10-inexpensive-ways-to-get-your-business-noticed-online

10 Inexpensive Ways to Get Your Business Noticed Online

by Digital Marketing

When it comes to marketing our businesses online, it doesn’t matter whether you are a small local craft shop or a global business standing the test of time, we want to get noticed and we don’t want to spend a lot of money doing so.

The way we advertise and the way consumers look at our products or services is forever changing. So we need to be constantly aware of what is going on in the digital marketing scene so that we can continue to do what we do and to continue to be seen.

Here are 10 inexpensive ways to get your business noticed online.

1. Search Engine Optimization

If you haven’t heard of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Search Engine Optimization (SEO) before, then now is the time for you to get clued up and involved. This is one of the best things you can do to ensure your business is found when potential customers search for what they are after, and best of all, it’s free!

SEO is organic. This means that it happens naturally and fortunately, it is through not too much effort from you. It is not a Pay per Click advertisement scheme or generated through you purchasing a bot to boost your presence.

When somebody asks Google, Yahoo or Bing (search engines) for information on a product or service, if you have input keywords relating to your business in the meta-tag and description of your website, then the search engines will relate those keywords to the person’s request and present your webpage. The higher up a webpage is relating to the relevance as well as activity and popularity of the website.

2. Love Social Media

You have probably heard it all before, but social media is key these days in giving you the opportunity to spread your word, share your name and attract leads, interest, and hopefully, sales! Linkedin, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram are all social media platforms you should be familiar with and using regularity.

Remember not to preach too much about yourself all the time and mix it up with some other interesting posts in order to keep it fresh and exciting for your followers.

3. Choose a simple domain name

Now here is one where the boat might have already sailed, but if you are new to the world of online business or even willing to give another website a shot, bear in mind that your customers need to be able to remember your website, so keep it as short, simple and to the point as possible.

4. Try a high end (or low cost) domain

You might have heard that Google penalizes new domain names such as. flowers and .market so you might be willing to spend that extra cash by sticking with a .com or .org in order to move your search engine ranking up the scale. It appears this isn’t actually true.

Google has informed us here that they treat these new domains just like any other domain, so if you are squeezing every penny, don’t feel obliged to take a .com

5. Create a shareable blog

Blogging is great for connecting with your audience on a more personal level. You can offer insights into the industry, you are able to answer questions and by creating shareable posts, then your customers are essentially doing the marketing for you.

Not only that, but Google loves it when you create new and interesting posts and will reward you by boosting your ranking to allow you to receive more organic traffic to your website. The best type of blog posts you can make offer information about your company without preaching about it. You also need to make it easy to share on sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Reddit as when it is easy to share, people are more likely to do so.

6. Video Marketing

This is a great and inexpensive way to get your business online. It is dubbed to be the most influential medium in which to advertise this coming year, with 99% of businesses who use videos say they will use them again, and 85% of businesses regarding video marketing as an important part of their marketing strategy.

The survey from Wyzowl also informs us that “the average person is watching more than an hour and a half of online video content per day, with around 15%watching more than three hours”. That is a lot of video time.

7. Reward referrals

Let the people supporting your business such as friends, family and employees earn a little from their support. By including a referral system that offers a discount or up to 10% off when they refer a friend can provide a huge boost to your customer pool.

People are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend. (Nielsen)

8. Be authentic

According to a review by Stackla, 86% of customers said that authenticity greatly influences their decision on what brands they like and support. This is a huge percentage of people who want to feel like they are dealing with real people, not just another big business or brand. This is a great inexpensive way to garner interest in your business.

9. Join up with another company

Think airlines and car rentals. They go hand in hand, don’t they? So when there is a deal that allows you to purchase your flight as well as sort out your car rental, many people enjoy the simplicity. This can apply to your business. You are also benefiting from the traffic flow of the other company, which boosts your exposure significantly.

If you haven’t been online long enough to have a substantial customer base, pairing with a company of similar age can be extremely useful.

