The world of eCommerce is huge and it’s growing bigger with every new day. There are millions of vendors from all corners of the globe who have realized how lucrative eCommerce endeavors can be.
So, why not get a sweet piece of that eCommerce cake? You should keep in mind that the competition is fierce. Rest assured that someone is already there reaping the benefits of this industry.
But, for starters, you can help yourself by learning more about what to do to start things off the right way. Take a look below and check out some tips that will help you kick things off the best way possible.
Re-evaluate the idea
Before you do anything else, sit down and spend some time thinking. You need to re-evaluate your business idea before you actually make bigger moves and start an online store.
Start this brainstorming session with these three questions:
- How is my business different from the rest?
- How exactly can my products/services help consumers?
- What should make consumers pick me over the others?
These questions only seem simple, but you will soon realize that the answers can often be quite tricky. It is crucial to try to figure out why your business is the one that is different and better from the rest.
If you find yourself unable to give a clear answer to these questions, you might want to stop for a moment and rethink the whole thing starting from the product or service, all the way to marketing and finishing touches.
One grave mistake people make in the starting phases is rushing with the launch. Do not force the launch of the website because you only really get one shot at it. That means that you have no room for mistakes. Instead, lay some substantial ground first and then commence with the launch.
Careful with your brand’s image
One of the first and most important steps when it comes to building an eCommerce store is nailing the name and logo.
Your store’s name has to be memorable and unique. It also has to reflect what your business is about. Once you sort that out, you should check whether there is an available domain name to go along with the name of your business.
Of course, you need to be careful with the domain name since an uncreative domain name signals a few things to the visitors.
When a visitor stumbles upon a sketchy website with a weird name the chances are that the person won’t be willing to make any purchases or leave sensitive details on the website. And you don’t want to seem suspicious. On the contrary, your name and your logo should present you as an authority.
Once you have a memorable business name and a corresponding domain name, try to be creative with the logo too. However, since you are only just beginning, try to craft a simple logo that is also easy to remember.
Product descriptions and photos
When a customer can’t actually visit a store and touch a product, things get a bit difficult. Vendors then have to find ways to provide the best possible UX. That is the only way to persuade someone to make a purchasing decision. And what can you do to stimulate such decisions? Well, you can provide great photos along with accurate product descriptions.
Your product descriptions should be accurate and clear. You need to provide all the necessary information about a certain product – everything that might garner customers’ interest. Never write anything that is misleading or untrue. This kind of action can not only break your business, but it can also land you in hot legal waters.
When it comes to photos, you need to provide high-resolution images that accurately depict what you are selling. Use top-notch cameras and technology since people are more likely to make the buying decision when they see a nice-looking photo.
In other words, help them make the decision by doing your part. No one likes to see a dim photo of a product. Truth be told, iPhones wouldn’t sell like hotcakes if their marketing experts undermined the importance of photos and other types of visual content. This way, people will see what the garments you are selling would actually look like once they put them on. Oh, and if you could provide 360-degree videos of your products, that would work wonders, too.
Shoot from multiple marketing guns
It’s fair to say that your marketing efforts won’t be too fruitful in the starting phases. However, this doesn’t mean that you should neglect them.
As soon as you launch your website and roll out the first set of products, think about marketing. For a start, you could make yourself present on social media. Social media networks have never been more popular and platforms such as Facebook or Instagram can really shed some serious light on a brand. To be precise, if you successfully create pages there and post interesting content, you can grow your audience quickly.
Another great marketing channel is email marketing. Don’t let yourself be fooled by ‘experts’ who claim that email marketing doesn’t work. You will find a number of useful email stats that prove them wrong.
Once you establish a website, introduce an opt-in form. This form will let you gather email addresses and other important details about your audience. That will help you craft newsletters, promotional materials, and so on. Of course, you can then engage your prospects through email.
Finally, if you want results quickly, you can also check out paid advertising. For instance, PPC (pay-per-click) advertising really has a good ROI and it can help you get more eyes on your brand in a short period of time. And, that is something you definitely want in the beginning.
Make your website SEO-friendly
There is no denying that your website needs traffic if you want good revenue. That is why you should do everything you can to drive traffic to your store.
One good way to do so is to think in terms of SEO. Search engine optimization is an important factor today and it can either propel your business into the skies or make you disappear.
In order to make your website SEO-friendly, you need to incorporate SEO keywords into your product titles and descriptions. This increases your chances of making search engines like your website and rank it higher. The higher you rank, the better the visibility, which is crucial for more site visits and conversions.
Unfortunately, only people who have been in the SEO game for some time can help you with keywords, website structure, and so on. But, rest assured that each dollar invested in an SEO expert will bring back a lot of dollars in the long run.
Gift tip: Mobile-friendliness
A lot of people do so many things on their mobile phones these days. They play games, do grocery shopping, and even watch their favorite shows on those small screens.
This means that you need to make your website mobile-friendly. All important elements have to work well on mobile devices, navigation has to be seamless, and the checkout process has to be as intuitive as possible.
Do not cram large images or flash format content on your website. Elements such as these can really slow down a website and even make it completely unresponsive on a mobile device.
Also, it wouldn’t be a waste of time if you looked into creating an app specifically for mobile devices. Your store app can really do wonders when it comes to user experience.
Final Thoughts
For a start, these tips should be enough to set you on the right path. From there, you will see that things become a bit more complex. However, when you rake in more revenue and establish a solid budget, you will have more power and maneuvering room for improvements.
Of course, once you create a successful eCommerce store and want to do it all over again in another line of work, you can always contact a website broker and sell your online business.
But, let’s get through the initial phases first.
Igor is a content marketing expert with a proven track record of helping businesses by adding value to their brands, developing a content marketing strategies, as well as educating and connecting with their audiences on a personal level. In his spare time, he plays guitar, produces electronic music, does yoga, learns how to ski, and (with more or less success) tries to get in touch with his inner child.
Author // Igor Zagradanin
