Launching an online store and growing one are two different stories.
Countless online entrepreneurs are making a lot of insidious e-commerce mistakes. They are inadvertently hurting their business without even knowing it.
Don’t be one of them. Get wise, find out about the top e-commerce mistake to keep your business on the top by avoiding them.
Here are 11 top e-commerce mistakes that you can’t afford to make under any circumstances.
1. Failing to Update Your SEO Strategy
SEO is constantly evolving. What worked in the past may not be effective in the present or the future. Hence, it would be best always to be attentive to what Google has to say on SEO. You must adapt your SEO strategy accordingly.
2. Not Understanding Your Audience
Knowing your target audience is paramount for eCommerce success. You should know the likes and dislikes of your visitors, and this should reflect in your eCommerce website. You must remain in touch with visitors and keep taking feedback. Analyze this feedback to find available opportunities and capitalize.
3. Not Following Metrics
You must make full use of metrics and analytics to know how your site is faring. This provides for an objective measure of performance so that you realize where you exactly stand.
By the following analytics and taking note of key parameters, you can understand website performance accurately. Using these parameters, you can ascertain whether or not your tactics are working. If there is no improvement in parameters, you will have to change your tactics to more effective ones.
4. Doing Everything Yourself
Delegation is one thing that all successful people use to their advantage. Savvy entrepreneurs realize that they can’t handle and everything on their own. Hence, they delegate and outsource key tasks to trustworthy and skilled persons.
Busy entrepreneurs can’t manage digital marketing themselves. There is simply too much work to be done, and it requires a vast skill set. Hence, they outsource it to the experts.
5. Choosing the Wrong Ecommerce Platform
There can be big differences between eCommerce platforms. They will vary according to price plans and features.
You will have to choose wisely. Don’t go straight away for the most expensive price plan if you are still new. Start with a cheaper price plan, and as you scale, you can upgrade your plan.
Research available eCommerce platforms thoroughly. The platform that you are choosing should have the necessary features and functions that your eCommerce business requires.
To find out more about the eCommerce platform you are considering, find out what users are saying on forums and social media. This will show you hidden issues that may not be obvious. It will also show what users think of the platform and whether it is worth the money.
6. Not Bolstering Security
You should give due regard to online since it has become a major threat to brands both big and small. Security should not be seen as just another cost. Rather it is an investment that can prevent major headaches down the line.
Some of the biggest brands have succumbed to online threats and suffered a major blow to their reputation. Don’t be the next casualty.
Security can, in fact, boost your sales and expand your customer base. Visitors will only want to buy from you if they are satisfied that your site is safe. Hence, you should prominently display security suites and methods that you have deployed to safeguard customers and their data.
Prominently featuring the strength of online security can convince visitors to buy from you.
7. Not Capitalizing on Social Proof
You will need a strong presence on social media to convert visitors into loyal customers. Social proof will always remain vital to acquiring new customers.
When visitors see your site for the first time, their first impulse is to find out what other fellow netizens think of your site. If you have a large following on social media, then you will appear legit and trustworthy. Visitors will be more likely to buy from you if you are active on major social media channels and have a strong following.
8. Subpar Product Descriptions and Visuals
Your product descriptions should be highly informative and accurate to win the trust of skeptical visitors. For that, you will need a good copy along with high-resolution photos and product demonstration videos. Customers want to see all of this so that they can decide whether the product in question is right for them or not.
9. Lack of Testimonials
Customer testimonials are essential for fostering trust and winning over skeptical visitors. Your homepage should prominently feature testimonials from satisfied customers so that visitors know about your exceptional service quality.
Since testimonials are among the most powerful ways of winning trust, you should do your best to get glowing testimonials from your long-time customers. Reach out to them and explain how much their unbiased opinions matter for your business.
10. Prolonged Checkout Process
A lengthy and complicated checkout process is a surefire way of losing customers. Abandoned carts are a major cause of lost sales and revenue. The most common reason for this is lengthy checkout and lack of payment security.
Keep the checkout process as short as possible. For checkouts, you should let your customers know how many steps there are in the process and which step they are currently on. When customers see this information, they will feel more willing to go through the whole checkout.
As for those who leave checkout midway and abandon their carts, you should send a follow-up email courteously asking why they left. Assure them that you will do your level best to improve their experience and resolve any issues they faced. This procedure is vital since it will show you problems with checkout that you may not be aware of. You can remediate checkout issues and streamline the process to not lose customers to bad checkout anymore.
11. Bad User Experience
User experience is imperative for online success. You should do everything possible to provide a good UX to visitors.
Make sure that products are easy to find. There should be product filters for narrowing down search results. Maintain logical product categories so that customers know where to find items they are looking for.
The site should load fast, respond instantly and be easy to navigate.
Bottom Line
Your one simple mistake can take customers in the opposite direction, straight into the arms of your competitor. We are sure you don’t want it. So avoid these 11 eCommerce mistakes and boost your business in no time.
