5 Suggestions for E-Commerce Success

UncategorizedTags: Business Web Hosting, e-commerce, E-Commerce Hosting, Google, PA-DSS, PCI Compliance, PCI Compliant Hosting, Shopping Cart Software, site speed

1. Trust & Security
Perhaps the most important trait in a quality e-commerce business is creating a sense of trust and security between both customers and merchants.  If a shopper is going to give you confidential information including credit card numbers, addresses, phone numbers and the like then they need to feel as though you are a reputable business.  In today’s world, there is a constant threat of identity theft and credit card scams.  This is why the credit card companies have banded together to create the PCI (Payment Card Industry) and the new industry standard for e-commerce – the PA-DSS (Payment Application – Data Security Standard).  All e-commerce sites need to ensure they are using certified payment applications, such as shopping carts.  Furthermore, the use of SSL certificates to encrypt private data is a must in order to be PCI Compliant.  Ask your web host if they offer PCI Compliant Hosting and make sure your shopping cart software and other applications are DSS certified in order to protect yourself, your customers and your livelihood.  If you are non-compliant, you risk having your merchant accounts terminated or face increased fees and costly fines that could very well put you out of business.

2. Create a User-Friendly Site
Your site must be user-friendly.  Not everyone is a computer expert so making your site as intuitive as possible is very important.  Customers should be able to find items they are searching for easily and the checkout process and shipping and return terms and policies should be laid out clearly.  As a merchant utilizing e-commerce hosting services, you should also have your site organized in an easy to understand fashion so that items are easily found when users are browsing through categories.

3. Site Speed
The speed of your site is highly important these days and it is becoming more important everyday.  Google and other search engines are using site speed as a ranking factor in the SERP (search engine results pages).  Moreover, online shoppers conduct business online to save time so if you have a slow site, they will simply move on to your competition.  Let’s face it — people shop online to save time.  Customers do not like a slow site.  You will need to make sure that your business web hosting provider has fast servers and that your site is performing to the best of its capabilities for the amount of traffic you generate.  Make sure that you choose a web host that can expand with you as your business grows or that understands how to deal with increasing traffic to your site.  For example, many e-commerce businesses experience traffic bursts during the holiday season.  You do not want to lose valuable sales because of lagging servers and the like.  It is worth paying a few extra dollars in hosting costs in order to make sure your site is operating to the best of its ability. 

4. Provide Meticulous Details
Another key to online business success is to provide detailed product images and descriptions.  Online customers want to know as best as they can what they are ordering or else they will not feel comfortable ordering from your site.  You should have high-resolution photos of your products as well as detailed text descriptions.  In fact, there is no such thing as too much detail.  When a shopper cannot physically hold the product they are purchasing in their hands, they need to know as much information about it as possible.  Keep in mind that you can also include videos of your products.

5. Reviews & Testimonials
One of the most important features to include in your website is customer testimonials regarding your products and/or services.  If a person does a web search for your company and “reviews,” you never want anything negative to come up.  Negative reviews can last forever and are very detrimental to your site.  If you can place a page of positive reviews and testimonials on your site, people will take notice.  This is also important in establishing customer relationships because people like to know that their opinion matters and this is an excellent way to get referrals and repeat customers.  These opinions are also crucial in developing your marketing strategies.

Follow these tips and you will be on your way to e-commerce success!