Ecommerce sites are some of the most popular platforms for customers to find unique items at better prices than a traditional retail store. If you’re running an eCommerce site, you want to be sure you’re reaching a wide enough audience in order to boost your sales and spread awareness of your brand. Here’s how to take your eCommerce business to the next level. These tips will not only help you get noticed but also make your site perform better and improve the relationship you have with your customers.
Boost Your Social Media Presence
Make no mistake, if you’re running an eCommerce store, a social media presence is nothing less than a requirement. Having a social media presence gives you unprecedented access to billions of users (Facebook and Instagram both have over one billion active accounts, with Facebook being closer to about four billion) across the globe. You simply can’t reach that many customers by any other means!
Boosting your social media presence starts with ensuring you’re keeping your accounts updated. Regular posts are the most important factor of a successful social media account. Users want to see updates, new products and promotions, and other activity from their favorite brands’ pages.
You can also utilize the services of a social media influencer in order to spread awareness (and good press) about your products. Essentially, you’ll be paying a user with thousands or millions of followers to either advocate for or review your products on their platform. This will drive some of their fans to your business, thus increasing sales and reach simultaneously.
Search Engine Optimization
SEO, or search engine optimization, ensures that your website shows up in the Google search query when specific keywords are entered. For instance, if you’re selling shoes, and someone searches “online shoe stores”, you want to be on the first page of the Google results. This will increase the likelihood that your page will be clicked, and puts you at the forefront of potential customers’ minds.
Investing time and money into an SEO strategy can pay off big time in the future. While results certainly don’t occur overnight, they can help boost your sales over the course of a few months to a few years. Once you’re ranking high in Google and other search engine queries, you’ll find your website traffic increases significantly.
The Right Tools
If your website isn’t equipped with the best tools, you’ll likely find that cart abandonment and customer disengagement become the norm. Tools like security badges (to let your customers know the site is safe to use) and POS systems for more efficient payments will make your site easier to use and your brand more trustworthy.
Don’t underestimate the power of a tool like a modern POS system. These incredibly versatile tools offer much more than just improved payment processing; they can also help you track and organize inventory, collect customer information, and even send promotional emails. A POS system is truly a must-have for online retailers.
Improve Your Website
Improving your website to be more mobile-friendly or less cumbersome can make a good impression on customers and minimize cart abandonment. A slow or difficult to navigate website can be frustrating for its users, causing them to disengage from the site altogether. Since most people prefer to use their mobile devices to access the web, if you’re not mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on a very large percentage of potential customers.
Paying a web designer and/or developer to streamline your site is a worthy investment that will help skyrocket your sales and user engagement. Don’t forget the importance of the user experience with your site, as it can make or break the sale altogether.
Focus on Customer Relationships
The relationship you share with your customers isn’t a strictly brick-and-mortar store concept. Customer relationships are just as important in the digital world as the physical; if not more so. Since you lack the ability to engage with customers in a face-to-face environment, you’ll need to put in some extra work to ensure you’re building those relationships and making the customers feel valued.
Try to stay in contact with customers via email and social media accounts, so they don’t feel like they’re interacting with just a website. You want to remind the customers that there is a team behind the site that cares for their needs and providing excellent customer service. This important step can make all the difference when it comes to building trust and loyalty among your customers. Would you be loyal to a brand whose employees never interacted with you?
Conclusion
Your eCommerce business can benefit from these tips; from boosting sales to improving your site and gaining the trust and confidence of the customers. Don’t forget about those important customer relationships!