4 Common Mistakes People Make When Starting An Ecommerce Site

1,893

Starting an ecommerce site is no easy feat. Even business owners who have phenomenal products and services struggle with translating it into persuasive copy and design. Your website has to be responsive, user-friendly, and represent the brand.  Most site visitors need to be convinced to take action, so think of your website as your first impression.

Research has shown that you only have a few seconds to impress visitors. According to Interactive Marketing, you have precisely between 0-8 seconds before they’re ready to move on to the next page. With such a small window of opportunity, it’s imperative that you capture them, and equally as important to get them there in the first place. To increase your chances of success, here are four common mistakes to avoid:

Mistakes #1: Ignoring Content Benefits

Starting an ecommerce site is about more than just setting up products and spending money on advertising. The path to success involves a thorough content plan. Not only does content help increase your SEO, but it helps establish your business as a thought leader in your industry or niche. Content marketing is an organic way of getting traffic, and a great long-term way of continuing to do so.

One of the biggest hurdles of creating content is that business owners find it difficult to create evergreen copy that’s relevant to the business. The key here is thinking outside of the box and considering what your ideal customer enjoys. For example, if your company sells all-natural, eco-friendly baby diapers, you know your target customer is socially conscious, cares about the environment, and cares about different trends and topics that affect their baby’s health and lifestyle. These are the type of content ideas you would want to hone in on.

Mistakes #2: Choosing The Wrong Hosting Option

It would be a mistake not to put some time and thought into choosing the right hosting solution. While some options may seem the same, each have their own set of features and functionalities that set them apart from one another. The four primary hosting options are shared hosting (the most popular), cloud hosting (gaining steam), virtual private servers, and dedicated servers.

Shared hosting and cloud hosting are relatively inexpensive, making it the most common among them. This cost-effective price is because resources are shared among many different websites, meaning you share hosting resources with other websites. Ecommerce sites that are just getting their start and don’t have too many sales or traffic could benefit from these low costs, which allows them to funnel more money back into the business. On the downside, if your site experiences a spike in traffic, it could very well crash. This is where virtual private servers and dedicated servers come into play. These are great options for webmasters who seek greater technical control and low-risk with optimal security. If you’re already a popular brand and want the most protection for your business, dedicated and virtual private servers are likely the way to go.

Mistakes #3: Spending Too Much Money On Unnecessary Services

New businesses are quick to fall victim to some unnecessary services early on. Marketing companies promising quick PPC and SEO results can quickly drain your resources. While these are all great services that could be very beneficial in the long run, research and timing is everything. If you’re already on a low budget, don’t panic and look for a one-size-fits all solution to all your problems. There are plenty of resourceful ways to learn PPC on your own and start hacking away at SEO for your site. Otherwise, you might find yourself locked into a costly contract, and may not even see results for months to come.

Mistakes #4: Lack of Social Media Presence

Social media is imperative for ecommerce business these days. Research has shown that the majority of consumers expect businesses to have a social presence, and consider those that do more professional than those that don’t. Without a social media strategy, your efforts will be futile. Your plan details how your business will use social media to achieve goals, and the platforms and tools with which they’ll be executed. Having a social plan allows you to better communicate with your audience, and create the blueprint for a plan that eliminates risks. This is one of the best ways to promote your content, products, business updates, and most importantly, establish your company branding. This is where your voice and tone can shine the best, with new content each time.

Conclusion

When you just starting out your eCommerce site, just avoid these common mistakes and you’ll be well on your way to more traffic and sales for your online store.

How about you? Do you want to add the other online store mistakes? Please share with us in the comment below.

You might also like

Comments are closed.

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. AcceptRead More