We’re all nerds here at ParadoxLabs, so we all have strong opinions about superhero comics and movies. The latest comic-turned-movie, Doctor Strange, got us thinking about the eternal battle between good and evil. So, inspired by the new Doctor Strange movie, here are some of the best and worst practices for your eCommerce site.
eCommerce Heroes
Dr. Stephen Strange was a surgeon whose hands were destroyed in a car accident. He ends up becoming the student of a sorcerer and learns the magical arts, as well as fighting skills. If Doctor Strange had an eCommerce site, he would employ all of these best practices.
1. Free shipping
Everyone loves free shipping, it’s as simple as that. If your business can’t offer it, make sure that shipping costs are noted on the product page. Don’t surprise customers at checkout with a shipping charge they were not expecting. Also, provide an order tracking number in the order confirmation email.
2. Personalization
Ideally, your site should show different content to different customers. Personalization can be accomplished based on browsing history, purchase history, product reviews, etc. If a customer is logged in, use their name to welcome them. All emails should also greet the customer by name.
3. Quality product descriptions and images
Good product pages are necessary for conversions. Show all angles of a product and describe in detail down to the colors, measurements, weight, etc. Product images should look clean and professionally rendered. Check out our product images blog post for more tips.
4. Social engagement
Customers expect your business to be on at least one social media platform. Post engaging content, respond quickly to customers, and choose the platforms that are best for your business and your customer base. When it comes to social, you have to meet your customers where they are.
5. Mobile optimization
Mobile friendly sites are becoming increasingly common, so if you don’t have one, get one now. The mobile experience is completely different than desktop and comes with its own set of specifications.
6. Customer service
Providing great customer service will go a long way for customer retention and reputation building. Go above and beyond expectations every single time a customer interacts with your business. For more tips, click here.
7. Powerful CTAs
Make it clear what you want the customer to do. Are they supposed to buy now? Download a coupon? Subscribe to a newsletter? Your call-to-action needs to be short and stand out on the page. On mobile, touch targets need to be large enough that customers can easily click them.
8. Magento
Magento is the best platform for your site because of its speed, versatility, scalability, and customization options. It supports mobile commerce, is SEO-friendly, and has a large developer community. If you want a Magento site that is an eCommerce hero, contact ParadoxLabs today.
eCommerce Villains
Trained in dark magic, Baron Mordo tries to thwart Doctor Strange at every turn. If Baron Mordo built an eCommerce site, it would have all of these evil qualities.
1. Ugly sites
You know what we’re talking about. Neon colors, clashing designs, text and images all over the place. This may have been acceptable in the 90’s, but these days an ugly site will breed mistrust and drive customers away. With our Magento certified developers, your site will always look streamlined and beautiful.
2. Black hat SEO
Black hat SEO refers to using unethical tactics to improve search engine rankings. Instead of writing good content for an audience, black hat SEO creates spammy content designed to manipulate search engines. Black hat SEO will hurt your site by not providing useful content for users and it could be banned for search results. Just don’t do it.
3. Slow site speed
If you read our post on site speed, you know that speed is absolutely essential to a positive user experience. A slow site results in decreased conversion rate, increased page abandonment, and unhappy customers. Check your speed on a regular basis and take steps to make it faster.
4. High bounce rate
Having a high bounce rate generally indicates that customers are not finding what they are looking for on your landing page. Check your Google Analytics to see what your bounce rate is, then take a look at your ads and landing pages to make sure the page is showing what customers want.
5. Long checkout process
A long, complicated checkout process is a great way to increase cart abandonment. Try your checkout process as a customer and evaluate the user experience. Be sure to test on mobile, as well as desktop.
6. No marketing strategy
It should go without saying that having no marketing plan is a recipe for failure. Whether you use ads, blog posts, SEO strategies, email flows, or preferably all of the above, you have to have a strategy in place. Try to plan as far in advance as possible.
7. Ignoring analytics
Analytics are an incredibly useful (not to mention free) tool you have at your disposal to monitor how your site is performing. Analytics can tell you which product is sold the most, which day of the week has the greatest revenue, how long users stay on your pages, and much more. If you don’t use analytics of some kind, you’re basically stabbing in the dark.
8. Minimal content
Web content is important, from product pages to the “about us” page. Having a lot of valuable, high-quality content will help your SEO and conversion rate. Plus, sites with hardly anything on them tend to look shady and even fake.
Is your site looking more like a Baron Mordo than a Doctor Strange? Contact ParadoxLabs to save the day!