Build an Ecommerce Site That Will Increase Your ROI
Making money on an ecommerce site isn’t easy, but it can be a good source of income for those who understand how to transform search engine interest into Internet sales. According to Webmarketplace.com, the ecommerce marketplace generated more than $266 billion in revenue in 2012. The industry hasn’t shown signs of slowing down for 2013 either.
Select a Hosting Platform
The first step to creating a successful ecommerce site is selecting a hosting platform. You want a platform that’s secure, easy for you to work with and affordable. You can choose a custom-made dedicated platform or work with your IT support provider to determine what is best for you and your ecommerce business. Either of these systems may seem complicated to the newbie designer, so proceed with caution and hire a developer who will feel confident enough to work with this technology. Some cloud-based platforms, such as the Amazon Web Systems package, are free.
Make Design Decisions
The best template is a simple one. You don’t want to overwhelm your Web customers with too many colors, bells and whistles. Having a site that’s easy to navigate is equally important. SmallBiznessNews.comreports that 40 percent of site visitors leave after just four seconds if they can’t find what they want.
Use a Secured Network
Your customers trust you to keep their personal information private. To achieve that level of confidence, you need to use a platform that utilizes a secured protocol for check-out purposes and other pages where customers enter payment and personal information. You should also make sure that your admin panel is secured with a good, difficult-to-hack password. Have your customers create a profile on your site, make sure the passwords you ask them to create are eight characters and include both letters and numbers.
Optimization
Just because you build a site, doesn’t mean you will automatically attract customers. They have to find your site amidst the myriad of other websites. To make your site attractive to search engines, you need to optimize your site and your content. It is imperative that you learn the basics of SEO (search engine optimization) and write quality content that will bring more audiences to your site.
Make it Mobile
According to research by Pew Internet.org, 55% of all cell phone users access the Internet from their phones. That number has nearly doubled from three years ago. If your site isn’t accessible from all mobile devices, you’re missing the opportunity to connect with this growing demographic.
You don’t have to be a computer wizard to run a successful ecommerce site. You simply need a good product, quality content, an eye-catching design, a secured network, a reliable platform and the willingness to do a little Web homework
