Imagine the following scenario
“You planned everything out. With a feasible business plan in hand, you mobilized all your resources and got down to starting your new e-commerce venture.
You invested precious time & money, recruited some excellent people, took care of the bureaucratic red tape and have finally set up your brand new e-commerce website. You know that you and your employees possess the hunger, dedication and the ideas & resources to build a successful business. And, you trust the Internet and web technology to their magic, roping in customers by the droves.
It was all fine initially until you begin to notice something strange.
But, alas, the number of visitors is simply not enough. The click-through rates are high, but sales & conversion are not showing any promise. Bounce rates increases are high and rising every day.
Worse, as time passes by, you notice even the click-through rates fall drastically. Your e-commerce site is not being able to draw in consumers and not converting enough leads. The target audience is abandoning your e-commerce business.”
You may have the best in your mind, but the world of digital marketing and online commerce is a different beast altogether. Without proper knowledge and strategies, no e-commerce company can hope to survive the transient nature of the digital domain and the fleeting nature of the human mind.
This article looks into the biggest reasons why consumers are not engaging with your content and abandoning your e-commerce website.
- Brand devaluing with poor content
You must have heard of the phrase “Content is king!” — this phrase could not be more accurate anywhere else. The content of your website is a significant factor that determines the number of visitors.
The written content of your site may be search-engine optimized top perfection, and you might rank in the top 10 of the SERPs. But, if the content is poor, vague and misleading, you will not be able to convince your audience to stay.
Trust is a fleeting thing; it’s hard to get by but easy to lose. Misleading will damage any trust that a visitor might have been nurturing. At the same time, convoluted & erroneous content will harm your brand image and cause you to lose consumer by the droves.
- Do not devalue your content or embarrass yourself by posting content full of mistakes. Proofread everything thoroughly and avoid crowded, monotonous & unoriginal content.
- Never add any misleading content as it amounts to fraud. If you need to make things attractive, highlight your strengths and USPs and focus on being different.
- Product & service descriptions, images, stats and infographics must be simple and straightforward. Use bullet points to make your written content easy to read & eye-catching too.
Engaging content that resonates with your audience is the One Ring that rules them all.
2. Low-quality products and services
Every person wants the best for themselves and their close ones. The trend is to look for the best at the lowest prices. And, if your services are top of the line, then consumers can even overlook a hefty price tag, knowing that they are availing the best.
Try to offer the best possible service, irrespective of whether you are an essay writer offering online writing services or a designer selling personalized products. Unless you do your best to provide the best or something of that stature, be ready to lose your customers. Always keep in mind that there is somebody out there who has the potential to deliver better than you. The digital market is as ruthless and competitive as the traditional market, if not more.
- Acute marketing and arresting content will be of no use if you can’t deliver on your words.
- Do your best to deliver the best.
- Nothing secures customer loyalty faster than positive customer experience.
The sole aim of any e-commerce website is to convert a lead into a sale successfully. And, good content and services are some of the most basic and best easy of doing so.
3. Disruptive website designs
How many times have you visited and then had to leave it due to a confusing and irritating layout? Disruptive web designs are a significant factor that can and will make your visitors abandon your e-commerce endeavor.
Too many menu options, hard-to-find search functions, and confusing carousels – they can lead to bad browsing experiences and loss of visitors. No one has the time or the attention span to engage with something that does not attract or help them in some way.
- Improve discoverability by following a logical and straightforward website design.
- Be minimalist and think from the perspective of the audience.
- It is vital to make your webpages responsive and adaptable.
- Simplify your design, segregate your audience and then showcase your offerings.
Add a sitemap, use extra navigation options and follow a page hierarchy. Make the “Need Help!” option as easily accessible as the “Offers” & “! On Sale!” Options.
4. Misplaced and dead links
An excellent way to irritate your clients is to waste their time by landing them on invalid pages. You can bid goodbye to any potential lead if your e-commerce website is full of such broken links.
When someone clicks on a link, they expect to be lead to the right place. Broken or misplaced links can act as a major disappointment, and so do other kinds of internal errors. A 404-error page leaves visitors baffled and can damage your brand image seriously.
- Make sure that the technical aspects of your website are running flawlessly.
- Update links as necessary and run routine tests.
- Try to spice up the look of your 404 pages just in case. Add a quirky message and reinforce your brand. And, add feedback options to help your customer report any flaw.
404 pages might be unavoidable in cases of site maintenance and similar technical troubles. Help your customer navigate their way out of those temporary dead ends and maintain your brand image throughout.
5. Illogical pricing and unnecessary products
This particular point might not seem much important, but it is the most basic & most essential of them all. Scoping the market and formulating a good business plan is of utmost importance if you want to succeed.
- Services and Products with no market demand will not sell; it is as simple as that.
- High prices will bring down the number of visitors, even more so if competitors are offering the same at lower prices. Misalignment of prices with offers is a significant consumer killer.
- Everybody is attracted to the idea of low prices. High charges equal higher chance of losing visitors.
Remember, discounts and offers work only as long the prices seem sensible to your audience. Understand the people whom you are catering to and sell & price things accordingly. Promote things the right way and achieve surefire success.
6. Poor support and Complex buying process
No matter how successful your business or good your products, poor support will eat away at all accomplishments. A long-drawn buying process will do nothing but deter potential buyers. At the same time, if there is no option to answer queries & offer solutions, then expect lower CTRs and conversions.
- Complicated buying processes can be detrimental to the development of a business. At the same time, possess a clear return policy as well. If you can’t handle dissatisfied customers tactfully, then expect to lose more visitors.
- Many potential buyers will have many queries. Prepare options to address every one of them.
- Unnecessary registrations are a big deterrent. Keep things simple; ask for personal details only when it is essential.
Simple buying processes, customer services and aftersales support are excellent ways to keep your buyers happy. Use it to your advantage and draw in more visitors to your e-commerce ventures.
And that rounds up this article! Hope it helped you acquaint yourself with the top 6 reasons why most e-commerce websites lose visitors.
Bye!
Author-Bio: Peter Clarke is a digital marketing expert and entrepreneur from Oregon, the USA. he is the brains behind the success of many online start-ups and the owner of her very own marketing company. Peter love for writing causes her to moonlight as a part-time essay writer at Essaygator.com. Get on the website to avail her expertise.