10. Experiment with Instagram

Instagram, as a photo sharing platform may lead you to believe that it’s only really serving businesses such as bakeries, florists and cake decorators when it comes to getting your business noticed online.

But you can use Instagram to connect with your customers, no matter your business, by allowing to let people into a bit of your company’s culture and energy.

shopping-cart-abandonment

How to Reduce Shopping Cart Abandonment with a Seamless Checkout

by Website Development

It has happened to all of us. We pick products on a website, add them to the shopping cart, and for one reason or another, finally, we do not buy and the order remains in the limbo of unpaid orders.

Facing the abandonment of a shopping cart by customers is something that creates a lot of insecurity in online stores. It is also a problem for many online business owners.

Fortunately, more and more studies reveal the different reasons why abandoned carts appear, which allows companies to improve the sales process and adapt it to improve the conversion rates in their stores.

Reasons for having abandoned carts

There are many reasons why consumers abandon full shopping carts in an online store. Although, difficult navigation or a complicated interface to use are some of the main reasons for the abandonment of the shopping cart.

The following are also some of the major reasons shopping carts are abandoned:

1. The inability to save in order to validate later
2. The number of shipping costs is not visible
3. The impossibility of contacting customer support
4. The impossibility of using a third payer
5. The volume of information requested is too high
6. The complexity of the payment process

Seamless checkout tips that can solve the problem of abandoned carts

We will discuss the issue of how to reduce shopping cart abandonment in your online store. Fortunately, more and more studies reveal different reasons why this happens, which allows companies to improve the sales process and adapt to improve the conversion rates in their stores. We have tried to collect the potential solutions that can be helpful in creating a better experience for your shoppers.

1. Quality customer service

We must pay special attention to communication with the client. E-commerce creates a new way of relating to the consumer, a relationship that is essential for the purchase process to be formalized successfully. Customer service is key. It has to be accessible and impeccable, we must realize that it is the only “contact” the client has with the company, so, even if it is virtual, it must provide adequate trust and demand from the client.

It is proven that when customer support is available at a single click, the abandonment of the shopping cart is reduced by 30%.

In the United States, 21% of online shoppers prefer a chat conversation with the company’s own support.

The ability to respond and the need for more information from the users have made companies rethink their sales process and bring a change in their strategy. The importance of knowing each client individually and building a lasting relationship will ensure better sales numbers.

2. Free shipping or discounts

Many online buyers abandon their shopping cart either due to a high shipping cost or the seller has not mentioned it during the entire purchase process, which may be an unpleasant surprise when they find it on the checkout page.

Also, keep in mind that customers are more likely to buy more products when you offer Free shipping.

3. Show the break-up of the cost

In the shopping cart, there must be a clear break-up of tax, shipping cost, and the final price, as it can mean a considerable difference that causes the customer to abandon their purchase.

Not indicating the final price on the products until the end of the transaction, can shoot the number of abandoned carts on your website

 

 

 

 

 

4.

The shopping cart must always be visible

Keeping it this way reminds customers to buy. Sometimes the product itself could distract the buying activity so a visible shopping cart will bring the customers to engage with the website.

5. Give them fewer steps

The customers are there to purchase, not just to fill out some irrelevant data. This may seem obvious, but there are still thousands of stores that put obstacles to their customers by adding an increasingly longer purchase process. You should minimize the number of clicks and make the customers buy the product at ease.

Analyze the heatmaps and study the behavior of your website visitors to know where you are failing.

6. Offer several payment options

You need to provide the clients with all possible payment options. The ideal thing would be to be able to pay by credit card, by conventional methods such as bank transfer or counter-reimbursement, by Paypal, or even other alternative methods.

There are many payment alternatives, the more the better. This will eliminate one of the most important barriers that a consumer would encounter.

Billion-Dollar-Business-Model

Billion-Dollar Business Models

by Digital Marketing

A business model helps you define your customer value proposition and pricing. It provides a helpful guide on how to organize your business, whom you should partner with to generate revenue, and how to structure and manage your supply chain accordingly.

