Ways to Optimize your eCommerce product pages

by contenteCommerceTechnologyblogSEO

Beautifully designed home pages are important for making a good impression. But no pages have a greater impact on sales and overall conversions than product pages. It’s where your customers evaluate your products, look for special offers and ultimately decide to click the “add to cart” button. Thus helps the visitor to become the customer. Make sure that your product page is optimized, so that you don’t miss out on potential visitors.

The fundamental secret to e-commerce growth is not more traffic, but more conversions from the existing traffic. So there is a need to create a highly effective and optimized site that helps to convert as many visitors as possible into sales.

Ways to optimize your product pages..

#1. Clearly specify your product name :

product names affect search rankings to a great extent. Use the keywords to create descriptive product names. Ensure that they are to the point and include the necessary descriptions customers might be searching for. Make sure that your product names are relevant and match with the description provided on your landing page.

#2. Use high quality images:

Shoppers move rapidly through web pages or search engines, unless something catches their eyes. Large clear and high quality photos of your products can make it easy to grab the attention of the shoppers. The shoppers can’t see the product in person, but they can assess the product, its quality with a high quality photo/image. High quality photos cover all the product details and makes the buyer feel confident while making their online purchase.

#3. Provide detailed product content :

Beyond product images, a great ecommerce product page should provide a high level of information about the product. It’s the content that informs customers about the benefits and features of a product. It can convince them to buy from you. Make sure that you use a polite, engaging and personal touch in your product description. This will help the customers to decide while buying the product. Detailed content will also help you rank higher in SERPs and thereby bring in more customers to your store.

#4. Add trust badges :

Now-a-days we hear a lot about data breaches, cyber theft, credit card frauds and personal information being stolen by hackers. Due to this customers become more wary to share their personal information online. This is creating a barrier to e-commerce shopping. As an online owner, you have to convince the shoppers that their information is safe in your hands. To build this trust, trust badges are recommended. As per study, 48% of shoppers agreed that the trust seals help them to decide whether to make a purchase. Trust badges are easy way to let shoppers know that their purchases are safe and help to build confidence in your company and feel comfortable to make purchases. 

#5. Improve site speed :

Site speed is one of the main factors for ranking websites in the search engine. Searchers hate waiting. Check the loading time of the web page, if it takes more than three seconds to load then there is a need to make the website lightning fast. There are many tools available to make the site faster, such as web page test, Google page speed, Yslow and others. Quickening the site speed of your product pages is the ultimate remedy to cart abandonment, Rather than getting discouraged with slow pages.

#6. Make mobile a priority :

Today over 80% of online shoppers use their mobile phones to shop through e-commerce. Make sure that you optimize your website to use on mobile phones equally well. A mobile unfriendly store may lose its customers, sales revenue, traffic and everything.

#7. Sense of urgency :

Create a sense of urgency in the minds of your customers, so that they rush to make purchases. You must use FOMO[fear of missing out] well enough to convert engagement into purchase. One way of doing this is by announcing a limit time sale. You must ensure that you make them realize that they will miss out the sale if they are late. You can do so by adding a countdown clock. Another way of doing it, is by letting your customers know that a limited quantity of the products is left.

#8. Reviews from customers :

Reviews build trust and give potential customers the reassurance they need from others to make their purchasing decisions. Given the power of referrals, it’s best to prominently feature reviews from customers on your product pages. For instance Shopify users can download the product reviews app on the Shopify store.

#9. Pricing and shipping costs :

On the product page, you should clearly mention the price of the product. One more aspect where most e-commerce websites fail is the shipping cost. Very few e-commerce product pages list the pricing and shipping information transparently. Usually the shipping and VAT charges are added later on. This will put off your customers interest. Instead try to be more transparent about your charges in the first place. Show your shipping charges and the complete cost of the purchase right on the product page. To make the offer more sweet, you can offer free shipping to your customers. 

#10. Display the return policy on your ecommerce product page :

Your goal should remain as transparent as possible with your customers. A great way of doing this is by outlining your return policy on the product page. Your customers must know the steps that they may need to take, if they wish to return the product. A clear return policy on the e-commerce product page makes things clear as well as reduces the conflict that might arise after the purchase of the product.

