The Halloween season is upon us, and it's the time of year for glowing pumpkins, falling leaves and handing out candy to the neighborhood kids. Most of us are enjoying the fun and like a good scare now and then, but not when it comes to stagnant conversion rates and abandoned shopping carts! If you're making serious changes to your product content and know you're hitting the mark every time, there might be something spooky going on with other aspects of your e-commerce presence. But there's no reason to panic — we have a few strategies for eliminating the issues that might be sabotaging your best practices and holding back growth.
The Mysterious Case Of The Missing Image
Your product descriptions are on point -- clear, engaging and accurate. But where are the images? Including high-definition photos builds an additional layer of confidence for consumers and makes up for their inability to hold an item and examine it in a brick-and-mortar store. You might even consider adding video content that shows an item in action. This is a great way to create context, answer questions about functionality and expand the product narrative, all with a simple click from customers.
The Indecipherable Item
Let's imagine you have 10 tennis rackets from a specific brand on your website. The brand name is formatted a few different ways with variants on capitalization, trademarks and spacing. Some include series names and some don't, even though they're all Acme Smash-'Em rackets. A few note the intended user's gender, and some call out construction details. One has dimensions included, a few more call out the weight. While this is an exaggerated example, inconsistency in product names and product attributes can create serious issues for anyone browsing your site. If shoppers can't make comparisons, they're not going to make purchases, and that's a haunting thought.
Lost Without A Trace
Online shopping is just like any other task. Buyers have an objective in mind, but if you make things complicated, they'll seek a less confusing path and take their business elsewhere. That's why it's so critical to have a well-defined website taxonomy. Clear, intuitive navigation doesn't just help customers find the item they want, but also encourages them to explore related products and add items they may not have realized they wanted or needed. And with all your offerings sorted into logical groups, there's less need to comparison shop with other retailers.
Invasion Of The Broken Links
You're checking out options and learning more about a product you're eager to purchase. Then it happens -- you click a link and get an error message. Maybe there's a disconnect between the item page and the larger category it belongs to, or perhaps there's a misfire when it's time to add the product to your cart. This is the e-commerce equivalent of a collapsed bridge over a dark, threatening body of water, and shoppers may not choose to proceed. If you suspect your site is plagued by these issues, an audit may be in order to get everything back into working condition.
The Information Void
You've got excellent product content, but what are you doing to make sure it's seen? Are you brushing up on SEO to help potential customers find you? Do you have informative category descriptions that gives context to your assortments at the category level? What about buying guides — can shoppers learn more without clicking away from your site and back to a search engine? Have you taken advantage of social media, crafting blog posts and updates that build interest in your products and services as well as your brand persona? If not, this is a great opportunity to round out your online presence, reach new clients and strengthen relationships with existing customers.
While it's true that a number of pitfalls can sabotage your e-commerce initiatives, it's important to remember there's no need to go it alone. There are a wealth of terrific content creation resources available (some of which we've featured in our Good Reads posts -- check out the most recent here), and it may be in your best interest to partner with a firm that can help you navigate past the hazards on the road to success. What steps are you taking to ensure your e-commerce efforts succeed? Leave us a comment and let us know, and don't forget to follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram to see what Virtucom Group has been up to lately.
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.
