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7 Steps to making your e-commerce site successful

May 23, 2017

1. Strategy

Proper planning before jumping into anything is always a good idea. It’ll end up saving you a lot of time and a lot of money in the long run. Before coordinating all marketing efforts to drive traffic to an e-commerce site, you should have a firm understanding of the target market you are trying to attract. Once you have an idea of the ideal type of people you are trying to attract, it is much easier to develop a marketing plan to better capture that audience.

2. Attractive Landing Page

If your main goal is to be driving people to your page, it is critical that the first thing they see is attractive and user friendly. Having the site look good includes having aesthetically pleasing pictures and a user friendly experience. This will help grab your customers’ attention and navigate your page while providing them with a positive experience, encouraging them to make a purchase.

Keeping it simple and implementing a user-friendly design float, making it easier to navigate the page, will increase consumer engagement and provide a higher customer experience overall. Also, incorporating a call to action button or a way to drive consumer engagement right from the landing page is highly recommended as well. You only have a brief time to capture customer’s interest before they leave the page. Creating a way for them to engage right away can be very beneficial to increasing sales.

3. Original Content

When more and more advertising is done online, taking the time to create original content can be highly rewarding. This content can be used for everything like your social media channels, website, product pages, and email marketing campaigns. This helps connect you and your audience and also lets you depict the exact kind of aesthetic you are trying to portray. Establishing and maintaining your brand image is becoming increasingly important within a digital environment.

4. Utilize The Correct Social Channels

Social media, as we all know, plays a large role in online advertising. Proper utilization of different social media channels can help maintain a brand identity, connect with your audience, and also increase exposure for your e-commerce site. However, spreading yourself too thin and trying to utilize all social platforms may cost you valuable time and effort. Some social channels may work better for your brand and it may be more valuable to focus on those. For example, using Instagram to promote your e-commerce site with a variety of different products can be very successful while using Facebook to relay larger amounts of information may be highly beneficial.

5. Don’t Neglect SEO

When people are searching for something your company has to offer, you obviously would like to be able to connect with them and find each other. This is why SEO becomes increasing important, especially when you have to compete with paid search advertisements. Adding a blog to your site not only helps relay information about the products, services, and whatever else your company has to offer, but it also helps to show higher in the search results. Creating and implementing public relation articles can also help articulate that same information through a different medium. By utilizing these both correctly, you can effectively climb the search rankings and increase your chances of being seen while also providing potential customers with valued information.

6. Find Affiliate Bloggers

For most industries, there are dedicated groups of bloggers with a vast knowledge of the market. Being able to collaborate with these people can prove to be a huge asset for your e-commerce site. Not only can they provide real life testimonials about your products and services, and they already have a large and dedicated audience that they appeal to. The amount of influence that these bloggers have can have a serious impact on your online marketing campaign. Be sure to get on their good side.

7. Email Marketing and Newsletters

Email marketing remains one of the best ways to reach customers. By utilizing sites such as Mailchimp, you can easily design email templates and relay relevant information to the target market. Email marketing can play a huge role during the holiday seasons or when trying to promote a sale. Incorporating a newsletter for people invested in your site is another way for followers to gain valuable information about new products, upcoming events, and special promotions.

8. Try and try again

In the end, you really don’t know what is going to work for you until you try it. Stick with what works and either ditch or refine what doesn’t. Things will constantly be changing in the digital environment; change and upkeep will help keep things fresh and attractive for your customers.

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