You know how important it is to stand out from the crowd. The most successful online retailers know it as well, but that doesn't mean they ignore competitors. Instead, they keep one eye on the prize and the other firmly fixed on what everyone else is doing to get ahead. With more than 650,000 e-commerce firms competing for over $300 billion last year, it's obvious that businesses have to go above and beyond to secure their share. Consider some tried-and-true strategies that make the difference between adequate and exceptional performance. They work for your competition, and they will work for you too.
A+ Pages
Looking to improve your conversion? Retailers who have invested in A+ Pages for their higher-margin products typically see conversions increase by up to 20%. By providing unique and detailed PDPs (Product Detail Pages), you are arming your customers with all the product information they need in a stylish and visually pleasing design that discourages competitive shopping and moves them closer to a buying decision.
Category Content
Providing a better buying experience increases consumer loyalty and repeat business. Using unique category descriptions at the category level provides better information to your customers sooner, guiding them in their buying decision and supporting a more polished look and feel on your site. Plus, retailers who use category content experience an 80% leap in page views on average, so you're getting more eyes on your content investment and more importantly, your offerings.
Keyword Insertion
You're already spending money on paid search and SEO, right? Want to get more bang for your buck? Try inserting the keywords into your product descriptions and see an increase in your SERP ranking and a decrease in your cost-per-click. Plus, you'll send a subconscious message to your customers that leaves them thinking “That’s exactly what I was searching for! How did you know, Retailer X?”
Cross-Selling Recommendations
OK, so you’ve taken our advice so far. Your time on page is 3 hours, your bounce rate is 0 and you’re the only site on the first 3 pages of Google. Now that you have your customers ready to checkout (because your conversion rate is closing in on 100%), lets tackle your AOV (Average Order Value). An awesome-looking, unique cross-selling selection, though often overlooked, is a guaranteed way to see an increase in your AOV, customer satisfaction and brand loyalty.
Unique Product Content
This is the big one, the one that really ties everything together…the one that is time consuming and expensive for your team and the one that is perpetually put on the back burner. As retailers continue to move away from syndicated content feeds due to their inconsistencies, low quality or the fear of angering Google’s algorithm further, they have found success in all their key metrics by providing their customers with accurate and unique product descriptions that are carefully seeded with SEO keywords. Usually this is a task that falls to a team that is already stretched thin, or is unable to turn around a large quantity of SKUs in a timely fashion. Many of the companies who use product content most effectively have found an answer to these challenges can be partnering with an outside provider. Your team is made up of experts in your field — shouldn't you have content experts on your side as well?
These are a few of the foundation blocks to creating a highly successful e-commerce content strategy, and it's likely that your toughest competition is already reaping the benefits. How many of these tactics are your team currently utilizing? If the answer is none, or just a few, getting started today can transform another average quarter into the opportunity to take your place among the leading names in your industry.
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Data integrity, time to market and increased conversions are vital to all e-commerce retailers. Our product data management and unique content creation program ensures consistent product names, robust product descriptions, complete and accurate product attributes and an array of digital assets are at your disposal, providing time to market and quality improvements that will outpace your fiercest competition. Contact our team and get started with Virtucom Group today.