Airbnb, Amazon, Netflix, and Uber are among the most innovative tech companies. Their success lies in the viability of their respective business models. Any creative mind can design an attractive brand image to lure potential customers. Without a realistic business model, however, it would be impossible to monetize the attention. The ultimate goal of a business is to capture and retain customers to enable consistent growth. Failure to achieve this would prove costly to the firm.

For the best examples of business models, we sampled four innovative tech companies.

Amazon

Amazon has risen to become one of the most successful companies on the globe beating the biggest retail stores in the game. With a revenue of approximately $177.8 billion, the company surpasses Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Macy’s and other biggest retail stores combined.

Constant innovation that enables it to reach millions of people globally is responsible for this success. Amazon has diversified to as many markets as possible to achieve the widest variety of revenue options.

The company makes 67% of its revenue from retail. Negotiating with wholesalers for low prices helps boost their profit. Since they are dealing with massive amounts of products, the profit margin immensely increases. Over time, the company has developed a network of warehouses and lately manufactured its own products.

There are currently over 45000 robots working in the Amazon Warehouses

Amazon marketplace makes up to 17% of net sales according to their latest reports. The platform allows third-party sellers to conduct business on the company website. These sellers may also purchase Fulfillment By Amazon, which is a service that stores, packs, and ships products with world-class facilities.

Web Services contribute 9% of net sales for the company. Cloud computing infrastructure allows customers to access the software at any location and with any device.

A further 5% of net sales are derived from Amazon Prime. Through monthly subscriptions, Amazon Prime provides customers with shipping options, offers no-cost, unlimited space, and gifts.

Netflix

Netflix generated USD 11.6 billion from big data and analytics making it a major tech company. They buy and create content that resonates with subscribers. They can monitor and predict subscribers’ behavior and preferences with precision.

Netflix aims for 700 original series, movies in 2018

The streaming services come with free monthly trials. After the trials, the subscribers may continue with membership by paying for three plans. The plans are; Basic, Standard, and Premium. The basic plan is the cheapest and allows you to watch Netflix on one screen. The standard plan has an average price. It allowed you to watch Netflix on two screens simultaneously while the premium plan offers four screens running concurrently. It is the most expensive.

Most of the revenue comes from streaming but they still maintain DVD services.

Uber

Uber set out to revolutionize taxi tradition. It transformed the perception of the business. It has changed into a lucrative and efficient business. Since 2009, the company quickly increased its success in providing quality services. Today, it manages 15 million rides a day without owning a single vehicle. At the close of the previous financial year, Uber recorded $ 37 Billion in revenue.

The management-focused their effort on perfecting convenience for riders. They strove to increase speed and lower the cost of service. The company succeeded in addressing the issues facing most city dwellers. It made it possible for customers to book a ride with the nearest driver. They can also see the prices and track the driver’s location on the app.

Uber’s continued customer-related strategy attracted a huge following.

Customers may cancel a request before their driver arrives but at a minimum cost. If it takes too long to meet the driver, they hold the right to cancel the deal. Drivers can also accept or reject the request based on a user’s rating. The request immediately goes to the next available driver nearby.

Uber says it has 2 million drivers globally and 750,000 in the United States. They are the backbone of the company, which is valued at $70 billion.

Uber charges customers depending on the estimated time and distance of their route. Another contributing factor to pricing is the current demand for rides in the area. Your choice of the type of car also contributes to the rate. For example, for your comfort, there are four categories namely; economy, premium, extra seats, and more.

Economy level offers average carpool opportunities with other customers in a sedan. Premium level, on the other hand, offers a luxury ride with a professional driver. The extra-seats option offers space for 6 with a professional driver in an SUV or Uber XL. The final option named ‘more’ offers space for special cases such as wheelchairs.

Uber keeps between 20% to 25% of the revenue and leaves the rest to the drivers. Prices hike during rush hour, bad weather, holidays, and whenever there is high demand.

With the app, it is easy to track users. The app generates massive revenue for the firm due to its popular use by over 40 million active users. Other businesses can also advertise on the app and earn Uber more income.

