Ecommerce brings in billions of dollars in revenue every day; with so much consumer interaction on the web it’s almost ridiculous to see a business website at fault for even the most common sense, fundamental business elements today – but it still happens.
Just because your business is online doesn’t mean you still can’t apply the same, tried and true methods that have worked offline – this article will share five of these fundamental business practices to run an effective business website.
Focus on design, usability, copy and interaction
Every element of your website should be taken with care for the end-user in mind. Just because you enjoy a certain design or how your site works doesn’t mean your customer will.
From the ground up, make your website so it appeal to your customer from the moment they land on the page all the way through the checkout process – always remember this: don’t make me think. Keep your website simple and easy to understand with few hurdles; that’s a streamlined sales funnel online.
Diversify your traffic sources
Never make the folly of only relying on one source of traffic to your website. Build multiple traffic sources through organic search, paid advertising, word-of-mouth, offline leads and others you can muster. If your only source of traffic dips than your entire online business could come to a complete halt.
Never stick to just one form of communication
Along the same parallels as your traffic sources – never stick to just one form of communication with your customers. People will use a wide range of communication tools from phone lines, social media, email, video and more – don’t restrict them in their quest to do business with you.
Always test, research and develop the next big thing
Every new campaign you produce, website tweak you implement or script you write for your business should go under the scrutiny of split testing. You never know what will work online; it’s best to make sure you can continue to create effective business practices by testing and optimizing.
There’s a human on the other side; treat them that way
Finally, always remember that on the other side of the computer is another human. Just because you’re behind a computer doesn’t mean you have to treat another person as if they were a statistic – treat each customer with the respect they deserve and they will continue to come back to your business time and time again.
