Ecommerce Encyclopedia

‟Ecommerce is a powerful means to connect the unconnected to global trade” - Arancha Gonzalez

The importance of website optimization

The eCommerce platform is a place where attention spans for business owners are, unfortunately, short. If you want to be one step ahead of your competitors, website optimization could play an important role in the competitive market. 

1. Get great pictures/videos of products

The best and probably most simple method to optimize your website is adding detailed product images to your store so that customers can get a better glimpse of what they are about to get. This might be a challenge for a dropshipping store as not all manufacturers and suppliers do take pixel-perfect product images. Therefore, if your supplier is not able to provide you pictures with perfect quality, you should ask them for product samples so that you can take pictures yourself. Do make sure the images must be in high quality, zoomable and feature the product in different angles.

2. Product videos

For visual optimization, it is suggested that you take video recording of your products and add them on each page. Creativity is endless. It is known that 70 out of 100 top search result listings are product videos and buyers tend to make a purchase after watching a video of the product they are interested in. You want your product videos to be strategically placed where they can significantly boost your conversion rates.

3. Find your rockstars

This strategy includes: 

  • Find out the ability of your product to see whether they meet market demand. 
  • Run pilot marketing campaigns for each product and see which ones are the most successful.
  • Conduct surveys on your customers’ demands and research on trending keywords.

4. Develop a smarter on-site search engine

It is best to make full use of on-site search, otherwise you are not maximizing your potential profit.

Keep in mind that customers want an accurate and intuitive search suggestion. Websites with highly optimized search engines are expected to see an improvement in conversion rates. 

5. Think twice your shipping costs strategy

98% of customers tend to abandon their cart upon seeing the final cost with shipping fee included during checkout. Therefore, it is recommended that you should consider your shipping strategy.

  • Offer free shipping to your customer: Most buyers enjoy a free shipping cost but it could affect your profits. Try offering free shipping on orders over a specific price or with a minimum quantity of items.
  • Flat rate: This is a great strategy as it could help you manage your costs and prevent undercharging or overcharging your customers. However, you need to prepare a bit so as to figure out your average cost of shipping per package. 
  • Make sure to offer your customers the best shopping experience by providing them with accurate estimated shipping time.