A decade ago, anyone who owned an ecommerce site either hired a low-cost graphic designer, or in most cases designed their site themselves. The reason because there was no much of competition and consumers were more influenced by word of mouth with no expectations.
Today, it’s the way around!
Whether your customers land on your site either by clicking a link, through word-of-mouth, or typing your website name in search engines, they have bigger expectations. So, if your homepage does not provide an experience or information that they are looking for, they’ll leave your site for one of your competitors. And, today there are hundreds and thousands of sites that can be their alternate options. So, you would not like this to happen.
You build an ecommerce site to drive customers into conversion, and the most influential page of your site to do so, is the homepage. You may have designed or chosen an attractive theme for your ecommerce site, but if you don’t have any of the below elements present on it, then you are leaving a huge amount on the table.
Must-have elements for your ecommerce homepage:
- Search bar
Search bar is a real-time saver for online customers who are visiting your site for the first time. You have spend hundreds and thousands of dollars in your marketing strategy to divert online shoppers to your site, but if they don’t find the information they are looking for in the first 5-10 seconds, there are chances of them leaving your website, immediately. Featuring a “search bar” on your ecommerce homepage is important, however positioning it becomes even more important. Because, if your customers cannot find a product they need, they’ll expect a search box to the needful. I believe most of us are habituated of viewing content from left to right, therefore placing your search box on the upper left corner will be easy to spot. Also, work on the quality of results offered by using suggestive search results to whatever is being searched and infuse corrective search functionality which will offer customers a quick and accurate results, influencing their purchase decisions.
- Product category
All those customers who visit your ecommerce site for the first time with no specific product in mind would obviously like to know more about your offerings – apart from the promotional products that you have displayed on your homepage. To target such customers, it becomes crucial that you have a section to display product category in a very organized way. Offer a selection ” Shop by department” or ” Shop by categories “or even ” Shop by brands “and create sub categories with drop-down for each to make it look clear and precise. By doing this, you automatically encourage customers cling to your homepage to get some more information and make a purchase.
- Call-to-action buttons
Customers who land on your ecommerce homepage are looking for something, so why not include call-to-action buttons that can complete most of their needs. Create and place CTA’s prominently to attract direct sales or even information that can later be used to convert them into sales lead. Some of the most needed call-to-action buttons for your homepage that you should offer are “Buy Now,” “Today’s deal/hot deals,” “Wishlist,” “Recently viewed products, and “Sign-up . But, ensure each call-to-action buttons navigate to relevant landing page. Therefore, it is always better to test before you make it live, and implement some A/B testing on the wordings and positioning of your CTA’s, and go with the one that best suits your audience.
- Trust
Customer reviews has always been an influencing factor for online shoppers, and what could be better than gaining new customers trust by showcasing encouraging reviews on your ecommerce homepage. Feature few popular products highlighting a happy customer’s review to generate trust and keep customers stay on your homepage for longer.
- Discounts and offers
A human tendency – even if a customer who lands on your site with a particular product in mind would always be enthusiastic to know about the discounts and sales your ecommerce site offers. Feature your current deals and highlight the promotional area prominently on your homepage, and offer direct navigation to sales and discount page. This may sound something out-of-the-blue, but it is important as there are many shoppers who visit ecommerce sites regularly to look-up for such special offers.
- Shopping cart
Offering a checkout link on your homepage and other pages of your ecommerce site becomes very crucial. Adding a shopping cart at the upper right corner will make it easy and quick for customers to add products to their cart and featuring them on every page of your site will allow customers switch to other pages displaying previously added products too.
- Help
When I say the word “help,” this not mean that you provide a box stating “How may I help,” but this help section should offer content that will practically educate customers on frequently asked queries on-the-go. Provide clickable headers that will navigate them to the relevant content placed on your site. Create a main header ” We would be happy to assist you with” and clickable sub-headers that would answer most of the customer’s concern. Some of the most common concerns involve ” My account,” “Shipping rates and policies,” and “Returns. It is always suggested to place this element at the lower right corner of your homepage.
- About company and services
There are many customers, on landing, would look-up for information that gives them a brief about your company and services. Therefore, it is crucial you offer them information that will present such customers a brief idea about your business. Create a main header “About company” and “Additional services,” offering clickable headers under each. For instance, under “About us” include headers like “Company history,” Blogs,” “Press releases,” “Contact information,” and “Careers”. Similarly, under “About service” include other opportunities your business offers, for instance ” Sell with us,” Become affiliate,” Guest blogging,” etc. Ensure you prominently place them at the lower right corner of your ecommerce homepage.
No comments:
Post a Comment