You don’t have to look far these days to see that e-commerce is booming. So how can you make sure your online website is a successful endeavour? We have compiled a list of our top 7 tips for how to increase your e-commerce website’s ROI.
1. Do Keyword Research
It is now being said that 91% of online adults use search engines to find information on the web, proving that any business owner wanting to succeed in the online environment must utilise keyword research. In order to ensure that your website shows up in search engine results, it is important to select keywords that are appropriate to your website’s content. However, choosing suitable keywords is an art. Thankfully, the Internet hosts a number of useful tools that do the hard work for you, like Google’s Keyword planner which can help you make informed decisions about which keywords are best for your business. In order to make the most of these tools, have a look at some tutorials online which take you step by step through how to use the tools effectively.
2. Keep It Simple
With users spending an average of 40 seconds on a single web page, it is more important than ever for a website’s message to come across simply and quickly. Running an online business means your website is the face of your company – a high quality, clean website will result in a positive perception of the business to consumers. Visually appealing website design will also increase customer engagement, resulting in more time spent on the website. It is important to have a clear message on what benefits the website will give the user. Etsy is a good example of a company that has designed a clean website which is easy for users to navigate and has dominant calls to action. For more tips on website design have a look at our article on the 4 “C’s” of web design
3. Install Analytics Software
In order to succeed, a business needs to have a comprehensive understanding of their audience and their online behaviour. Free software such as Google Analytics can help you do this by analysing visitor traffic and painting a complete picture of your audience and what they are looking for. A wide range of analytical software is available online including Optimizely, which can help you monitor through the use of A/B testing. Here at Studio Culture, the effectiveness of using analytics software was seen when we applied it to our client, V I G A R I Fashion Boutique’s, website. By simply changing the “as seen on social” button to read instead as “new arrivals”, the click through rate increased by 13%.
4. Have Social Proofing
The force that influences you everyday when it comes to decision making is social influence, also known as social proofing. No matter how individual you may think you are, we are all influenced by the people around us and being able to utilise this fact to benefit an online business is extremely advantageous to the success of your company. Social proof can take a number of forms on your website including case studies, comments and social media pictures. Businesses need to ensure there is an easily accessible space on their website where people can go to read reviews of past customers. It is also good to encourage customers to leave reviews or comments when they are happy with their purchase as this can also help to grow the strength of social proofing on a website.
5. Make Your Website Faster
In the same way that people can’t stand waiting in queues, the same goes for waiting for a web page to load- too slow and they’ll find another site. Google experienced the effect of webpage load time when they added an additional delay of 0.5 seconds to page load time which resulted in a 20% drop in traffic. Website speed affects a number of aspects essential to the success of your website including bounce rate, search ranking, pageviews, conversion, reader satisfaction and revenue. Many wordpress plugins are available to speed things up on your website. Here are a few of our top recommendations:
6. Leverage Interesting Products
A useful way to get the word out about your products is by sending gifts to bloggers and encouraging them to review or promote your product on their website. Similarly, reaching out to Instagram influencers is highly beneficial as it is quickly becoming one of the most effective marketing channels for ecommerce merchants. Many businesses are now taking the approach of paying Instagram influencers to post photos featuring their products, finding that this is more effective than the conventional method of paying to have their pictures show up in news feeds.
7. Leverage Existing Websites
An effective way to increase traffic to your website can be done by utilising already existing, powerful websites that are relative to your industry such as eBay or Gumtree. Selling products on these websites that already have a strong user base is a useful way to get your business out there and to increase your customer base.
If you want to know more about how to increase your website’s ROI contact us at Studio Culture.
