Drive Online Sales With These 5 Search Optimizations
Maximize your sales with your online store by optimizing technical aspects and streamlining customer journeys.
Do you remember when you needed to get out of your home to shop? It was a huge hassle.
Boston Computer Exchange launched in 1982 as the first eCommerce website. This enabled customers to shop for their underwear.
Electronic commerce is an essential part of today’s global economy. It allows you to buy and sell products and services online.
More than 2.14 trillion people bought online in 2021. In the United States, eCommerce sales in the first quarter of 2022 amounted to $250 billion.
Since selling used computers locally in the early days, we’ve come a long way.
With hardly any mouse clicks, you can find everything online: shoes, mechanic services, and a $5,000 heart-shaped potato. Nearly every business has a website that allows them to sell their products and services.
While this is great for shoppers, it can also mean that eCommerce retailers face much more competition.
What makes you different? How can you get people to your product pages and turn them into customers? This is no easy task.
You are in the right spot.
This article will discuss five key ways to optimize your eCommerce website to maximize exposure and increase ROI. Are you ready to get started? Continue reading.
1. Your home page is where the heart is
It’s the most visited page on your site and often the first page a visitor will see.
It sets the tone and way for your business.
We’re referring to your homepage. Your homepage is the first step in optimizing your eCommerce website to maximize sales.
Navigation made easy
navigation is a significant problem you should address immediately when optimizing your homepage.
Visitors (and search engine crawlers alike) should find your content quickly and efficiently. It should be easy for visitors to find the content they are looking for.
The main navigation bar is a crucial part of this.
The navigation bar allows users to navigate to different parts of your site quickly. It also allows you to highlight certain website features, such as your most-sold product line.
A prominent and influential tagline should be included on your homepage.
Your tagline is a brief-phrase of between 8 and 12 words that connects your company to its audience.
Sometimes, a slogan is mistakenly called one (slogans are campaign-specific, taglines brand-specific), tags are something many eCommerce sellers overlook – which is a mistake.
Your website is likely to be visited by many people who are new to it.
They can quickly grasp the purpose of your site by using a memorable and descriptive tagline. This will encourage them to explore more.
Content Is Still King
Content is an essential element of any webpage or homepage.
People use the internet to search for a specific product or solution.
You can sell to them if you provide what they want – if they land on your page and not the competitions.
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the first step. SEO begins with keywords.
Find the words and phrases that your target audience is searching for and use them in your copy. Please don’t force them to go where they aren’t. This is known as keyword stuffing and can negatively affect your Google ranking.
Are you having difficulty identifying the most important keywords? Search Engine Journal offers a webinar to help you create and implement a keyword research strategy.
You can also use various free tools to help you choose the language to include on your homepage.
You can relax once you have your keyword strategy figured out. Then you can watch the sales begin to roll in. You’re not. You’re just getting started.
Next, think about your visual assets for your homepage.
Do you use stock photos for visual interest? Or are you using this web space to promote your products? Smart eCommerce website owners will choose the former.
While you don’t have to include images for every product you offer (which would be a terrible idea), displaying prominent pictures of your top sellers on the homepage is essential. Clicking on the pictures takes users to the product’s page.
Internal links are vital. You can create links from your homepage to the most important pages.
It could be a page listing your top-selling items or a product category page. These links could be found in the navigation bar, page header, or content.
Another best practice is a breadcrumb trail that users (and search engine robots) can use.
Is a collection of great examples of a homepage. Click here to see some examples.
2. It’s all about the Products
Your eCommerce website’s purpose is to sell products.
Your product pages must entice visitors to purchase. You have the opportunity to create a narrative about each product you sell on your product pages. This can make a huge difference.
These are some ways to make your product pages stand out.
What’s in a Name?
The power of words can be pretty mighty. You want to leverage that power to influence purchasing decisions. That starts with the product titles.
Although it sounds simple, it is not. It takes exercise and A/B Testing to master.
The exact results will depend on your industry, product, and audience. Here are some guidelines.
- Use the correct language. Companies selling in Portugal shouldn’t ensure that all product descriptions are Portuguese. However, it would help if you used the same tone, words, and expressions as your target audience. Make sure your audience know what you are saying. Don’t forget to include your keywords.
- Choose the correct format. It will take few trial and error, but it is well worth the effort. You need to find the right length and format that resonates with potential customers. Your ideal format could be brand + size + color. You may also consider other factors based on product performance, such as color, flavor, model number and package size/quantity.
- Use complementary words in your description. Each product title should include a complementary and corresponding product description. Use search keywords to create a compelling description that is not boring or full of generic platitudes. To get the best results, you should remember the old saying, “Sell the sizzle not the steak,” in copywriting. Your descriptions should focus on the customer’s benefits and not the product’s features.
Get Meta
Meta description is the short blurb of text that appears in search engine results under a link to your site.
This is often the first chance to get a customer.
Your meta description is more likely to be clicked through by a searcher. This dramatically increases your chance of making a sale.
To create effective meta descriptions, use keywords from your brand’s voice.
You should ensure that each page’s meta description is specific to the product’s target audience and not just a blurb about your company.
Has more information on how to create meta descriptions that drive traffic.
