Our eMarketing department has often worked with and helped clients launch their new online sales channel. Along the way, we’ve identified 7 of the most common mistakes when launching an eCommerce store. We often think about opening an online store for products we know very well, that sell steadily in our physical store, or simply on a hunch.
All these scenarios can work very well online, but they may not if you overlook several factors that could slow your online growth or even keep you from ever taking off.
Not investing in SEO from the start
Many eCommerce stores that venture into online selling don’t invest in SEO from launch. Days, weeks and months go by and the store barely ranks for a dozen long-tail keywords, so no visitors reach the eShop. We find loads of 404 errors, lose keywords by deleting products or categories that ranked, or even create a category structure that’s anything but user-friendly.
Solution: It’s always best to start with an SEO strategy that improves every aspect of the online store affecting rankings, works on a list of keywords relevant to your business, and is applied consistently. All of it handled by an SEO expert. This way your business will grow and rank in the different search engines. Bear in mind that SEO is a medium/long-term, ongoing effort, but a very rewarding one, as it will likely bring quality traffic and conversions.
Not investing in SEM
“I’m not interested in SEM because I already do SEO” or “my eCommerce doesn’t need SEM, my online store looks great.” We hear these phrases all the time, and they’re dangerous in an online store’s early days. When you open an online store, nobody knows you exist: you don’t appear in search engines and nobody finds you.
Just as in the physical world, any business needs a minimum investment in advertising to get known, and the online world is no exception.
The first thing to do to start getting visitors is organic ranking (SEO), although TLG’s marketing department always recommends backing the SEO strategy with an investment in ADS.
This investment can be in Google Adwords, BING Ads or even Social Ads, depending on the sector and the buyer persona you want to reach.
Our recommendation is to start by backing the SEO strategy with Google Adwords to get quality visitors from day one and show Google that, although you don’t yet appear in results because you’re a brand-new store, users love your online store based on the signals it receives (bounce rate, time on page, etc.). This will help you rank sooner and better, as well as bringing in your first revenue in the short term.
Not analyzing the competition
OK, after reading these two points you see the value of doing SEO and SEM on your eShop and get to work, but without looking at the competition. Most likely you won’t know which keywords competitors rank for, what and how many links they have, what price range they work in, or how many there are and how tough they are in your niche.
Competitor analysis should always be done before starting SEO and SEM so you know your strengths and can keep building on them. That way you’ll know which keywords to target, which links you can get and which products or categories to push. Resources must be managed as well as possible to get immediate results while planning efforts for the medium to long term.
Forgetting the “mobile” version
When we talk about “forgetting the mobile version,” we mean everything related to the mobile version. From not having a responsive version to neglecting details such as the mobile checkout process, making sure the version is truly well adapted and that the site is as user-friendly as possible.
Today mobile visits are already overtaking desktop visits, as has been predicted for some years. In China, up to 98% of users browse eCommerce sites on mobile, and that trend is reaching the rest of the world.
Not factoring shipping costs into your strategy
To some it may seem like a detail, but users care about shipping costs, and a lot.
In an online world where competitors like Amazon offer free shipping, as do other eCommerce stores, high shipping costs often put buyers off at the point of conversion. Paying €15 + €6 shipping isn’t the same as paying €15. If you can’t absorb all shipping costs, you can negotiate with carriers to reduce them and try to cover part of them, or plan actions that remove this potential barrier in the checkout process.
Here too, you need to consider your competition and act according to the online market.
Instant customer service
Users are increasingly in a hurry and short on time. So if they’re interested in your products, you have to “catch them on the fly” and leave them no chance to go to the competition. Mobile browsing has cut browsing time to a third, yet expectations remain the same, so providing proper customer service is key throughout the buying process.
There are several options for this, such as email, phone, chat or even WhatsApp.
If you want to be instant, the best option is to install a chat on your eCommerce site, but always with someone on the other end ready to reply immediately. Many sites have built-in chats that answer after 10 minutes, which is far too long in a relentless online environment.
Giving up too soon
“85% of online businesses without a physical store close before their second year.” These discouraging figures should be taken with a grain of salt. The increasingly mature online sector has more competition, but also more ways to grow and stand out. Working consistently and methodically to attract your first customers, with excellent service from inspiration through to checkout, following an online marketing plan that combines SEO with SEM and focuses on repeat business, will improve your chances of growing month after month.
With these 7 points in mind you can anticipate potential problems and get your business off on the right foot from day one. As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us and we’ll be happy to help.
