So your ecommerce website isn’t selling. That’s a problem. And it’s likely that you’re not the only one who has experienced this issue. In fact, it’s thought that $18 billion in revenue is lost every year from cart abandonment!
In this article, we’ll explore seven common problems that can cause an ecommerce site to underperform. Don’t worry – we’ll also give you some actionable steps to get your store back on-track!
Recommendations for Improving Online Sales
1.) Check if you are attracting the right audience
The goal of any business is to acquire as many customers or clients as possible. There are various ways this can be done, but you should always aim for quality over quantity. This is because the right traffic will bring the most value and revenue back to your company.
Attracting the right kind of people to your site requires some strategy and effort, but it will pay off in the end with more engaged users who are actually interested in what you have going on!
You can solve this issue by first defining who your target audience is. You can find this out by taking a look at who your current customers are. From there, you can analyze key characteristics, like age, gender, location, and what they’re interested in.
With a clear idea of the kind of person you should be targeting, it’s time to review your website and marketing strategy. For example, if you have a clothing store that’s aimed at teenage girls, then your site should have clothes that are on-trend and stylish, but not too expensive.
2.) Check if your pages are ranking in Google search
It’s a wonder that any site ranks at all, given how competitive the internet has become. But if your pages aren’t optimized for search engine rankings, then you’re going to find it even more difficult to attract visitors from Google and other major search engines.
To drive organic traffic to your site, it’s important to follow the best practice for ranking ecommerce sites:
- Include keywords throughout your pages – This will help search engines find your pages more easily and rank you higher on their algorithm listings. You should also use keyword research tools, such as Semrush or Ahrefs, to identify what words the people in your niche are using when they make searches online.
- Gain backlinks to your website – High-quality, relevant backlinks from other sites will show Google that your content is some of best out there. To do this, you can build links by engaging in social media, guest blogging on other websites and forums, or even buying them from a reputable service.
- Make sure your site loads fast – Both Google and your audience is finicky about website load times. With Google paying more attention to user experience, if your site takes more than a few seconds to load, then it’s unlikely that you’ll rank well on search engine results pages.
- Optimize for mobile – More than 50% of internet traffic comes from mobile devices. If your website isn’t optimized for the smaller screen, then you’ll miss out on a huge number of potential customers.
3.) Review your usage of call to actions
The goal of any business is to acquire more customers. But if your site visitors don’t know what they should do next, then it’s unlikely that you’ll make a conversion.
To solve this issue, make sure that the ‘Call To Action’ button is in an obvious location and large enough for people to click! You can also use pop-up windows to grab their attention before they leave without taking an action.
While it’s important to have compelling CTAs, they should be descriptive so that your visitors will know what the button does. Try using phrases like “learn more” and “click here.”
4.) Ask others if your navigation is easy to use
If you want to maximize the number of conversions, it’s important that your navigation is organized into a logical and easy-to-follow format.
Navigating through a product with too many tabs can be an overwhelming experience. When your customers feel lost, they will have trouble finding the products and services you provide – or worse yet, they will leave without purchasing anything at all!
The solution is to have a clear navigation bar that links to all of your major pages. Oh, and make sure your website has a search bar. This way, customers will have an easy time finding the exact item they’re looking for!
5.) Find out if your checkout process has a high abandonment rate
Even if you’ve optimized your site to the best of its ability, it’s still possible for customers to be overwhelmed and give up.
Unfortunately, there are many ways that a checkout process can make people feel frustrated or confused – so this is an important area to focus on!
You can fix the issue by reducing input fields, simplifying forms, and using short videos that show how your site works! You can also implement one-click checkout, which will dramatically increase conversions.
6.) Check if you have social proof signals and customer reviews
Reviews are an important part of customer satisfaction as they give people reassurance that what they’re buying is quality. If someone doesn’t see any reviews on your site, then how do they know whether this is a legitimate company?
Get some testimonials from fans who love your products or services so other visitors will feel confident about their decision to buy. You could also offer deals when customers leave feedback after purchasing something – say 50% off if the customer leaves a review.
7.) Investigate the benefit of your marketing methods
For your ecommerce site to be successful, you need to promote it. This means using multiple marketing channels to get the largest reach possible. You might be limiting your reach and hindering your business from growing online if you are only using one channel.
Do you want to chat with your customers on social media, or do they prefer a more traditional way of learning about the company? The solution is to cover all bases by using multiple marketing methods, like PPC, SMM, SEO, content marketing, email marketing, and even offline marketing. Once you get your marketing strategy down, you might consider automating it!
Final Thoughts on Getting Sales on Your Website
In conclusion, there are a lot of common problems that ecommerce sites can face, but these mistakes aren’t insurmountable!
You just need to take some time and make small changes. If you want your site visitors to feel confident about their purchases, then you have to provide them with lots of social proof and an easy-to-navigate experience. And when they’re ready to buy something, make the checkout process as uncomplicated as possible. In addition – don’t forget about the importance of targeting the right audience with multiple marketing methods. If these problems resonate with you, make sure that you have these top ecommerce essentials!