Many people are trying to sell via webshops but the crucial question for everyone dealing with marketing is how to create an awesome webshop. Nowadays, most people make purchases online as it’s faster, easier, more efficient. Though at the time when we started offering this type of service to our clients, webshops were not so popular on our market. But the situation has been changing in the past few years.
The main goal of creating an online shop, from the client’s point of view, is to offer its consumers the easiest way to make a purchase. On the other hand, the main goal an agency has is to build a site that will help the client reach the set goals. Hence, we strive to tailor the website content according to each client individually, make the purchase process smooth, without too many steps, asking too much info, etc.
The webshop functionality has to be impeccable, pages should load fast and data the client leaves on the site should be protected.
There are many elements to cover so we’ve decided to write this blog post and in one place share our tips as a product of a wide experience of our work with clients and improving their webshops.
Let’s deal with the most important elements…
#1 Attractive web design
Whether the client has the top product in its niche, and on top of it, the best customer support, it all falls if the web design is not attractive enough. Nobody will visit the client’s site. Based on the studies, up to 93% of consumers consider the site’s good looks like the most important point when they make an online purchase.
Let’s show a few concrete examples.
Website elements should draw the attention of consumers. Most of us are visual types and pay attention to images, much more than on the text. Use this fact and put an accent on the product.
Imagine this situation: you navigate Nike’s site, see small, low-res images and too much text. There are too many explanations and the sneakers are out of the main focus.
Ok, this is not likely to happen, but it illustrates the importance of the quality images that sell and dominate while text should serve as a backup and provide basic info.
This is the most important thing to remember.
#1 Attractive web design
Whether the client has the top product in its niche, and on top of it, the best customer support, it all falls if the web design is not attractive enough. Nobody will visit the client’s site. Based on the studies, up to 93% of consumers consider the site’s good looks like the most important point when they make an online purchase.
Let’s show a few concrete examples.
Website elements should draw the attention of consumers. Most of us are visual types and pay attention to images, much more than on the text. Use this fact and put an accent on the product.
Imagine this situation: you navigate Nike’s site, see small, low-res images and too much text. There are too many explanations and the sneakers are out of the main focus.
Ok, this is not likely to happen, but it illustrates the importance of the quality images that sell and dominate while text should serve as a backup and provide basic info.
This is the most important thing to remember.
#2 Offer an impeccable online support
Buyers need to know if they make an online purchase, they will have excellent support, always available and fast. The path from a one-time customer to a loyal customer depends on the relationship a brand establishes with its consumers.
The most efficient support is 24/7 “live chat”. According to data, this approach can increase conversions by up to 10%. If the client is not able to offer this type of service, then the second-best solution is to offer this service during work hours. A small window where a buyer can get all needed info should be available during all purchase phases.
#3 Providing many different paying options
When it comes to paying options, it is important to follow the trends and offer as many popular options as possible. Besides the usual options, like credit cards and debit cards, PayPal has become one of the most frequent options too.
Also, to simplify the purchasing process, you should add an option of creating a customer profile/account with all crucial info so next time the purchase goes even faster.
#4 Useful and SEO-friendly blog page
When a website has a blog page too, it is a great opportunity to get more site visits. Blog posts, including keywords for a specific niche, will rank the site well on Google and increase the site visits. Blog posts with good ranking are a huge plus for client’s business, as more visitors, after reading blog posts will open one of the incorporated links and probably buy a certain product.
Also, a blog is a good way to adjust your content strategy as on this page, you can monitor how relevant your content is to site visitors. Connecting with customers on a deeper level via blog is the best strategy. This is the way to establish trust via blog posts, as they provide explanations on an expert level, for example, providing usage instructions, and bringing value to the specific text.
Additional tips: use SEO tools to check keyword ranking including the not-so-popular keywords, as this will help you set the right strategy. Also, follow the Google analytics on a regular basis as there you can get much valuable info on blog page visits, which is a good indicator of blog posts popularity, especially the popularity of particular topics.
#5 Make a responsive version of your webshop for mobile phones
According to the latest studies, shopping via mobile phones is in constant increase, currently, it is approximately 30%. In 2020 it will increase to 45%.
As mobile phones are becoming more and more popular, it is expected the more customers will make purchases via mobile phones. For this reason, the webshop site should have a responsive version for mobile devices, in another word, to be mobile-friendly so the buyers can make the purchases in the easiest way via mobile phones. Pay special attention to iOS and Android users equally so everyone can shop on your client’s site.
Optimize the site for a vertical design so the buyers can easily scroll on their phones. Test the final design version on your own phone to make sure it has been done properly.
Individual approach is the key to success
Customers appreciate and enjoy the attention of a webshop and its employees. Maybe it’s more noticeable on social media when we respond to messages from inboxes but the priority is definitely personalized attention paid to customers.
Adapt your site content to each customer as much as you can. Certainly, it is mostly applicable in direct communication via chats or when answering inquiries.
Regarding design, it is also possible to apply this advice, if you make a box for direct customer support always available but not too intrusive.
In some of our next blog posts, we will write about creating a Piazza Organica webshop.
