How to Improve the Profitability of Your E-commerce Website!

In today’s saturated online space, it can be difficult to make your website stand out and encourage users to choose yours over the many other options out there. So, if you’re looking to improve the profitability of your e-commerce website, you’re in the right place. Whether it's your side hustle or a multi-million dollar business, we’re here with some things to consider, from the traffic you’re driving to your website to conversion improvements and how to drive up the amount people are spending, all of which can combine to transfer your business.

 

We understand how difficult it can be to compete in today’s climate that is so focused on e-commerce;  however, investing some time (and some financial investment) into improving the profitability of your website can make the biggest difference in terms of the success of your business. Commit to this now and when you do it right, we’re sure you’ll reap the benefits moving forwards in terms of how your business performs online.

 

Drive Qualified Traffic To Your Website

Firstly, you should focus on driving qualified traffic to your website. Whilst there are plenty of different ways to do this, the one we’re going to focus on is SEO. The main benefit of SEO is that when you take time and money to invest in it, you’re targeting people who are searching for exactly what you offer. Compare this to something like paid social adverts or TV adverts, where you’re reaching out to people hoping that they happen to be interested in what you have to offer at that time. Instead, with SEO, you’re making sure that when people are searching for what you offer, you appear there.

 

Often, people underestimate how difficult it is to get an SEO campaign right, so working with an agency is definitely recommended as it’s such a cost effective marketing channel. All you do is pay for their expertise, and then it’s free to appear on the SERPs, another benefit of SEO over PPC. When you’re investing in the right places to get traffic on your website, the chance of them coming on and making a purchase is much higher. So, this should be a key part of your digital marketing campaign.

Offer As Many Payment Methods As Possible

One of the most important things you can do to improve the conversion rate of an e-commerce website, especially if you have high add-to carts but low conversions, is to offer as many payment methods as possible. You’d be surprised at how much of an impact this can have on whether a user converts or not.

 

A good example would be a website that only offers the option to manually enter card details. Firstly, in the era of Apple Pay, it’s rare that someone has their physical card on them at all times, so if they are out and about, away for the weekend or even just in a different room, that delay or extra effort could put them off making the purchase. Also, security is an element here, if a website doesn't accept payments through well-known legitimate payment methods, it could be a red flag for the user.

 

By offering as many payment methods as possible, you’re covering all bases and removing the chance of someone being put off by not having their preference available, therefore improving your checkout conversion rate. This should include Apple Pay, Klarna, ClearPay, PayPal and manually entering card details.

Look At Ways To Increase Average Order Value

Lastly, you should look at ways to increase your average order value. This is a simple way to increase the profitability of your website, with each customer spending slightly more to make a big difference overall. Good ways to do this include:

 

●   Making your Free Delivery threshold slightly higher than the current average order value will push people to spend slightly more

●     Having a free gift after a certain spend

●     Have % discounts available when a user spends a certain amount

●     Bundle complementary products together

●     Offer add-ons at check out that are complementary to the products they’re buying

●     Have higher-value product ranges

●     Set up customer loyalty schemes or subscriptions

 

These small adjustments can make a big difference when it comes to the profitability of your website. For larger websites with more needs, working with a UX agency will help you get this spot on.

Have Clear and Consistent Branding In Your Web Design

When a user lands on your website, you want them to immediately resonate with the design and for it to be recognisable. To set yourself apart from the competition, there has to be something unique about your website, which often comes with good branding. A strong brand identity builds a significant amount of credibility and could be what that user needs to find out more and stay on your website that bit longer.

 

An experienced design agency will be able to help you incorporate your brand across your website, not just in the initial visual aspects, but in the tone of voice, animations and everything in between. Design is about much more than just how a website looks, which the right agency will help you see.

Final Thoughts

In a very condensed digital landscape, making sure that you’re making your website as profitable as possible is absolutely key. The best way to do this is to have a thorough strategy to drive qualified traffic to your website through your marketing, then to ensure that your website delivers a fantastic experience for users to improve your conversion rate. Working with the right agencies to make this happen is an investment, but it can be transformative for your business. This includes a digital marketing agency, as well as a UX and branding agency. Make sure to look for well recommended and reviewed agencies as this could be exactly what your business needs. Setting yourself apart and providing an experience other websites aren’t is key to improving the profitability of your ecommerce website.