Airbnb

Airbnb connects over 140,000 travelers with hosts in 190 countries every day. Like Uber, it owns no single property but manages accommodation services. It reached USD 2.6 billion by the end of 2017.

Airbnb became popular because of the creative ideas that give hosts a chance to use their property as a side hustle.

Airbnb have accommodated over 60 million people in 34,000 cities around the world.

Guests simply book rooms in a home that come at affordable prices in comparison to hotel rooms. Spending nights in a foreign home gives you the feeling of the local culture. This is not possible in a hotel.

According to this Fortune article, Airbnb bookings will increase from around 79 million “room nights” in 2016 to one billion per year by 2025.

The booking is easy and cheap. 3% of every booking goes to Airbnb. Guests, on the other hand, are charged 5% to 15% of the booking cost. Hosts can review their guests online before accenting to the deal.

Identify-Target-Audience-and-Increase-Sales

How to Identify Your Target Audience and Increase Your Sales Online

by Digital Marketing

Defining a specific target market is important more than ever before in the business world. If you keep to old strategies of focusing on traffic, you have no place in the competition; Today, it is more of conversions other than traffic.

The online webspace is flooding; every retail/product-based business is investing in an e-commerce website. Billions are accessing online stores and blogs every minute, The only way to draw attention to your page is by offering relevant products and services to your target audience. The generic Ad term “Anyone who needs our services” no longer works in the 21st century; you need to focus on age, location, sex, and income level among other elements in society depending on your type of business.

Of what good is huge traffic to our website without sales?

Identifying and specifying your target audience is crucial. Find out what they want, how and when they want it and then customize your products and services based on these factors.

Why it’s important to identify your target audience?

First, you should know who your potential customers are. This defines what kind of content they are searching online, how they want the information delivered, and when exactly they search for a specific term. It is important to define your audience on “who” to customize your blog or website based on these qualities.

After identifying the “who,” figure out how they perceive and describe the services you are offering. It is important to have these details when designing and optimizing your website. Search engine optimization techniques vary widely, old marketing techniques may not work here. However, it is crucial to consider specific words popular in your target audience to title your services.

Identifying your audience helps in prioritizing services and products on your blog. Understanding how they choose and compare different products lays a basis for making the priority decisions. Resources are limited, you don’t want to invest unnecessarily unless it is translating into sales. Structuring the content and design of your blog is dependent on how your target chooses products and services.

Figuring out the exact needs of your audience is crucial in the sense that you only focus on relevant products and services. Advertisements and marketing techniques online should be relevant lest you lose customers. Honestly, people no longer have time for shopping and this is why online shopping is increasingly becoming popular.

Once a consumer spots any irrelevance, your blog will be dismissed; probably never to visit again. While you should focus on the value proposition, 99% of the content should be relevant to your target audience.

Identifying a target audience for your business saves time and costs

You will not invest in graphics and animation if kids are not your focus. Baby boomers are less interested in color and graphics, brief and preciseness sell for such an audience. You also save space on your blog for posting relevant products and services.

Relevance is key in online business

Be sure to identify a target audience and let your offer match the state of mind. No business can offer relevant services to everyone; it is a lie, if anything, you are wasting time and resources.


Start with assumptions

If you are starting off with limited facts about the niche you intend to focus on, work with assumptions. Of course, informed choices. Typically, age, income level, sex, and location are used to determine the needs of a target audience. However, geographical location is not a concern for online businesses. E-commerce websites offer delivery services to various parts of the country.

Once you settle on a niche, you can evaluate your expenses and the kind of people you expect to buy before setting a price. If you are targeting baby boomers in a certain location, quick research on the neighborhood gives an insight on how to customize your content. Data on every region in the world may not be available but that doesn’t mean you can’t define your audience and be successful in your business.

