2020 has been a challenging year for entrepreneurs and small businesses, perhaps the toughest many will ever face. But one area of growth — unbelievable growth — has been e-commerce, which is projected to hit nearly $710 billion in sales for the year in the U.S. And because online ordering has caught on with people of all ages, e-commerce figures to continue its rapid growth even after the pandemic is well behind us.
The questions then, are these:
- Are you taking advantage of the e-commerce opportunity?
- If your brick-and-mortar business is stalled, are you bringing your business online?
- If you have an e-commerce site already, is it “ready for prime time,” to compete successfully against bigger organizations with deep pockets for building and marketing e-commerce websites?
The infographic below, E-commerce Home Page Features to Boost Conversions, is a treasure trove of tips to help you get a new online store off the ground quickly or make your existing e-commerce home page look every bit as good as the best of the competition. It is well worth studying: Building online order volume can make up for a lot of lost economic ground.
A Complete Guide
A key attribute of the infographic is its thoroughness. A great deal of e-commerce web development advice focuses on design, which is obviously important. But content and content positioning, also important, tend to receive less attention. And SEO (search engine optimization), the critical web design component that makes your site visible on Google when people are searching for what you sell, sometimes receives no attention at all.
In this infographic, however, design, content and SEO receive full attention. This not only helps you create a web page with a solid foundation, it prevents you from having to spend a lot of money retooling your site down the road. For instance, you may think SEO is not important if your marketing plan doesn’t involve an SEO campaign. However, when the day comes when you’re ready to launch one, you don’t want to be in a position where you have to redesign your entire home page layout, content and technical structure just to get started — it will be an expensive proposition.
A Focused Guide
A second key attribute of the infographic is its focus. Offering site-wide advice on e-commerce design, content and SEO dilutes the message, because the pivotal issues are quite different for the home page, product information pages, shopping cart pages, etc. The infographic is concerned only with the home page, which is without doubt the most important page of virtually every online enterprise:
- The home page is where the bulk of organic search traffic lands when Google users find your business.
- The home page is where most links point to when other websites and social media posts mention your business.
- As a result of these first two points, the home page is where most first-time visitors form their impression of your business. If it’s good, the stage is set for a conversion.
- Visitors to your site who land on other pages will eventually move to the home page, to make sure you’re a credible company before they place an order.
A Visual Checklist for Success
The infographic contains a lot of details, but the visual layout keeps you from overlooking anything. The recommendations are based on industry best practices for SEO, website design, UX (user experience) and CRO (conversion rate optimization). Building a home page built around these recommendations will help visitors find the information they need quickly, and present it in the most persuasive way. For more detailed insights, please continue below.
Brad Shorr is Director of Content Strategy for Straight North, a Chicago based Internet marketing company. Brad writes frequently on social media, SEO, and copywriting topics.