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What does it take to move products in an online store? Some business owners are successful onground, yet they seem to struggle with creating an online shopping experience where visitors actually buy things. The reason is that people’s expectations change when they are looking to make an online purchase.
The difference between an online store and “full sell store” online might not be visible on the homepage or anywhere else on the site. The difference is in the details. Creating a website that will display products and facilitate simple online transactions is only the first step in setting up a successful online store. The user first needs to feel comfortable. What’s next?
Users need to feel a call to action when they visit your store. Pay careful attention next time you are online shopping, you may notice two common themes. The first theme is a call to action in disguise, commonly seen as a discount or added benefit from buying online, such as free shipping. The second theme you may notice is security. At every reliable online store there are SSL certificates for secure transactions. Security for your online store should be purchased through a reputable SSL provider or be facilitated by a provider with SSL (PayPal, Express Pay).
You also want to consider search engine optimization standards, so it’s imperative that meta-data and search engine friendly content are added to the coding of the website. This meta-data can’t be seen by a normal visitor, but it is readily available for search engines looking to fill user queries when they search for products to purchase. A great way to gather good meta-data content is to search for what you are selling and collectively create content more appealing than the top results for your products related search engine results.
Once a user is on your site it is important to get information from that user to keep bringing them back in the future. Make sure that your site has an info capture form, questionnaire or offer that will effectively create a mass email database for future email marketing and general marketing efforts. Another extremely important aspect of connecting with your customer base is using web 2.0 portals like creating Facebook clubs around particular interests and creating a MySpace page.
For more information on how to integrate all these aspects into a successful “full sell” website, contact mediaG at inquiry@mediaG.com.
