Running a successful ecommerce business isn’t easy, but it certainly isn’t impossible. Ecommerce is such a booming industry that more people want a piece of the pie, and with competition growing, it’s important to stay ahead. One of the biggest benefits of running an ecommerce business is that it allows you to make money from home. This gives you the opportunity to spend time with your family, take care of your house, and even work remotely while you travel. Here are a few ways to ensure success:
Design A Great Website
First impressions are lasting impressions. A standard website just isn’t impressive. There are countless studies that depict the importance of good web design. In one study called “Trust and Mistrust of Online Health Sites”, it found that people trusted health websites that were designed well significantly more than those that weren’t, regardless of content. Your layout should be simple and engaging, and load fast.
Design elements that tend to thwart visitors are small print, busy textboxes, too many ads, lack of color, confusing navigation and slow loading times. If you aren’t web design-proficient, it’s best to hire a freelancer or agency to do the design work for you. Take a look at competing sites to get a feel for the general market aesthetic, and come up with your own plan to share with your freelancer of choice.
Handling Orders
While in the early stages of your ecommerce business, it might be possible to manage and ship orders directly from your garage or living room. As you grow, however, this method isn’t sustainable. Soon, you’ll have boxes piling towards the ceiling, Brother DK compatible labels strewn about and bubble wrap taking over the floor. Not to mention that packaging these items can be extremely time consuming, and takes away from building the brand and running the business side.
You’ll need a proper ecommerce order fulfillment agency to help keep operations running smoothly. Order fulfillment is so important because it reflects on the brand and says a lot about the business’s reliability. While the order fulfillment center takes care of packages and posting, you’ll be able to work on what matters most. Additionally, you’ll be relieved of handling complex logistics, like determining custom and VAT rates. Create a list of potential candidates and talk to them about how they’ll help improve the customer experience by handling your packaging and shipment efficiently.
Figure Out Where Your Customers Are
Figuring out where your customers are is a must. This is necessary to avoid wasting time and resources on marketing practices that don’t work. Create a replica of an ideal customer by asking yourself questions like, “Where does this customer work?” “How old is this customer?” “What does this customer do on their free time?” The answer to these questions will help you shape your marketing plan and target the right areas.
There are many ways to identify your ideal customer. One of them is by conducting a survey. Surveys can unveil plenty about customers that you might not have known otherwise. You can also entice customers to answer surveys by offer discounts or promotional materials.
Build A Blog
Content is king, especially with ecommerce. A blog can bring in organic traffic you probably wouldn’t have received otherwise. Regardless of the products you sell, a blog is necessary. The more blog posts you have, the more traffic you’ll generate as a result of SEO. This also gives you the opportunity to build your email list from visitors who are interested in your product and what you have to say.
Your blog is a platform to tell stories, to provide relevant news and features, and spread the word. Even more importantly, your blog can get you noticed by the right people. Better SEO means the press is more likely to discover your brand and provide coverage.
Create An Advertising Campaign
Social media can have powerful impact on your business, which is why a social advertising campaigns are so effective. Facebook, Twitter, and even Pinterest should all be considered. The great thing about these platforms is their flexibility and powerful ad tools. You can spend as little or as much on advertising and learn as you grow. By monitoring your data, you can start to see where the engagement is high and where dollars are wasted.
Google Adwords Nottingham should also be in your ad campaign. As with social campaigns, PPC should be tested and reconfigured on a daily basis to truly get the most out of your money. If done right, with patience, PPC can be very profitable. Don’t expect to get immediate results — if that were the case, everyone would be cashing out on PPC and its value would deplete significantly.
