Setting up an online store is an easy task but sales and consistent profit keep one business running and growing.
Making consistent sales in real life is not easy, especially given the amount of competition in any industry. But as difficult as it is, the search for success in the online space is even more burdensome.
It’s no coincidence that every business owner knows that in order to succeed and establish a name for themselves, they have to go through a bunch of challenges. And owning an online store is no different. It requires persistence and patience, a thoughtful marketing plan, detailed research, and lots of experiments.
Having said that, if you are starting your eCommerce store for the first time, mistakes are inevitable. That’s why today we’re going to list seven of the most common mistakes when starting an online store and give tips on how to fix them and start selling as soon as possible.
Poorly designed website layout
The way your website looks is extremely important to the success of your online store. When online users visit your site, design is what makes the first impression of your business. It is usually determined within the first few seconds. These few seconds play a major role in the way you influence your audience, whether it is positive or negative.
The impression you make can encourage them either stay on your page and learn more about your business or leave your site and go to a competitor. And if your design is outdated, unattractive, and unwelcoming, you should expect a considerable part of your audience to immediately form a negative opinion of your online store and close your site.
How to make a positive first impression?
If done right, web design has the power to help you create a great first impression and improve your company’s revenue. To create a functional and aesthetically beautiful design, you need to be aware of all the important components responsible for creating a modern site:
- Mobile responsiveness and adaptiveness
- Smart Call-To-Action buttons (CTAs) and phrases
- A matching color palette that reflects your brand
- Easy to use navigation
- Appropriate use of ‘white space’ to achieve a simple and clear design
- Great high-quality photos and videos
- Dynamic elements and effects
These are just some of the things that can improve your current web design. Optimizing your website for search engine rankings (SEO), as well as improving the speed of your website, specifically your site’s loading speed, will also contribute to creating a great first impression.
Unclear target audience
One of the most common reasons why your eCommerce store does not bring profits is not knowing the right target audience that would be interested in purchasing your products. If you attract online users who are not interested in what you have to offer, they will not bring any benefits to your business. In fact, they will hurt your website’s bounce rate, because they won’t be interested in what you are selling. Not to mention that you will spend your advertising budget targeting the wrong group of people. Precisely for these reasons, determining the right target audience is of utmost importance for any online store.
How to find the right target audience?
To attract the right group of people to your site, you need to research your current customer base or create the ‘ideal’ customer persona that would be interested in your products. To do that, you need to think of who is your core audience, including what’s their:
- Age
- Gender
- Location
- Hobbies and interests
If you want to be even more detailed, you can also specify their current occupation, education level, and annual income as long as it fits your perfect customer.
Lack of uniqueness and mission statement
A large percentage of online consumers will stop buying your product if they cannot understand what it is used for and how it helps their lives. In addition, another part of them will stop because they are not familiar with your company and credibility. That’s why your website must reflect your brand and send the message that will convince them you are trustworthy and this is the right online store for them
If you lack a mission statement, as well as competitiveness and uniqueness, this will direct a lot of your web traffic to your competitors. Therefore, it is important to focus your efforts on creating a good message that fits your brand and story.
How to create a message that fits your brand?
Creating a message that matches your business can dramatically increase your sales. To be successful, it must be visible at all key points on your site. What should this message include?
- Explanation – How your products work and what problems they solve
- Benefits – What specific benefits do your products offer
- Reason – Why customers should buy from you and not someone else
Remember to create a message that is easy to understand and sells without making it sound like you are advertising to them.
Improper use of online ads
Without a clear strategic approach and plan for digital marketing, your online store will have many problems that you may not have considered until now. If you’ve just started your business and don’t understand anything about digital marketing, you’re probably going to waste a lot of your money down the drain.
How to avoid the use of misleading ads online?
In such a case, finding online tools as well as a competent marketing agency familiar with these services is necessary. And if you put in the hard work, hire the right people, and avoid costly mistakes, you can be part of the small percentage of online stores that succeed.
Lack of trust
Lack of trust is one of the main reasons people don’t buy your products, especially online. If your store is relatively new and you don’t have a lot of customer reviews or content on your Social Media (which also gives more credibility), trust is the reason why you don’t have any sales.
Since we live in a world where online fraud is becoming more common, it is understandable that you need to earn the trust of the users who browse your site.
How to build trust with your customers?
You can start by posting daily on your Social Media channels and attract your target audience with meaningful and relevant content. You’ll need to constantly remind your customers that you exist and that your posts deserve their attention, just like your products. Then, think of your customer’s trust:
- What do you need to do to earn his trust?
- How to build more trust between you and your potential customer?
- How to remove the barrier between company and customer?
Think of building trust with your audience as one of the key components to a successful online store. Without it, you won’t be able to keep your business going for very long.
Poor user experience
The lack of a good user experience greatly affects your business and its revenue. This is another major reason why your store is losing sales. User experience can dramatically increase your sales rate – what a website looks like; how fast it works; how easy it is to navigate – are all factors that directly affect how interesting a product appears to the user.
How to ensure a pleasant user experience?
The user experience is different for everyone. The most important thing to consider when developing your online store is what the user wants to see and needs.
Lack of information
A lack of digital tools to explain your audience’s online behavior can bankrupt your business. When it comes to analyzing the information and web traffic received over a period of time, many online stores either don’t use a data collection tool or fail to understand what the data is telling them. This can prove disastrous for any business that does not have the skills or information to understand what a given audience likes.
How to get the information you need from your online store?
To get a clear idea of what your target audience prefers, you need digital assistants to monitor and analyze what’s happening on your site. Some useful add-ons for your store are:
- Google Analytics – shows information about your web visitors, giving you information about which page they visit, and for how long, as well as what are their interests and demographics
- SEO Analyzer – analyzes and describes how successful your store’s search engine optimization is and it shows you potential ranking errors
- Pixel – useful for Facebook and Google ad campaigns; allows online stores to know how many people viewed the site, added to a cart, and completed a purchase, and from which ad each action was taken
- Link Tracker – gives a clear idea of how many people have opened the specific link you have listed (suitable for social networks)
- Google Search Console – allows you to track which keywords get the most traffic
Each of these digital tools will give you a better look and help you understand the behavior of your website visitors. This will make your online store thrive.
Are you making any of these mistakes?
Sitewab can assist you with your online store needs. Whether it is improving your current eCommerce or maintaining it, we will make it easy for you to grow and find your place online!