Engage people

Of course, there is more than enough data on the Internet, which you can access from the comfort of your bed. But entrepreneurship is less convenient, you need to get out of that house or office and find concrete information. There are no facts inside buildings, only theories, and unestablished conclusions. One of the causes of business failure is the poor relationship with consumers; you need to talk to your audience and find out their specific needs and preferences.


You are missing a lot when relying on general information about a certain group of people. Why not spare some time and talk to people among your target audience in different locations. Get the general feeling on the type of products. If you are lucky to profile and engage an existing customer for your business the better. Increasing sales involves research, there is no option; you have to invest time and resources to realize results.

Search engine optimization techniques are of no use if they cannot translate to sales. The primary goal of any business is making profits; every minute and dollar you spend in establishing a business should convert to income. Investing in e-commerce websites can only translate to desirable results if you learn and commit to identifying your online target audience.

ONLINE-SHOPPING-STATS-AND-TRENDS

Online Shopping Stats and Trends

by Digital Marketing

Technology has become the backbone of almost everything we do in our daily lives. This is from agriculture, business, education, government systems and creative arts just to mention a few. The growth in technology has led to the introduction of new products and business processes.

Online shopping has been one of the introduced technologies. Most of the businesses if not all, have adopted this technology just to increase their networks, market and getting customer feedback to improve their products. It provides a platform where businesses engage themselves virtually directly with their customers. Here are some of the statistics and trends in online shopping.

E-commerce Statistics

E-commerce is growing at the rate of 11.9% annually-up from 3.9% a decade ago. The millennial’s desire to get instant and quick access to products has contributed a lot to this growth. There are 80 million of them in the US. They spend $600 billion annually and that’s 28% of all daily per-person consumer spending. They are forecasted to be 35% of spending by 2030.

Retailers should now able to keep track of the growing number of users and also set effective measures in driving sales.

  • By 2040, it is thought 95% of purchases will be facilitated by eCommerce (Nasdaq)
  • 54% of the online purchases are done by millennials.
  • 71% of Shoppers Prefer Online Stores.
  • Retail E-Commerce Sales will Grow to $4.5 Trillion by 2021.
  • 35% of Online Shoppers Start with Big E-Commerce Marketplaces.
  • 56% of online shoppers abandon their online basket because they were presented with unexpected costs at the checkout
  • 52% of people say they’re less likely to re-engage with a brand following a bad mobile experience (Google)
  • Email accounts as the biggest source of traffic to eCommerce sites after organic (SocialMediaToday)
Curated and Subscription statistics
  • 23% of shoppers will abandon their shopping basket if they are forced to register an account.
  • By 2020, personalization technology that recognizes customer intent will enable digital businesses to increase profits by up to 15%

  • A staggering 35% of Amazon’s revenue is generated by its recommendation engine
  • The average order value (AOV) of purchases from basket abandonment emails is 14.2% higher than typical purchases.
  • 74% of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized.
Customer reviews statistics
  • It only takes 1-3 negative review for an online buyer to make their decision whether to buy the product or not.
  • 70% of potential customers are lost if there are 4 or more articles talking negatively about your company or products.
  • 40% of online buyers create an opinion of a company or business just only after reading 1 to 3 customer reviews.
  • 48% will visit a company’s website after reading positive reviews.

  • Reliability (27%), expertise (21%) and professionalism (18%) remain the most important attributes to consumers.
  • Reviews produce an average of 18% uplift in sales.
  • At least 55% of shoppers agree that online reviews influence on whether they make a purchase or not
  • About 88% of consumers agree that they trusted reviews made online as much as they did personal recommendations.
  • Reviews of a business can impact it up to 10% in the search rankings.
  • Only 72% of buyers make a purchase upon reading a good review. 
  • It’s 7 times more expensive to get a new customer than retain an existing one.
Social media Statistics
  • 48 percent of Americans have interacted with companies or institutions on at least one social media network.
  • 23% of online purchases are through social media.
  • 51% said that they would unfollow brands on social media if they posted irritating posts and 27% said they would mark/report the brand and page as spam and block them.
  • Facebook still reigns supreme as the most popular social media network, with 79% of internet users in the US logging on the site.

