(Newswire.net — August 10, 2022) —
With the recent downturn in the economy, many businesses have been turning to eCommerce
to try and make up for lost sales. eCommerce can be a great way to reach a wider audience
and boost sales, but only if it’s done right.
BlakSheep Creative, a leading web design and development agency in Baton Rouge, LA, has shared its top five tips for creating a conversion-worthy eCommerce website.
“It makes no difference how awesome your site is – if the commercial pages suck, you’re wasting leads,” says BlakSheep Creative CEO and Partner Clint L. Sanchez. “You need to have a site that is designed for conversion, with all of the right elements in place.”
The five must-haves for a conversion-worthy eCommerce website, according to BlakSheep Creative, are:
1. Site Search
Online shoppers want to be able to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. If they can’t find it, they’ll move on to a competitor’s site. Include a search bar on every page of your site, and make sure it’s prominently displayed.
Remember, too, that shoppers may not always know the exact name of what they’re looking for.
Ensure your search bar is set up to provide relevant results even if the user’s query isn’t an exact match.
2. A Plan B for When a Product Is Out of Stock
If a shopper comes to your site and finds that the product they’re looking for is out of stock, there’s a good chance they’ll go to a competitor’s site to find it. To avoid losing the sale, have a plan for when this happens.
One option is to offer a similar product as an alternative. Another is to provide the customer with an estimated restock date and allow them to sign up for notification when the product is back in stock.
Another option is to have an online form where customers can enter their contact information and be notified when the product is back in stock.
3. A Category Structure That Makes Sense
Your site’s category structure should be easy for shoppers to understand and navigate.
If it’s not, they’ll get frustrated and go to a competitor’s site where it is easier to find what they’re looking for. To ensure that your category structure makes sense, consider using a tool like Google Analytics to see how users navigate your site.
This will help you identify areas where shoppers are getting lost or confused. If you find any bottlenecks or jumping-off points, make the necessary changes to improve the user experience.
4. Breadcrumbs
Breadcrumbs are a type of navigation that allows shoppers to see their location on your site and quickly backtrack to previous pages.
They’re critical on eCommerce sites because they help shoppers track where they are in the buying process.
Include breadcrumbs on every page of your site, and make sure they’re prominently displayed so shoppers can always find them.
Not only do users like breadcrumbs, but search engines do too, because they create a better UX and improve crawlability.
Including breadcrumbs can help improve your site’s SEO by making it easier for search engines to understand the structure of your site.
5. A Solid Call to Action
All websites have a goal, whether it’s to generate leads, make sales, or promote a product or service.
Whatever your goal may be, make sure that your call to action (CTA) is prominently displayed and easy for users to find.
Your CTA should be relevant to the page it’s on and matches the user’s needs at that stage in the buying process.
If you’re unsure what CTAs to use, consider using A/B testing to try out different options and see which ones perform best.
6. A Checkout Process That Is Secure and Easy to Use
The checkout process is one of the most essential parts of an eCommerce website, and it needs to be designed with conversion in mind.
To ensure that your checkout process is secure, use an SSL certificate and ensure all your pages are encrypted.
You should also include a progress bar so shoppers can see how many steps there are in the checkout process and how far along they are.
Make sure the checkout process is optimized for mobile devices. With more and more shoppers using their smartphones to make purchases, your checkout process must be mobile-friendly.
If you want to create a website that converts, follow the six tips we’ve outlined.
And if you’re unsure where to start, check out BlakSheep Creative’s blog for more information on web design and SEO. Thank you for reading!