Show them what you’ve got.
Images of a product are essential because they tell shoppers what they want.
Visitors to your product pages are likely to notice them first. They draw attention and elicit emotions. They help people subconsciously visualize the impact they will make on their lives.
Demonstrate to them the different features of the product.
Video is also helpful, but not everyone will want it. So use them as complementing features.
Images can also impact your SEO rankings.
Optimize your images to speed up loading and get the best visuals from your product pages.
Are you unsure how to accomplish this? We have the answer. For six tips on optimizing images for eCommerce sites, click here.
Check the Price
Although bells and whistles can help differentiate your product from its competition and may help make purchasing decisions, pricing is the most important thing that will determine if you sell.
It’s not all about the lowest price.
Customers will think they are getting cheap crap if you charge too much for your products.
Find the sweet spot that makes the highest profit on the most sales.
To help customers overcome analysis paralysis they can compare pricing side-by-side.
Visitors can compare all options at once, which helps to facilitate decision-making. It is impossible to make a lower price than if you show it next to a premium option, which can be significantly more expensive.
You may also be familiar with “charm pricing”, which is the ending price of a product at $.99.
Although the rational part of the customer’s brain knows that there is no difference between a product costing $299.99 and one that costs $300, studies have shown that most people determine prices by the leftmost number. This psychological trick can be used to your advantage.
Do Not Take Our Word for It
Amazon features are a great choice for product reviews. They work.
Customers trust the opinions of others who have purchased your product and can rely on them.
Did you know that customers who read reviews are 58% more likely than others to convert? This alone should convince you to include reviews on your product pages.
Other Tips
Calls to action ( CTAs) are another thing you shouldn’t neglect on your product pages.
Most salespeople learn that you have to ask for the sale to get it.
Clear CTAs are important on product pages. For example, a big button with the words “Buy Now.”
Don’t deactivate your link if you sell a particular item.
You can keep it online to avoid it being identified by search engines as a broken link, which could negatively impact your SEO score. You can simply indicate that the product is out of stock.
3. Don’t Ignore Usability
Your eCommerce website must be free to use if you wish to sell.
If you don’t have a well-designed UX/UI, people will move on before you can even pitch your product.
Avoid common UX mistakes to reduce bounce rates.
Solutions to Technical Problems
Before doing anything else, ensure that your website loads quickly for all users.
Your homepage should be visible to visitors within three seconds and, ideally, less.
Users, particularly mobile users, will likely become frustrated and search for another digital merchant.
This article will provide more information about speeding up and evaluating your loading times.
Mobile users are the most critical reason your website must be responsive.
Last year, 54.4% of global web traffic was attributed to phones. This number is only growing. Your homepage must be responsive to attract customers.
Consider How Your Site Is Being Used
Although everyone may use your website in a different way, there should be one common path that all users will follow.
This is important so you know what to do and how to proceed. People will sometimes get lost. Include a search bar to make it easier for them.
Do not forget to tell the story of your company.
The “About Us” page is not just a place to brag about your achievements but also an opportunity to share your past and values and offer your services.
These examples will give you more ideas on creating a high-quality About Us page.
Sometimes, customers need to talk to someone in person over the phone or by email.
It is vital to have a contact page that is easy to find. So that you can reach me with any questions, concerns, or exchanges, make sure you have your email address and phone number.
4. Blog Your Way To Sales
Is your eCommerce website equipped with a blog? It should.
It won’t do the trick. That personal blog you started ten years ago about Star Wars inconsistencies is no longer relevant. A dedicated blog for your business should be written about topics pertinent to your customers and products.
Blogging is vital for many reasons, not least from an SEO perspective.
You create new posts to show search engines that you are active. You can also use it to make those crucial backlinks.
A quality blog can help you establish authority in your niche and improve your brand image. It can also reduce bounce rates.
Create and implement a good Content Strategy to make your blog a valuable asset for your eCommerce website. This method is based on three key elements: technology, people, and process.
Remember, your blog is your opportunity to showcase your personality. You can have more fun with your blog than with other marketing materials that are more formal.
Make sure you share the posts that make you passionate about your products.
Don’t forget to use the social media sharing buttons. These are great ideas for product pages. This allows others to share your posts beyond your usual audience, increasing exposure and hopefully leading to more significant sales.
Are you looking for inspiration? These are nine e-commerce businesses that do blogging in the right way.
5. Construct a Solid Structure
Although we’ve covered many aspects of your eCommerce website’s structure, it is so important that it deserves its section.
You should adhere to the rule that your visitors can access all your content within three clicks of your homepage.
Customers could abandon the trip if you charge more than this.
This is why your buying process should be as smooth as possible.
Keep your checkout page as simple as possible and use the smallest number of pages to complete a transaction.
Customers should always know where they are during the checkout process.
Did you know that many e-retailers have a shopping cart icon at the top right of their pages? It works. Do not try to reinvent the wheel.
Your site should be built around a solid sitemap that is easy to find and navigate. Ensure your site is optimized for search engine crawlers to index it, so your pages appear in search engine results.
Last but not least, ensure that you have adequate security measures when dealing with financial transactions.
To prevent fraudulent purchases, ensure your eCommerce site has a secure host.