 

 

  • Facebook videos were 109% higher than on YouTube videos.
  • Instagram ads grew by 28% in the second half of 2017.
  • Instagram drives the most engagement per post compared to any social network – 84 times more than Twitter, 54 times more than Pinterest and 10 times more than Facebook.
  • 47% of marketers agreed Twitter was the best social media channel for customer engagement.
  • 94% B2B organizations rely on LinkedIn for content marketing and distribution.
  • More than 400 million Snapchat stories are created per day.
Marketplace Statistics
  • Amazon was the most popular marketplace with a total score of 6.12 on a 10-point scale. (Statista)
  • Only 63% sell on marketplaces.
  • 55% sellers have a profit margin above 20%. Profit margins on Amazon and eBay are almost identical.
  • 29% are not satisfied with their channel management tool.
  • 36% of people begin their search in a marketplace.
Mobile Statistics
  • Users spend on average 69% of their media time on smartphones.
  • Mobile devices will drive 80% of global internet usage.
  • 69% of consumers worldwide between the ages of 18 and 39 use mobile devices to research products before they buy. (Aumcore)
  • 78% of mobile searches for local business information result in a purchase. That’s higher than from any other kind of device. (Comscore)

 

  • Mobile-influenced offline spending is already over $1 trillion. People do heavy mobile research before indulging in offline purchasing in almost all categories. (Forrester)
  • 57% of users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly-designed mobile site. (Socpub)
  •  It’s estimated that US mobile search spending will reach $25.11 billion in 2018 and $28.25 billion in 2019. (Aumcore)
  • By 2019, mobile advertising is expected to represent 72% of all U.S. digital ad spending. (Marketingland)
Importance-of-User-Experience-in-your-Business

Importance of User Experience In Your Business.

by Website Development

User experience encompasses all efforts you put on the website in order to make it attractive, user-friendly and interesting to visitors. Visual appeal and usability have the largest influence on people’s first impression of a brand. And these initial impressions can last for years.

First impressions are 94% design-related. Don’t get me wrong, quality content matters. A lot. But even the best content is rendered powerless when it’s embedded in poor design.

truth_web_design_5sec2

A good user experience should entail value, usability, ease of navigation and a functionality which provides the website visitors with a positive impression. Cheap is expensive, Do not compromise on average design and functionality to save cost.

Ask yourself and your staff the following question: Have we logged in and changed anything in the last month? Six months? Year or more?

The longer that period is, the more likely your site is outdated and that goes double if no one can remember the logins to get into the website.

Reasons why user experience matter to your company.

Mobile factors

In the current scenario, mobile phones account for 52.2 percent of everyday web traffic. This means you should design your website to accommodate mobile users or else you will be serving less than half of the web users. Most companies are quickly adopting mobile-friendly website and marketing strategies to boost their sales.

User Behavior

It takes about 50 milliseconds (that’s 0.05 seconds) for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they like your site or not, whether they’ll stay or leave.

User BehaviorHere’s a sad scenario.

A prospective client is referred to you by a friend, family member or client. Before they contact you, though, this person does what everyone else does — they visit your website to learn more about who you are and what you do.

But then, silence. They don’t call for an appointment. They don’t email you. Nothing.

Apparently, your warm lead just turned cold. What happened?

Easy. Your website scared them away.

Instead of giving them the confidence that you know what you’re doing and you can actually help them, your site did just the opposite. It created doubt, uncertainty and a general feeling of uneasiness about you and your company.

So they quietly click the back button on their browser and decided to look elsewhere. Probably to one of your competitors that offers inferior services to yours, but has a better website than you.

Bringing clients on board is already tough. Don’t make it even harder by having anything lesser than an exceptional website that drives them away.

Referral to other users

When your website leaves a lasting impression on the minds of the users there is a huge probability that they will pass on the good name to their friends hence increase traffic to your site.

People are 4 times more likely to buy when referred by a friend.- Nielsen

user experience referrals

With limited time and higher stakes than the general consumer, business leaders have to be sure that they’re making the right decision. And many of these top-level business people already know that referrals are worth their weight in company gold.

