Optimizing your online store (and shopping experience) shouldn’t stop once you’ve launched your ecommerce site. In fact, after the basics of setting up your domain, finding a platform, taking product photos, and uploading product descriptions, there are more advanced steps every e-tailer should have on their ecommerce checklist.
These eight points will not only help improve your shoppers’ experience, but also make it easier for customers (and potential customers) to find you once you’re up and running.
The 8-point ecommerce checklist
1. Mobile friendly
In 2021, mobile ecommerce sales are expected to surpass desktop sales, at 54% per eMarketer via BigCommerce. Is your website mobile friendly and responsive? Thankfully, it’s easy to test.
Making sure your customers have a flawless experience on mobile should be one of the first things you do once you open your store. However, with every update to your site, it’s important to go back and ensure the mobile experience hasn’t been altered.
Most platforms will automatically adjust to desktop vs mobile, but there are always manual tweaks you might need to make. You might experience issues like images not loading properly, CTA buttons being out of place, or even quick add-to-cart options not functioning correctly. Problems like this can be caught by doing regular QA tests.
2. HTTP vs HTTPS
The extra “S” stands for secure. And with all the information ecommerce stores collect from users, it’s important for your site to be secure. Not to mention that Google gives you a slight advantage from an SEO standpoint if your site is HTTPS, and the fact that customers are more wary than ever of security and data protection when shopping online. .
How does HTTPS help keep things secure for your customers? According to ahrefs, “HTTPS encrypts HTTP requests and responses so an intercepting attacker would only see random characters instead of credit card details, for example.” That alone is a pretty compelling reason to make the update.
3. Search and SEO
Speaking of Google, SEO has never been more important. Whether it’s to ensure you get found organically or because you’re running a paid campaign, keep those keywords top of mind.
In this ahrefs guide, you’ll find a step-by-(very-detailed-)step ecommerce checklist to increase not just your site traffic, but even sales.
The abridged version:
- Research the keywords for every page on your site
- Optimize your on-page SEO (aka your meta titles, product descriptions, URLs, etc.)
- Find and fix your “technical SEO” issues (aka duplicate content, orphaned pages, etc.)
- Grow your link building opportunities
- Invest in content marketing
4. Navigation
Having customers easily navigate your site is incredibly important. This study shows that visitors spend 23% of their collective attention on your website’s header. Clever section names won’t cut it; you have to make it easy and intuitive for your visitors.
Part of your navigation includes facets and filters, which work to make your customers’ experience of searching and shopping for products much easier by giving them control over how results are narrowed down. Utilizing these features can significantly improve your overall site experience.
Unsure of which filters to display where? It may seem simple, but it’s crucial that shoppers always see filters that are relevant to the products being viewed. If a customer is in the market for a new pair of shoes, for example, you don’t want them to see waist measurements under the sizing options.
