In this day and age, it is still surprising how many ecommerce business owners have a “set it and forget it” approach with their sites. Unfortunately, too many clueless business owners keep making the same mistakes tons have made before them, either because they are misinformed or just don’t care enough to improve their strategies. Little do they know that these simple mistakes can have devastating effects not only on their sales, but their search engine results as well. Here are a few common mistakes ecommerce website owners routinely make:
Poor Content
In my personal opinion, there is no greater sin that can be committed by a website owner than lack of good content. Content is ultimately what will drive clients to your business and keep them hooked once they get there, and good content creates a connection with your reader that no marketing campaign can emulate.
Your content has to be current, always fresh and speak to your audience. If your content doesn’t address your audience’s questions in a clear and concise way, it shouldn’t be published. More content is always better, as content rich websites tend to be favored by search engines, but quality and relevance should always be your main priority. So make sure that your content is always fresh and addresses your clients’ needs.
Too Many Ads
If your website is nothing but a glorified billboard, it will have a negative effect on your user. Not only is user experience essential when it comes to conversions, it is also being used increasingly by search engines to define their rankings. People today are fed up with advertisements and online users automatically tune out online adverts; so a more understated approach would actually garner much better results. Focus on information first, and use tools like your blog or social media page to sell your services, but in a tasteful and discreet way.
Inaccessible in Some Countries
Is your web host preventing viewers in certain areas of the world from accessing your website? If so, you will want to move it to a web host that gives international access. You don’t want your viewers searching for how to change IP address just to be able to access your site. And in many cases, most visitors won’t – they’ll click off and go to your competitor.
Your Site Looks Horrible
Poor design and a clunky interface are surefire ways to turn off any new visitor to your site. An outdated site design is a clear sign of neglect and might actually deter clients who would’ve otherwise made a purchase.
Your bounce rate, which is the proportion of visitors who leave your site immediately after their visit, is also a factor that affects search results. But more importantly, a high bounce rate is a clear sign that your clients do not like what they’re seeing and that it’s time for a change.
Try different designs, colors, interfaces and test, test, test! This is the only good way to make concrete changes that will positively affect your conversions. The good news is that there are tons of free tools such as Google’s Content Experiments that allow website owners to split test various designs and see which ones work the best.
If you manage to stay away from these four basic mistakes, you should be able to significantly improve your results in no time. Just remember to always keep your content fresh and relevant, focus on user experience and advertise your services wisely. Also, always try to make changes that will reduce bounce rates and improve conversions. This tactic alone will do wonders for your site’s traffic and conversions.