84% of B2B decision makers start the buying process with a referral.

With the right tools, your organization can implement a structured process for monitoring, tracking and rewarding your customers. And over time, campaign analytics can show you key areas of the referral funnel that need improvement.

Sites efficiency

If you can customize your site in such a way that it simplifies processes and saves the users time, you will definitely create a great user experience. If a task initially took five minutes but your system performs it in two minutes people will definitely opt to use your site. The ease of your site is also an important factor to consider.

The ability to increase sales

One of our clients runs an e-commerce business and they faced a situation where more than 60% of the users exit the page after adding the items to the cart.

After some research, it was discovered that there was a form that the customers were supposed to fill before checking out and it was putting most of them off.

In order to make sure that you don’t face such user experience nightmares, you should ensure that your site has a smooth workflow and the user should not be introduced to a new task after every click.

Elements of a successful User experience.

Most people always assume that user experience only entails design and colors of your site, well there is a little more than that. A positive user experience must incorporate the following elements.

Value

What are your customers getting from your website? What value are your services adding to their lives? Are you solving their business challenges? These are the basic questions which should be answered when developing a perfect User Experience strategy for your site.

Usability

Good usability is not attained overnight. Your website should consist of clear, credible and relevant information that provide answers to all the questions your visitors are yet to formulate.

Navigation

Customers definitely hate a lot of ‘next buttons’. You should, therefore, reduce the number of clicks to find out what they are looking for. The layout of your site also plays a key role in ensuring that your site offers a great user experience.

Functionality

A website without functionality is a one-way street. Since the Internet is designed to allow more than one channel of communication, it is pointless to have a website that does not provide some form of visitor interactivity.

Your site should be straightforward about the services you offer. Customers should not wonder what you are specialized at and be able to see it at the first click.

user experienceAdaptability and Design

Your website should be goal oriented without distraction to the buyers. It is always easy to deviate from your goal when on the internet; your website design should not be the reason the users will get distracted from what brought them there in the first place.

It should also adapt to all devices that use internet be it phones, tablet, iPad or even desktops

  • 57% of internet users say they won’t recommend a business with a poorly designed website on mobile
  • In 2017, mobile eCommerce revenue accounted for 50% of total U.S. eCommerce revenue
  • Nearly 8 in 10 customers would stop engaging with content that doesn’t display well on their device
  • Average smartphone conversion rates are up 64% compared to desktop conversion rates

 

Impact of User Experience in Return-on-investment (ROI)

Research shows that your ROI increases rapidly with an increase in your investment in better design. Every 1 dollar spent on UX has a $100 ROI.

A good example is the ESPN which saw its profits increase by 35% after taking into consideration its fan base suggestions on how they wanted the site’s homepage designed.

It is important to ensure that you offer the best experience for your clients. This can get you a better website traffic, generate sales and an increase in ROI.

big-ecommerce-brands

How to Compete with Big E-Commerce Brands as a Small Online Retailer

by Digital Marketing

It may seem difficult for a small business to compete with big online brands. But remember even the large retailers also had to start somewhere. The secret of competing with big brands is to be smart. Also, recognize that it is possible to beat any big online brand if you work hard and have the right resources.

There are five vital things you have to do to compete with big e-commerce brands.

1. Be Unique

Whatever product you sell, a prospective client can find it at a lower price from other big e-commerce brands. They will always beat you to the game since they have more products and sell at lower prices. But not to worry, the secret to beating them is making your business stand out from the rest.

2. Have a USP (unique selling point)

There are various ways of offering a product or service. Know the kind of products you provide; are they luxurious, more personalizable, ethically produced, or do you offer better quality and services? The bottom line is, do something witty, creative and surprising than big online businesses.

Sometimes you might also be lucky to have products, which are not sold by the big brands, but that should not make you satisfied. Even if you are a small online retailer, you have to know what makes you unique and better than the competitors regardless of how few they are.

