Having a great range of products or services on your website is obviously one of the key factors for success. However, it’s just as important to make sure your website looks great, is easy to navigate and has a quick and easy purchasing system. When someone lands on your site, you want to make sure they stay for as long as possible and have a good browse around that will ultimately lead to a sale. Here are some of the techniques you can use to ensure that people using your website have a positive experience that means they’ll come back for more.

It’s really important that your e-commerce website is easy to navigate and browse through so that your customers know exactly where to go to find what they’re looking for. Just like a high street store, everything should be clearly sign-posted for an enjoyable shopping experience – no confusing mazes that lead you back to square one! Make sure your instructions are clear and concise and that transactions can be carried out quickly and without hassle.

Make sure your website is easy to navigate and browse through.

In a crowded, competitive market, it’s not what you say that counts but rather the way you say it. If you don’t really have anything unique to say about your product or service then make sure you sell it in a way that’s unique and engaging.  The content should be easy to read, clear and informative and provide your customers with useful information that will help them to make an informed decision. Remember, the copy on your site plays the role of sales advisor so you need to make sure you use words and phrases that sell. It should be punchy and exciting, highlighting the key benefits of your product or service. Don’t be afraid to inject some personality in the copy – this will help you stand out from the next website selling a similar range of products and helps the customer engage with your site and feel positive about it. Nobody likes a cold, unwelcoming atmosphere in a high street store. The same goes for your website. In order to help with your Google rankings, you’ll need to make sure your copy is unique, so avoid just copying and pasting product information from the manufacturers. You’ll also need to make sure you are using the right keywords. For example, if you sell a range of camping equipment then your keywords will include things like ‘camping equipment’ ‘camping gear’, ‘camping essentials’ as well as individual products like ‘sleeping bag’, ‘four-man tent’ etc.  Adding customer reviews and feedback will also help you add unique user-generated content which Google likes. And finally, don’t forget to use spell-check! It might not seem hugely important but spelling mistakes and poor grammar look unprofessional and don’t make a good first impression. Get someone to proof read your copy before you publish it on the site.

The copy on your site plays the role of sales advisor so you need to make sure you use words and phrases that sell.

To paraphrase the late, great Steve Jobs – ‘design is everything.’ It doesn’t matter how wonderful your products are; if the design of your site is not professional and inviting, people will just bounce off to another one. It should be welcoming, friendly, stylish and well laid-out so that customers immediately get the sense that they’re dealing with a professional company. If you’re not a designer, you really should get someone else to take care of this side of things for you. Money spent on design is, without question, money well spent.

Design of your website should be professional and inviting.

As online shopping is purely a visual experience, it’s really important that you use good quality photography. Clear, high resolution photographs that give the customer a good idea of what the product looks like will help them make the decision to ‘add to basket’. You may need to invest in a photo shoot with a professional photographer but, again, it will be money well spent.

Use good quality photography.