Your eCommerce business can be profitable, but only if you do the right things and steer clear of certain mistakes. In this post, we’ll take you through the latter so you can avoid them and raise your business’ chances of success.
1. Failure to identify the target audience
Every successful eCommerce business knows its respective target audience in and out. However, to get to that stage, they had to conduct thorough market research. This gave them a deep understanding of whom the members of their target audiences are along with their likes and dislikes.
However, if you don’t spend time and resources on understanding your target audience, your eCommerce business will very quickly fade into oblivion. Identifying your target audience is vital, as it will allow you to pitch your brand in a way that your target audience will find persuasive.
2. Copy-pasted product descriptions
Your eCommerce business may be selling high-quality products, but it’s not just product quality you need to concern yourself with. The written descriptions of your products matter as well. It’s easy to copy-paste descriptions from other websites, but this can lead to punishment from search engine algorithms.
Nowadays, search engine algorithms prefer pages that have unique content. Quite simply, if your product descriptions are redundant, the product pages won’t rank on search engine results pages (SERPs). That’s why it’s important to hire SEO professionals to write unique descriptions inclusive of target keywords and phrases that your target audience is likely to use to search for your products.
3. Unresponsive page design, especially on mobile
Unresponsive page design can break your eCommerce business. While creating responsive pages is important for desktops and laptops, what’s more important in today’s times is to create responsive pages for mobile devices. The fact is that the majority of eCommerce customers nowadays access eCommerce platforms from mobile platforms.
A great way to test your eCommerce business’ mobile website and app is to use the mobile-friendly test of Google. Through this test, you can identify exactly what’s wrong with your mobile website and app and what’s needed to improve on the weaknesses.
4. Creating an entirely new platform when it’s not necessary
Due to eCommerce platforms like Magento and Shopify, eCommerce businesses can get up and running overnight. For most new eCommerce businesses, it makes sense to make the most of these platforms. Of course, you can set up a new platform, but the costs involved are far more than what you would have to shell out for a space on Magento or Shopify.
It’s also important to remember that most modern-day eCommerce customers prefer familiarity, i.e. they feel safer when navigational features, design, and shopping carts are familiar. So, unless an entirely new platform is your unique selling proposition (USP), why invest money in it when you can make do with existing platforms?
5. Search engine optimization errors
We’ve already touched on how copy-pasted product descriptions can work against your eCommerce business on the SEO front. Well, you can make some other technical errors as well, which can cost you dearly in terms of your search engine presence.
For instance, your website may contain links to non-existing pages or redirected pages. There may also be links on your app or website that lead to nowhere in particular. Before you make your website and app public, you should get everything tested. Errors on the SEO front may also ruin the experience of end-users.
6. Lack of substance in your ‘About’ page
Many eCommerce business owners don’t pay any attention to their ‘About’ pages. It’s easy to think that this page is only a formality. However, the fact is that most prospective customers in your target audience would want to know more about you and your business before they decide to part with their money.
So, don’t be afraid to tell them your story on your ‘About’ page. It doesn’t have to be sensational. As long as it’s honest and genuine, your target audience should be able to relate to it. On an emotional level, it can help them put their trust and faith in your business, which will serve as the encouragement they need to purchase your products.
So, that’s about it for now. As long as you steer clear of these 6 mistakes, your eCommerce business should be heading in the right direction.