Sales Strategy
Transitioning A Good Informational Website Into A Good E-Commerce Website | July 20, 2016 (3 comments)
Santa Monica, CA—Today’s successful retailers recognize the importance of a strong web presence. There’s no denying that online shopping has become the new standard, and relying on local foot traffic just doesn’t cut it anymore. If you’re ready to enter the vast world of e-commerce, you might be intimidated, to say the least. After all, there are so many different options and approaches that getting started can be a daunting experience. In this handy guide, we’ll cover the basics so you can proceed with confidence.
1. Choose a Platform. Before you start the migration process, you’ll need to choose an ideal platform for your company’s needs. To make choosing an e-commerce platform a little easier, let’s break it down:
- Do you want to sell your products on a third-party website such as eBay or Amazon? This is often an ideal starting point, as these established websites will already have regular traffic coming through, notes Entrepreneur. Additionally, setting up your [online] store is intuitive and affordable. Even if you want to go beyond eBay and Amazon eventually, it never hurts to have an active profile on both sites.
- Do you want to add e-commerce to your current informational website? This is an excellent middle ground if you already have a site that you’re happy with. For example, this Melanie Casey jewelry site clearly shows the designer’s products in a way that adding the ability to purchase them immediately from the website just makes sense, rather than forcing a potential customer to go to a third-party website to buy a piece.
- Finally, do you want to go all out and create a brand new e-commerce website? If you’re already happy with your current website, this may not always be a necessary step, however using a dedicated platform such as Bigcommerce or Shopify can have serious advantages, including better customization, mobile access, and targeted marketing, to name a few. For instance, Southwest Silver Gallery used Ambitious Cart to create an e-commerce website that is still very informational. E-commerce sites don’t have to be boring!
2. Eliminate the Bad Content and Create Better Content. Now that you’ve decided on an approach, you’ll need to sift through your current informational website and choose what stays and what goes. This is your opportunity to start fresh, so try not to feel too attached to any content that isn’t genuinely informative, engaging, relevant, and well-written.
While you should always be adding new unique, original content, one way to build a relevant content library is to encourage your audience to contribute, recommends Forbes. For example, Amazon’s product review feature generates tremendous amounts of traffic every day, often leading to sales. Try to involve your website’s visitors whenever possible. This encourages them to come back, and it helps to keep your website populated with new content consistently. You should also use SEO optimized content with relevant keywords and metadata to help your website rank high on search engine return pages.
You should always be adding new and unique content--which does include product photos, not just the written word--and make sure your graphic design is current and not outdated.
If you’re not confident in your ability to create new, optimized content, hire a professional. This step is crucial, as your new website is only good as the content that populates it, and attempting SEO on your own can actually damage your site’s ranking. Even if everything looks fantastic on the surface, your audience will diminish quickly if they’re not captivated by the site’s content, so always remember that quality matters.
3. Update the Design. Conversely, you can have truly outstanding content, but nobody’s going to care if your website looks like it was designed in the 1990s. Your site’s aesthetic can draw your audience in or push them away, so consider your approach very carefully. Browsing your competition’s websites can be an excellent starting point to draw inspiration, although you don’t want to copy a design.
For example, this Trumpet & Horn website offers beautiful jewelry, often with bold, bright colors, and the simple, minimal design lets the product come to the forefront. If you’re selling something less flashy, you may want to make your website jump out a little bit more. Of course, if you don’t have web development or graphic design experience, this step is another that’s best left to professionals.
4. Contact a Reputable Web Development Team. In most cases, migrating from an informational website to an e-commerce website requires some professional assistance. Even if you consider yourself to be a web-savvy person, there are often technical details that need to be ironed out. Plus, a professionally designed website is going to yield better results, and it’s usually going to pay for itself over time.
As you seek out a web development team, don’t just go with the first agency that comes up on a Google search. Find a company that has proven experience in e-commerce specifically. You’re going to want a company familiar with a wide range of platforms so they can help you choose the right one for your company’s specific needs. For example, Coalition Technologies is comfortable using Bigcommerce, Magento, Shopify, 3dcart, and many others. Also be sure they’re adept at responsive design, which means your site can detect whether a user is on a desktop or mobile device and will automatically open a mobile-optimized version of your site when the user is on a smartphone or tablet. When you have options, you’re more likely to see better overall results when the project is completed.
With mobile devices overtaking desktop for e-commerce, it's important to have a website with responsive design that can identify how the user is accessing your site.
5. Iron out the Kinks. Now you’re ready to launch your new or updated site. Sometimes even the best laid plans don’t pan out as planned, and that’s why you should keep your old website active for at least one more month. During that overlap, you can easily go back and find lost information, content, pictures, scripts, or anything else that may have slipped through the cracks during the transition. Of course, you’re not likely to run into problems if you go through a trusted web development agency, but it’s always better to be safe than sorry.
6. Get Started Today. By now, you should have a better idea of what to expect from this process. Of course, every company is different, so make sure you talk to a professional if you have any specific questions or concerns related to your needs. As long as you partner with an experienced, knowledgeable, and creative team, this migration should be smooth sailing all the way. Now is the time to join the thriving e-commerce market, so get started today.
(Editor's note: For more information on jewelry-specific content and other considerations unique to retail jewelers, see this companion story and be sure to register for the 25 in 5 conference, a full-day intensive session devoted to jewelry e-commerce strategies, Monday, October 17 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Miami Beach, FL.)
Andrew Hoffman is a freelance writer and journalist from Los Angeles, CA, who has written on behalf of a range of clients including the Livestrong Network and Demand Media. In addition to writing on various topics of interest, he enjoys physical fitness, surfing in Santa Monica and collecting classic, first-edition novels. Get in touch with Andrew, here.