Having an e-commerce store can be both exhilarating and challenging—exhilarating because of the potential to reach customers and make extra sales, challenging due to the hurdles you have to jump through to make those sales. Small businesses often wonder if they can compete with big-box stores and online retail giants like Amazon.
Luckily, as a small business owner you have the flexibility to try new things to boost your SEO and attract new customers online. Here are five tried-and-true tactics to help your e-commerce shop rise above your competitors:
1) Take your e-commerce content marketing to the next level
Blogging is a great way to build authority and credibility online, two qualities that will boost your SEO and lead to greater sales down the line. Providing good quality (and informative) content regularly, linking to other relevant websites, leveraging visuals and graphics, and including features of industry leaders will all help attract visitors to your website.
2) Provide quality product descriptions
Don’t make the mistake of re-posting a manufacturer’s description for a product. Create product descriptions that are colorful, interesting and explain what the product’s competitive advantage is as compared to a product sold on another site, such as Amazon. Use short and long-tail key words that your audience would be searching for, and offer any other relevant sales information (i.e., Is this your best-selling product? Is it your most popular product in a certain category? Do you have quotes from customers who loved it?).
3) Allow (and encourage) product reviews
Another big mistake businesses make is not including a robust review section in their product pages. Reviews are one of the reasons online retailers like Amazon grew to the giants they are today. When users see written reviews and photos from other actual customers, they are more trusting of the retailer and their purchase. And, reviews go a long way in helping your SEO rankings! If you send follow-up emails to your customers, encourage them to review the product they purchased—maybe even offer an incentive for doing so, such as a discount on a future purchase.
4) Create product videos
Small business owners can be intimidated by the idea of creating videos for their websites because they think videos are costly and hard to coordinate. But, videos don’t have to be production quality to make an impact—even setting up an iPhone in your office and having an employee talk through various aspects of a product can be enough to encourage a purchase. Just like written reviews, customers feel more assured when they can visualize what the finished product will look like.
5) Diversify your product offerings at your e-commerce
Having a unique or niche product selection can also help differentiate your store from competitors and bigger retailers (such as Amazon). Then, you can enhance a purchase experience by linking to content, such as instructions, product tutorials, outside-the-box uses for that product, similar products, or customer service. In the end, your customer service experience is what will either make or break the success of your online business.
Need help with your e-commerce store? Contact Skyfall Blue today to take your online business to the next level.
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