7 Features That All Successful Ecommerce Sites Share

If you want your business to thrive, it’s essential that you have a good quality website that customers can easily use to buy your products. However, deciding what makes a website ‘good quality’ can be a big job! There are thousands of conflicting pieces of advice available on this topic and it can be a little overwhelming to sift through them all.

Below are the core features that your website must have if it’s going to help grow your business.

It’s Ranked on Google

It’s essential that that your product is returned on the first page of the results when your potential customers key in a Google search. Otherwise, no matter how great your website is, nobody is going to see it!

The best way to ensure that you are ranked on Google is to work on your SEO (Search Engine Optimization). One of the ways that you can do this is to fill your website with lots of content that is genuinely useful to your customer and contains the key phrases that they are likely to be searching for. Think about proving to Google that you are an expert in your field because that is what they are looking for when they decide who to rank in the results.

Having useful articles also means that other websites are likely to mention you, which will further help your ranking.

It Converts Visitors into Customers

Once you have people visiting your site, you need to convert them into customers. Aside from having a genuinely good product, the best way to do this is to ensure that your site provides a great user experience (sometimes referred to as ‘UX’).

If your website is difficult to use or your customer can’t find what they are looking for, they are likely to give up and go somewhere else.

Take the time to test your site with people from a variety of different ages and technical backgrounds to get their feedback and focus on making your site as user friendly as possible.

It Talks to Your Other Systems

When you begin your website development ecommerce project, it’s essential that you think about more than the website itself. For example, do you have software that you use for logging and fulfilling orders? If so, you should ensure that your website can talk directly to this software rather than relying on someone to key in the information.

The more processes like this that you can automate, the smoother your processes will be which removes the possibility of errors and saves you money.

It is Optimized for Mobile

Many people don’t shop online using a computer. Instead they shop on their mobile phones. It’s a great way to entertain yourself while you’re bored at work or stuck on a bus!

In fact, 50% of ecommerce transactions are conducted on mobile. When you’re developing your website, be sure to think about optimizing it for use on mobile devices, otherwise you could lose sales. Remember to test it on a few different types of device, as different screens and operating systems may impact usability.

It Showcases User Reviews

When people are shopping online, they want to know that they can trust your site to deliver the product that is being advertised. The best way to prove that you are trustworthy is by making use of reviews. If potential buyers can see that other people are having a good experience of using your site, they are more likely to place an order. See if you can make use of a plugin to show reviews from Facebook, Yelp, and Foursquare.

It’s Secure

Work with a professional to ensure that your website is secure and that your customers' data isn’t at risk. Losing customer data is the fastest way to destroy your reputation!

It Forges Social Connections

Finally, create a connection with your customer base by interacting with them regularly on social media platforms. This keeps you in their mind and helps to build loyalty to your brand.