Conclusion :

As an online seller, the product page is your final moment to win the sale. If you can show buyers the benefits of your products on this page, they will complete their order and give you a sale. You can easily craft a product page that drives conversions, by using the tips in this guide. With few changes and adjustments, your product page will keep shoppers engaged and gradually lead them towards completing their purchase.

What to test in an eCommerce Website

by eCommerceTechnologyblog

People are adopting online shopping like never before, and global eCommerce market size is expected to grow very high in the coming years. Current technology trends and accessibility have made it possible for every business to create an eCommerce platform in no time and start selling. It is important to test eCommerce websites and mobile applications, so that it enhances users experience, customer data security, quick load time, safe and secure transaction. All these factors help in maintaining the website stability and enjoyable customers experience.

Why testing is important for your eCommerce success:

eCommerce applications have lots of users world- wide as they deal with finance, marketing retail and wholesale, manufacturing and auctions. Better testing techniques will safeguards the website from failure. The main reasons for testing your eCommerce application is to check the usability of the application, its user friendliness and to make your eCommerce website/ application bugs free.

Following are the important factors where testing of eCommerce websites would be helpful :

1. Ensuring the readiness of transactions :

Testing an eCommerce website will help you make sure that every single webpage on your website is tested well enough and is validated to complete all the eCommerce transactions. It will also confirm whether it is ready for the customer use or not.

2. Enhancing the usability :

The success of online buying website depends upon the increased and smooth usability, along with reduced risk factors. Testing process for eCommerce website deals with both of these aspects.

3. Reducing the risk of changes :

The changes in your eCommerce website should enhance customers experience and a hassle free transaction. Testing makes sure that the incorporated new changes doesn’t affect the website and it is bugs free.

4. Evaluating the functionality and compatibility against load :

In order to serve customers requirements and needs perfectly, every organization needs to ensure that the function provided in their websites are working properly at different amounts of load conditions and whether the website is able to support different browsers and platforms or not. Testing is a must for eCommerce website to ensure the compatibility and good working conditions of the website during heavy loads i.e. during holiday season as well.

Important segments of eCommerce testing :

Testing eCommerce website will help you to identify and rectify errors, that affect your website’s performance and a good customer experience.

#1. Home Page:

Home page is the first page to appear when a user opens the website. On an eCommerce website the homepage consists of a very rich and useful source of information. It is important to test the interoperability and functionality of the homepage of the e-commerce website.

#2. Category pages :

It is one of the major areas in terms of testing. The range and breadth of the products should be tested by checking that the products are grouped as per category or not. Also check, how quickly the user is able to find the correct product category on the website.

#3. Product detail page :

The product detail page is the heart of the eCommerce system. Hence it is really important to make sure that the product detail pages are tested thoroughly and how the functionality of these pages work. It involves checking elements like,

  • Product code and title
  • Product image
  • Enlarging the image
  • Product description
  • Full body view of the product….and many more.

#4. Shopping cart :

Separate resources and efforts should be dedicated towards the functionality of the shopping cart. They should also test that the quantities, shopping cart items and display option are shown accordingly. Whether the transactions taking place on the website or not ? The functionality of removing and changing items in a shopping cart should also be tested.

#5. Payment Gateways :

This factor is very important for both the businesses and the customers because it involves money. The payment gateway allows a merchant to accept credit, debit card and other forms of electronic payments. So payment modes should be safe and secure as these are important targets for hackers and scammers.  The checkout and payment gateway should also be tested with different payment options such as PayPal, online banking, cash, etc..,

#6. Search :

Most of the customers come to the website and search for a specific product that they have in mind. Hence the website should make it easier for customers to locate the product without much difficulty. This is a crucial segment which should be tested thoroughly. This factor helps in determining the success of the eCommerce website, because customers often have only a few features of a certain product in mind. Search algorithm of your website helps the visitor to find the best product, they are looking for. 

#7. After order tests:

Whenever a customer places an order there are many things that will happen afterwards, such as showing the shipping status, there is an option to cancel the order in case the customer doesn’t want it. Sometimes the customer wants to return their product in case of a defect or a complaint. So there should be a feature relating to the returns as well. The things to be tested here are that these features are working properly and are easy to use or not, because this can affect the customer.

