How To Boost Your eCommerce Website's Selling Power

Ensure your eCommerce website is a success by making these changes to your website.
Selling online is simple: you set up a website, list your products and wait for the money to come rolling in. Well, you’d be forgiven for believing that, and in many ways your website and your products are strong building blocks for your business. But eCommerce is about more than just having a dazzling website and getting your products listed online, and there are ways you can ensure you provide the best environment for your customers to feel comfortable with parting with their money.
Security
A lack of online security is a big deal breaker for many online customers. If they don’t feel your site is fully secure they’ll be far less willing to input their sensitive information to your site, and you’ll miss out on valuable conversions. You could have the most stunning website and some really desirable products, but if your site isn’t safe for shopping many customers will go elsewhere.
They’ll be looking out for the http:// prefix in their browser bar that indicates that site is secured by SSL. And what is SSL? It’s a certification of security, indicated by an http:// prefix, complete with a green padlock symbol. You will see this on our own WestHost website. This is evidence of our secure eCommerce environment, and you should aim to secure your site too.
Navigation
Allowing your customers to get lost on their purchase journey is also bad for business. If your site is hard to navigate, customers will quickly and easily head to your competition. Your products should be easy to find, select and purchase. Keeping your site simple is advisable; a home page with information about your business should have clear navigation options for your customers to find and buy your products. Products should be listed with high quality images, clear pricing and clear purchase points.
Options
Offering a variety of products is likely to boost your conversions, as online customers love to have plenty of options to choose from. If you just offer one color of shirt, for example, customers may be more likely to shop elsewhere where they’ll be offered more variety. Listing multiple variations of a product may seem complex to the website building novice, but WestHost’s Online Store Builder allows you to list a range of product variations, including size and color.
Transparency
Don’t make it hard for customers to trust your business. If a customer has a difficult experience making a purchase from you they are unlikely to buy, and even if they do buy they are less likely to return or recommend you to a friend. Ensure that all your pricing is clear and there are no hidden VAT or shipping costs which are added at the last minute; that’s a sure-fire way to lose the trust and loyalty of your site visitors.
Building an eCommerce website you can be proud of is as easy as 1, 2, 3 with WestHost. Our Online Store Builder gives you everything you need to build a trustworthy website with clear products, strong navigation and trusted payment gateways.