3. Best Web Design

Web design is one of the essential factors for success. To compete with the big online brands have the best website that is user-friendly. Add some great tricks by personalizing the business website. Such as using photos that will give people the scene behind the business. You can post pictures of your staff members.

Ecommerce-Web-Design-Tips

Additionally, have an about us web page to tell clients a brief story about the business background. It puts you ahead of large e-commerce businesses with no identity. Customers will also have reassurance in case they have any questions or issues.

4. Embrace Social Media

Social media is the best way to connect with new and existing customers. However, how you use the platform can either make or break you. Be interesting on social media and avoid sending the wrong vibe. Always put the customers’ needs first, and hang out with the right people. Invest in the right platform, by finding out about the social media sites used by your main audience.

5. Focus on Niche, Not the General Market

A well-developed e-commerce business focuses on specific niches, as part of their marketing strategy. Knowing which niches fit your business, evades a mistake most businesses do. They do everything to please everyone. Focused businesses, find it cheaper and quicker to be recognized within a specialist area.

unique ecommerce brand

When marketing, find video-bloggers, publishers, and bloggers, specialized in your targeted niches, and ask them to help promote your brand. Most of them will accept and charge a fee. However, it is a cheaper way to influence new audiences than other forms of marketing.

Finally, aim to develop real expertise within the niche, and become an influencer. Updating your social media with high-quality content, and building a fan base gradually, is a sure way to beat top businesses.

ecommerce-marketing-ideas

5 Effective eCommerce Marketing Ideas.

by Digital Marketing

Regardless if you are a start-up or an established company, it is highly important that you are updated with the latest marketing strategy and trends. Structuring, developing and finally launching your eCommerce website is a single step towards your company’s goal. You will then have to develop an effective web structure and effective marketing plan that will contribute to your company’s success.

Top 5 eCommerce Marketing Tactics This 2017

Read on if you are interested to find out the latest and effective marketing strategy this 2017. Here are some of them.

1. Content Marketing

content-mAfter you launched your online shopping portal, it is time for you to create original and high-quality content. Make sure that your content resonates with your targeted customer that will encourage them to interact with you. Your content may also help you build an active community that is ready to be converted into a purchasing customer. Some people choose to use Adobe Photoshop to alter and re-engineer images. Unfortunately, duplicated or even altered content can affect your branding. You should invest and purchase only the original graphic content. The same thing can be said about text and articles.

2. Personalized Marketing

Personalized MarketingConsumers will serve as the driving force of your eCommerce business. This means that you need to stand out and be unique if you want to capture the interest of the consumers. Most companies will provide them with the latest technologies, allowing the consumers to browse the list of products and purchase any time they want. It is important that you will provide them with personalized UX (User Experience) that will address the needs of your consumers. Customers will be here to stay when they feel that they are valued.

3. Social Media Marketing

newyork social media marketingSocial media is a powerful platform which allows you to interact with your customers, digital influencers, and possible business partners. Social media can be used to generate organic traffic, develop a community and encourage interaction. Social media can help your online shopping business develop trust, authority and brand recognition. We also recommend using analytical tools in order to measure how your marketing strategy is affecting your company’s bottom line.

4. Email Marketing

email-marketingEmail marketing is still the most effective way to reach out to your audience this 2017. However, you need to be careful when executing your email marketing strategy. Most people are tired of receiving junk and spam email and will no longer pay attention to these messages. You need to offer your audience some value when sending emails. You can provide them with the latest updates, coupons or discount codes, informative content and others.

5. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO-Marketing

This is a manual and crucial method of your marketing strategy. With the increasing standard in the SEO this 2017, you need to make sure that your eCommerce website is in compliance and constantly updated to avoid getting penalized by the search engine sites. You may seek the help of a professional developer to perform a diagnosis on your online shopping website and find errors and issues in your codes.

Stay up to date with the latest marketing strategies as it is essential for the success of your business. With the right marketing ideas, you will be able to attract your prospective customers and boost your company’s conversion rate.