There are several common e-commerce mistakes to avoid for your online business. Regardless of your business niche, you should avoid these mistakes at all costs. While mistakes in marketing are inevitable, some mistakes cannot be avoided. Knowing these mistakes is essential for building a successful digital marketing game plan. Avoid these common e-Commerce mistakes and you will be on your way to building an effective online business.
If you’re just getting started with your online business and are looking to sell your products or services through your website, you should keep in mind the following common e-commerce mistakes. Whether you’re new to online commerce or have been doing it for years, mistakes like these can make or break your online business. It is because of situations that can easily lead to problems like these that we recommend contacting an experienced agency when establishing your online presence. These common mistakes are explained below as well as some of the ways you can avoid making them.
Duplicating products, content, or services.
While this consideration might not come to mind as a critical error for many businesses, it can still be extremely detrimental to any online presence. For example, if your store sells makeup, do not duplicate the product on the website. Instead, make sure every single page has its own page title. Page titles inform both search engines and potential customers of the product while maintaining a unique page title for each one. This is not only best for SEO practices, but customers can become confused and easily weary of buying the product at all.
Copying your competitor’s product information
You may be tempted to repeat the product information provided by your competitors in order to save money. The cost of hiring a website content writer, SEO writer, or any other qualified person to write your content as original might not seem to be necessary upfront. However, search engines interpret identical product information as a red flag for fraudulent work, so this will only alert them and ultimately ruin your rankings. In fact, it is always better to write your own description for your products instead of using someone else’s.
Despite your intentions, popular search engines flag duplicate content as a standard. This means that your online presence might be penalized for copying work that you are not aware of! For example, your suppliers may provide exact copies of your product description. Only inexperienced content writers or SEO hires will make this mistake.
Developing an overly accommodating product line
One of the most basic ways to generate revenue online is through eCommerce. But eCommerce is also one of the easiest things to get wrong in the marketing world. So, how can you avoid these common eCommerce mistakes? Look at your website through the eyes of your consumer. If your customers love what you have to offer, they are more than likely to return. So don’t move products around to accommodate a different display, or you could turn them off to their natural relationship with your product or service.
When your brand strays away from being natural, it can cause you to aim for a broad audience. This can backfire (though not in all cases), and cause your online sales to suffer. Instead, try to narrow down your market by increasing the funnel and improving customer purchase rates. Focus on improving your conversion rates by building trust among your site visitors. If your website is not engaging your audience, you’ll miss out on valuable market share.
Implement premium prices without a purpose
A beautifully developed and intuitive user interface can sometimes be enough to make a consumer very comfortable with shopping from your site. However, blanketed premiums on your products or services might be offensive to consumers who are seeking more from your brand.
Many e-commerce business owners choose to price their products and services simply based on what their competitors charge. While this is a valid practice, you may find that your customers will not pay just any kind of premium for your products. To do this effectively, you need to identify potential customers who will pay a premium for benefits like convenience, ethical ingredients, or added value.
Providing broken or incorrect contact information
Anywhere an exchange of value is made, a person will look for validation that the source they are exchanging with is credible. Customers can become confused and not buy anything from a marketplace site if they cannot identify an ability to contact a real person representing the brand. It is important to provide a contact page on your website that provides accurate and credible contact information. If a potential customer can’t find you, they will click away and visit another site right away.
While running an e-commerce business is similar to climbing a mountain, it is often filled with many obstacles that must be overcome. Having the right tools and expertise is essential, but it is also important to be determined and have the right strategy. You can become a better e-commerce owner by avoiding these common e-commerce mistakes and ensuring the best results possible.
For more information on how to grow and maintain a successful e-commerce presence, give your Online Capital Group a call today at (904) 600-3600 or visit our website for more information about how our services can help.
