Friday, March 29, 2024

How to Increase Visibility of Your E-Commerce Site to Boost Traffic and Sales

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ecommerce-navigationIf your business is experiencing little to no foot traffic, consider turning to your e-commerce site to boost profits. It’s easy, however, for a business website to get lost in the array of blogs, Facebook pages and other online shops, so it’s vital you improve your site’s visibility.

VPS Hosting

To create a visible e-commerce site, your Web developer should consider getting free VPS hosting through a provider like onCloud through myhosting.com. A VPS (or Virtual Personal Server) shares hardware and network connections, and it works like a dedicated server with firewalls and other safety features. Setup is relatively fast with a VPS, and most every application can be installed on your operating system.You’ll receive server monitoring, patching and backups, as well as 24/7 support through chat, email and phone.

Tips for a Good Customer Experience

There are some best practices you should follow to ensure your online customers have a good shopping experience. Search Engine Journal recommends your website have a minimal load time; if it takes too long to load, users are likely to close out and go elsewhere. When they do stick around your site, make sure it has interactive elements to keep them interested. Allow visitors to leave reviews, start groups and use wikis and other tools. This builds a sense of community and belonging among customers.

Search Engine Journal also recommends you don’t get excessive with your use of keywords. It becomes apparent to Google that your site’s not built for consumers, but search engines. Google, it points out, is moving away from links and keywords and toward things like statistical data, so put useful information in your site as much as possible.

Consider focusing your social network efforts on Pinterest, which recently introduced business tools and accounts, instead of other social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter. Their users tend to be more interested in self-expression instead of making a purchase.

Make sure your site can be loaded with plug-ins accessible on Windows, Mac OS and Linux. Also, when you obtain links, focus on clicks instead of keywords.

Optimize for Mobile

The proliferation of mobile devices is shaking up the e-commerce business, according to Forbes.com. More than 20 percent of all e-commerce shopping sessions take place on mobile devices, and this number is expected to increase greatly within the next three years. How should an businessperson take advantage of the shift to mobile?

Forbes recommends you provide your online customers with a good shopping experience by making your site easily navigable on a smartphone. Eliminate the need for customers to to pinch and drag. When going online from small devices like a smartphone, consumers demand to see what want quickly; they may not mind searching through hundreds of items on a desktop’s larger screen, but on a smartphone, they’re less likely to complete a purchase.

A single-click checkout also expedites a sale, Forbes says, because users don’t like plugging in credit card and shipping details on a smartphone as they would on a laptop or desktop. Another good idea is setting up a push notification to a smartphone that alerts a consumer an item they’ve searched for is now available, for instance. A one-click payment option makes the sale even easier.

The virtual world changes exponentially, which means business done on the web probably will as well. Creating and maintaining an effective e-commerce site and keeping up with the latest trends should help your business grow.

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