Ecommerce Website Best Practices

This past month, I accomplished a goal I’ve had for several years: I managed to purchase everything my kids need for school completely online. (Anyone who has scoured the crowded aisles of Walmart or Target looking for a specific pencil case understands my feelings.) But this accomplishment didn’t just simplify my school shopping, it also reminded me why it is so important for businesses to have a strong ecommerce website. 

Ecommerce is something businesses of any size or industry need to consider. Not only is it a valuable way to provide for prospects who are ready to purchase, it also allows curious potential customers to browse inventory and get an idea of options that are available. While the knowledge that you need an ecommerce website might be pretty simple and straightforward, actually building it is a far more complex process. Below, we’ll break down best practices when building your ecommerce website to ensure it is a success. 

6 Best Practices for an Ecommerce Website

An ecommerce website allows customers to purchase directly from you online. It also gives them a chance to view inventory, consider pricing, and calculate fees like taxes or shipping. Customers are able to purchase from you from anywhere, without having to leave their home. These six elements will make sure your ecommerce customers have a good experience and keep purchasing from you in the future. 

1. Security. This is the number one thing your website must offer every customer. If your site isn’t secure, you can be sure that people will find somewhere else to shop. You can beef up your site’s security by offering an SSL certificate and two-factor authentication, using a firewall, and including a link to your privacy policy in the footer of your website. A secure website is helpful in increasing website traffic because it signals to Google that your site is safe for visitors to use. 
2. Intuitive navigation. When people come to your ecommerce website, they come to shop. Make it simple for them to find what they are looking for with a site map and navigation that are intuitive and easy to use. 
3. Product pages. Regardless of whether customers come to your website knowing exactly what they want, or need to browse a bit, you need to have detailed product pages with high-resolution photos and videos and clear descriptions on each item, including its dimensions, ingredients, etc. Not only does this help prospects decide exactly what they want, it also helps in increasing website traffic because each product page will contain valuable keywords that show up in search results. 
4. Mobile responsiveness. It’s a given that your customers are going to be looking at your website on a mobile device, so make sure your web design automatically detects and formats for mobile. It needs to be just as easy to shop on your website on a phone or tablet as it is on a desktop. 
5. Related Items. The entire purpose of an ecommerce website is to sell products. But it’s an even bigger win for your company if you can sell more products. One way to accomplish this is by offering related items. You’ve seen this on sites like Amazon or Walmart. When you click on a listing for a pencil case, right below that you see items that are frequently purchased with a pencil case: pencils or fun pens. It’s an easy way to provide relevant products for customers, and increase items ordered from your company. 
6. Data and analytics. It is paramount that your website provides you with robust data and analytics. Without numbers on how your pages are performing, how can you determine whether you’re aiming for the right keywords, offering a sitemap that visitors can use easily, or providing an easy checkout process? These are all things that will help you in increasing your website traffic, and they are shown by website analytics.

Is Your Ecommerce Website Built to Succeed?

It is critical that you are able to harvest the opportunity of prospects who come to your website ready to purchase from you by building a quality ecommerce website. Want to learn more about what goes into building a great website that converts? Download our free ebook, Anatomy of a Great Website, below!