#8. Browser compatibility:

It is important for eCommerce applications to work on all types of web browsers such as Google chrome, Firefox, opera etc.., you need to test the browser compatibility of the application to make sure that your customers are able to use your e-commerce website without any hassle.

Testing eCommerce application work flow :

  • Search functionality, sign up and login options
  • Features for posting product reviews so that other customers can see them and make their decision.
  • Sorting features, to filter different product types
  • Adding or removing products from the shopping cart.
  • Checking out process, invoice generation and order number, payment processing and payment gateway for buying the product

            So, to offer a hassle free e-commerce experience to customers, it is important to test the complete workflow of your website and mobile application. Before planning and performing the functional testing, specialists should understand and familiarize themselves with the e-commerce website very well, so that they can plan tests accordingly.

Pull up :

By conducting thorough eCommerce website application testing, you can significantly reduce the number of errors that crop up when the website is made live to your customers.

Why you should have an e-commerce website..

by eCommerceblog

With the growing popularity of the internet and technology, it has become easier and quicker to buy and sell online. People can now enjoy shopping and even running their own business from the comfort of their own homes.

       Technology has become very innovative and helps a consumer to have a great shopping experience in the long run. E-commerce has proven to be quite beneficial to businesses. E-commerce business takes place through different mediums- it could consist of a branded website, a marketplace like Ebay, Amazon, even over a social media platform such as facebook, pinterest instagram. Although there are innumerable ways of selling products to consumers online, the benefit of selling online is the convenience of being able to sell products or services to any consumer at any time irrespective of their location. As a seller with an e-commerce website you can tell your customer about your e-store, showcase your products, shipping terms and mode of payment online.

Here is the list of reasons why you need an e-commerce website in today’s internet world..

1. Global market:

Having an e-commerce website gives you the opportunity not only to reach out local customer but also national and at international level. You can offer your products to customer around the world irrespective of distance and time zone.

2. Open 24/7:

Compared to regular store hours, online shop is open 24/7. With this facility of online shopping, you won’t lose out sales. Customers enjoy to purchase what they want and when they want it.

3. Make Money:

The more places you offer your products, the more chances you have to make sales. Creating an online store opens up a whole new opportunity to generate revenue, along with your physical business sales.

4. Customer convenience:

Customer can check necessary information like your store hours, phone number, address which helps drive in person. Additionally, if customers are busy, move away, or can’t get out to your store for another reason, the website provides the convenience of being able to shop from anywhere.

5. Marketing through Social Media and Search Engine:

 With good search engine optimization [SEO] your website will appear in the top result of search engines such as Google. Also social media website like Facebook and twitter will provide you with a platform to build trust with your customer through reviews and ratings. They also keep customer informed about your products and offers. This helps to drive in more traffic to your website.

6. Low Cost:

Setting up an e-commerce business costs less than setting up a brick and mortar store. Most online market places and e-commerce sites have a free signup. They normally take a small fee charged as a percentage of the sale, for allowing you to sell products on their platform. Social media provides cost effective ways of marketing your online business. You can manage your business on your own by avoiding payroll expenses.

7. Increases Brand Awareness:

Between these social media mention, gaining fresh customers through search and tapping new online markets, the end result is increased brand awareness. More people will be aware of your company and its products and interested in buying them. As more people share and spread your site and its products brand awareness will grow which means increase in sales.

8. Speed Up Business Operations:

Today the most successfully businesses are able to combine the physical and the online shopping worlds into one. The best example is the “take away” service by the restaurants. Offering an online ordering system with both delivery and take out options increases your sales by saving customers time.

9. Personalization:

You can use your website to connect with your customers by providing a personalized service such as order tracking, delivery confirmations and product recommendation based on their order history.

Pull up:

In short getting an e-commerce shop and running is simpler, involves low costs and low risks than setting up a physical store. As long as you have a perfect business plan and have products that cater to the needs of your customers, the internet is here to offer a passive income as well as a high ROI in the long run.

