loads fast.
Strong Marketing Strategy
E-commerce website development is not just about creating a website, it is also how you present and market your website in front of your target audience. You must have a strong and effective market strategy ready to bring out your website. Search for a web development company that has a marketing team of their own, which can help you in strategizing everything.
Focus on building your brand identity. Take the help of the current technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Big Data for market analysis, do in-depth market research, study your competitors and follow what they are doing, try to give something unique to your users. With the help of a good marketing team, you will be able to establish your website as a pioneer in no time.
The Bottom Line
E-commerce web development is not an easy task and finding the right eCommerce development services is all the easier. There are many web development companies available in the market, but choosing the right one, which fits all your requirements is a tough choice to make. So, do proper research before hiring one for the project.
Keeping in mind all the above aspects, we are sure you will be able to offer a good user experience to your customers. But the list does not end here. There are many more elements, which you must focus on but they are based on your brand strategy and marketing approach. So, if you are planning to enter the world of e-commerce business, this is just the right time for you, and keeping in mind the above points, you can definitely turn your business into a profitable one.