Best ECommerce Platform and Website Builders

by blog

ECommerce websites are virtual stores where products and services are listed in categories for customers to browse and buy them online. Many software providers offer best eCommerce platforms along with online store builder tools. With these set of tools you can create customized eCommerce website for your business. The best eCommerce platforms can enable your business to set up an online store that suits your need.

Best eCommerce Website Builders of 2020:

1. Wix :

This is a very simple and user friendly website. The big advantage of using wix is, it has easy drag and drop interface. It means you can drag and drop content blocks, spacers, images and texts wherever you want them. It also has limitless customization options .Wix usability scores 5/5 . It has a professional looking design without searching high and low for the right app’s. Wix provides a beautiful eCommerce website templates. You have to simply plug in your images and content on the website. It has two negative points, one is negative customers review and there is no 24/7 customer support.

2. Shopify :

It is regarded as one of the giant of the eCommerce world. It offers easy integration with your social media sales channels, user-friendly, inventory tracking and some decent SEO features. Shopify is the best eCommerce website builder for small business owners, who are just starting. As it has ample resource for new business owners. It helps not only to start your business, but also helps in developing it on long run. Shopify usability scores 3/5. Along with these pros of shopify there are certain weaknesses such as poor design on free templates, extra transaction fees on credit cards. Shopify is easier to use, if you pay for a quality theme and apps available on the platform.

3. Square space :

It is one of the cheapest website builders on the market. It’s an all-in-one solution provider website for small business. It also provides blog and beautifully designed site pages, which an online store needs the most. The pages on square space platform are easily navigable. Customers can find what they need quickly and easily. The square space usability score is 4/5. One of the weaknesses of square space is, it does not have a sound SEO and secondly you have to master the learning curve for square space.

4. Big commerce :

If your online shop is the core of your business, you should definitely consider big commerce. Big commerce is a website builder and eCommerce software solution together. Simply uploading the products, creates your eCommerce store. There is no need of any extra work to make your shop functional and well designed. Also you can add details about your product. It is also good in terms of search engine optimization [SEO]. Big commerce doesn’t charge transaction fees. It also offers support via phone, instant chat and email. It also provides advice guidance about online selling through their eCommerce team of expert. Big commerce usability scores 3/5. Few of the weaknesses of big commerce are limited free themes, negative customer reviews and complicated customization.

It was tested and found that big commerce wasn’t the easiest website builder, but it was one of the easier-to-use online store.

5. Woo commerce :

Woo commerce platform is very easy to use. It is simple to install and cheap to build an eCommerce website. Woo commerce is a free plugin, that can turn your WordPress website into a fully functional eCommerce website. Through woo commerce, you can customize your eCommerce website according to your needs by choosing your own plugins. This makes woo commerce one of the best contenders for those looking to start an online retail business.

6. Core commerce :

Core commerce was set up in 2001 to focus more on providing eCommerce services to small and medium business. This platform is based on simplicity and transparency. It promises the customers that it is easy-to-use platform with no hidden charges. Core commerce offers store designing, order processing and marketing. It also offers unlimited product customization.

7. 3dcart :

This platform is user friendly with plenty of innovative features. 3dcart was incorporated with most eCommerce features into one platform. This platform helps you to increase visitors and sales. Includes features like social media marketing, SEO and an expansive market place. It also has a strong support team, which works round the clock to ensure that your website works optimally. Many of the features of 3dcart platform are highly tailored to the needs of each business.

8. Weebly :

Weebly is an all purpose drag and drop website builder, with lots of customization. It also offers a free website builder option. It provides shoppers with a convenient shopping cart. Weebly shopping cart software is set up automatically when you create your online store. So you can start selling online immediately, no technical skills needed. Weebly usability score is 4.5/5. Main weakness of Weebly are

  • fewer customer service options
  • extra costs for most eCommerce option

Conclusion :

The right eCommerce site builder for your business will depend mostly on your budget and your business. Each eCommerce platforms and websites has their own pros and cons. So consider your unique needs when choosing products and services.

Things you need to do after launching your eCommerce website

by eCommerceProduct Data Enrichment

The real work begins after launching e-commerce website. Many businesses launch their website, but very few succeed. Once the site is set up there are several other things which should be ensured, so that it is ready for the users.

Things you should do after launching an eCommerce website

#1. Be ready with Product Feeds:

Once the website is launched, now its time for the world to know about it. Here comes the product data feed. Product data feed is a file which includes a text based list of data from an eCommerce store. The file includes list of products in an organized way. So that each product can be displayed advertised or compared in a unique way. Submitting product data feed to shopping channels like amazon, Flipkart and others. Make sure your data is specific and comprehensive. This helps you to maximize your online exposure through product visibility.

#2. Web Analytics:

Web analytics helps in measuring web traffic. This is used as a tool by eStore owners to assess and improve the website effectiveness. Google analytics alone is enough to receive traffic statistics. This helps you to know 1. How many people are visiting your site. 2.where the traffic is coming from ?.

#3. Webmaster Tools:

Google webmaster tools [GWT] is a free service that helps you to evaluate and maintain your website’s performance in search results. It offers you valuable information that can help you in marketing. Also tells you which queries are driving the most traffic. It allows you to know about the website security compromises and to eliminate the same.

#4. Improve the Content:

Keep churning out the new content. Nobody wants to visit a stale website. So keep producing a steady stream of content to keep the site relevant and current. Make your content simple and clear. It should be accessible to a wider audience. High quality and informative content boosts the search engine ranking, resulting in driving massive traffic to the site. So it is well said “content is the king “.

#5. Improve the Site Speed:

Site speed is one of the main factors for ranking websites in the search engines. Searchers hate waiting. Check the loading time of the webpage, if it takes more than 3 seconds to load than there is need to make the website lightning fast. There are many tools available to make the site faster. Such as web page test, google page speed, yslow and others.

#6. Promote the Website:

Online marketing has become so popular and successful that businesses are spending more on promoting website. Promoting the website via social media, SEO, promotional ad’s content marketing are more commonly used platforms. Having a blog on your website can increase your ranking on  search engines. You will get both exposure, traffic and social media share.

#7. Social Media:

Social Media is the most influential tool for any type of business, whether it is online or offline. It helps in connecting with the customers and driving them back to the website. Do some research and find which social media helps in driving more traffic to the site and increasing the conversion ratio. Online stores with the social media presence such as Facebook, Twitter accounts, has 32% more sales than the average store.

#8. Optimize Search Engines:

Website optimization is essential to make it more easily found by search engines. Using of relevant keywords through out the website content can do wonders. while dealing with eCommerce store ,customer rush online can slow down the search engine. So it is essential to optimize the search engine performance for a hassle free trading. Make sure to optimize the website content for local search, image search and voice search.

#9. Google Search Console:

Google Search Console is a free service offered by google. It helps to monitor, maintain and any difficulty the website is facing. Google search console helps to understand how Google sees the website and can take specific steps to improve the ranking. It also points out internal errors, if there are any. This is an extremely valuable tool to set up on the website.

Conclusion:

Launching an eCommerce website is not an easy task. What you do after the launch really determines your success. Keeping up the business website is an uphill task. But the above mentioned tactics can truly change the game.

Best free SEO tools you should be using to improve your E-store

by eCommerceTechnologyblog

A good tool to do the task saves time and the work done will be effective and efficient. Every thing starts with right tools. If it is available free, then what more you need. The best free SEO tools you can use to rank higher in search engine result page [ SERP ]

The following tools are fast free and easy to use.

#1. Google Page Speed:

Once you enter a URL, this tool will test the loading time and performance for desktop and for mobile. it also suggest tips for improvement. the mobile performance can be known through a user experience score, grading areas etc..

#2. Google Analytics:

Google Analytics is a web analytics service offered by google that tracks and reports website traffic. this helps to get a deeper understanding of your customers. this tool surfaces many keyword insights as to which term people use to land on your pages.

#3. Google Search Console + Bing Webmaster Tools:

Google Search Console is a free service offered by google that helps you monitor, maintain and any difficulty if your site is facing ? GSC helps you understand and improve how google sees your site

Bing web master tool is a free service of Bing search engine. it allows web masters to add their websites from a single account. it gives you a snapshot of information about each site.

#4. Keyword Tool:

There are hundreds of keyword ideas based on a single keyword. Once you enter a key word , the keyword tool provides a huge list of long tail keyword opportunities and common questions asked.

#5. Moz Local Listing:

Moz local gives you the tools for complete listing management across the web. Take control of your local SEO with powerful references accuracy , checks review management , publishing tools, integration with google and Facebook and more.

#6. Moz Link Explorer:

This tool gives a complete and clear picture of your website pages and links. It also gives an insight into your website’s authority and ranking. Link explorer measures your back links most valuable pages, linking domains etc. , this helps you to build high quality links to better compete and thrive online.

#7. SERP Simulator:

This tool will show how your web pages will look in google search. And so the appearance of your meta title and description can be known through this tool, before you publish your web page. it works for both desktop and mobile and also checks with any issues and instantly fixes the same.

#8. Link Miner:

This is an important tool to find broken links on any web page. It helps to rebuild the broken link and creating opportunities. its a single chrome extension that checks the http status of all links on the current page. You can easily find the broken link here as highlights.

#9. Google Trends:

Google Trends is a search trend feature that shows how frequently a given search term entered into googles search engine relative to sites total search volume over a given period of time. this tool uncovers the seasonal variations in search popularity amongst other things.

#10. Google Business Review Link Generator:

The google review link generator gives you a one stop link , you can send to your customers for them to easily leave a review for your business On google. Customer reviews are important for local SEO purposes. this tool helps you to generate, manage and monitor the customers review for your business.

Conclusion:

There are hundreds of free SEO tools, putting together all is a hard task. The above mentioned ones are valuable and you can use via the web within minutes to get amazing insights.

 Even more tools are available. If interested you can look into the following

  • 100 best SEO tools and resources
  • SEO and marketing tools
  • the complete beginners guide to SEO

  

 

images are important for e store

Why images are important for your e-store?

by with No Comment eCommerceblog

Images are visual representations of text. It is certainly true that one image is equal to 10,000 words. Viewers relate instantly to an image representation of the product.

Image guarantees the authenticity of your products. Customers looking to buy products look for a snapshot of the products in order to identify them.  Without images, the product becomes suspicious to the customer and the customer becomes apprehensive to confidence to make a purchase.

Images need to be of high quality, appropriate size showcasing varied angles of the products in the right light, setting and background.

Thus product images are a necessity for eCommerce success.

Customer Attention

Images create visual impact in your e-store, so quality images are essential that will catch the user’s attention because it is the first thing the user gets attracted to. People cannot touch and feel products in an e-store, so it is essential to portray the best version of the products through images.

An ideal  product image would be crystal clear pictures of the product in different angles that provides a clear idea of the product to the user. The image options should include viewing angles, zoom, multiple images, and more.

Let’s look at some of the must have features when a product is displayed in an image of an e-store.

1. Quality & Quantity of Image

Quality of an image not only brings clarity of the product of your e-store but also enhances the visual appeal of your e-store.

Customers will be convinced of their choice when the product is displayed in the most appealing manner. Most images of your product with different angles will give an added perspective to the customer to make the choice of buying the product.

2. Image Size

Image size is an important factor before uploading your images. Proper size of the image with dynamic zooming facility will be convenient for the user to get a better view of the image instead of a static one.

Poor quality and oversized or undersized images will create a bad impression for your e-store, reducing the demand for your products.

Altius recommends a guideline size for your product images that is 1024 X 1024 pixels for the best impact.

3. Proper Backgrounds

 A uniform, clean and smooth background provides the customer with a good experience. And will also help them to choose a product. It is highly recommended to shoot your photography at a clean and shiny place; where your product images will come very bright and clear for the customer to view. Investing in a good photography camera will pay dividends later for your e-commerce store. With tons of free image footage available on the internet, choosing only free images without watermarks should be considered.  Altius professionals help to redesign the colored and watermarked background to white image background. This makes free available images on the internet usable. 

With digitization penetrating all the areas of our lives, having an e-store is imperative today. Having a strong online presence will outreach your brand and business globally.  Altius has been consistently delivering efficient and reliable image services such as Image Collection, Image Capturing and Editing; for clients across various domains like Electrical, Electronics, Clothing, Jewelry, Safety & Security Industries and many more.