Running an e-commerce business is complex and demanding. There are so many decisions you need to make to ensure you’re doing the best job you can. You have to think about product selection, marketing, sales techniques and so much more. But, before all that, you need to choose the right e-commerce platform for your website.
An e-commerce platform saves you the time and money you’d spend by hiring a web developer. This type of platform is already developed. All you have to do is adjust it to your e-commerce store and start selling your products. But, there are numerous platforms you can choose from so you might get confused.
If you need help choosing the best e-commerce platform, just keep reading. Here’s what you need to know.
1. A Powerful Design: Themes & Templates: The visual aspect of your online store is important. Your online buyers will expect you to have an appealing design that they’ll enjoy looking at while doing their shopping.
So, you need to ensure you’ll be able to personalize your store and make it visually appealing to your customers.
Instead of hiring designers, you can choose an e-commerce platform that offers design customization options:
– a large number of interesting themes
– powerful templates
To make sure you’re choosing the best platform, you need to know the following things:
– how many themes and templates are available to you
– which ones are free of charge and which are not
– how much of them can you customize
Learn about your options, and choose the platform that will give you the visual impact you’re looking for.
2. Saving Money: Pricing: The next thing you want to look out for is the pricing of the platform you might be choosing.
Since your business will (hopefully) be using this platform for years to come, you need to know exactly what you’ll be paying and why.
Therefore, make sure you:
– cross-compare all the platforms you’re considering
– understand which features you’re paying for
– check the ratings of all platforms
Make a priorities list and see which features you won’t be able to work without. Then, try to understand the importance of a quality platform.
If you try to save money by going for the cheapest option, you might lose money because of the poor features.
3. Rating: SEO Friendliness: You want your e-commerce store to rank high n Google searches. Your platform must provide an SEO friendly environment for you to work on.
One of the most important elements of SEO friendly e-commerce is
● The blog
Make sure your platform allows you to create and publish blog posts.
Your blog will improve your SEO ranking thanks to:
– the ability to write about the trending topics people will search for
– place the best keywords
– give valuable information to your readers
You can use services such as Grab My Essay or Best Essay Education to help you produce the best content.
Apart from the blog, you should be able to have your own domain name, a customer testimonials section, podcasts, how-to videos, and other interesting materials.
This will boost your organic traffic and help you rank higher on Google.
4. Responsive Design: Mobile Friendliness: In the age where more than 60% of searches are done via a mobile device such as a phone or a tablet, you need to know how to fit in.
If your e-commerce store isn’t responsive to multiple desktop and mobile devices, you’ll be losing customers rapidly.
No one wants to waste time looking at poorly conducted designs that don’t work well on their devices. So, make sure you’re choosing a platform that is:
– responsive on all devices
– equally visually appealing on all devices
– allows customers the freedom to shop from wherever
This will mean a lot to your business. It will increase the number of your sales and people will have a more positive feeling about you.
5. Payment Options: Integrations: Another super-important factor in the process of choosing a platform is the payment options it will offer to your customers.
The more options it supports, the more customers you’ll have purchasing from your e-commerce store.
You should be able to provide option such as:
– PayPal
– Visa Checkout
– American Express
– Masterpass
– Google Pay
– Apple Pay
“Choose a platform that can support as many different payment methods as possible. It’s crucial that your customers can have a smooth purchasing experience. otherwise, they might give up” says Michael Bell, an online sales specialist, and writer at Studicus.
6. Accessibility: Customer Support: Both you and your customers will need online support at some point.
Things can easily go wrong with your server and people might start experiencing problems. That’s when you need help from the platform’s customer support.
Check out the following details:
– is it accessible 24/7
– how reliable are they
– how fast do they respond
– how satisfied people are with them
Do a bit of online investigation and find out how reliable and alert the customer support of each platform is. Go for a platform that’ll always have your back and won’t leave you hanging with your problems.
Final Thoughts
There are so many options you’ve got. Platforms such as Shopify, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, 3dcart, or so many others all have something unique to offer. It’s your job to analyze all the important features and choose what’s best for your needs.
Use the list above to guide you through the process of finding the right platform. Make sure you’ve got all the points covered. Once you choose a platform that fits your needs, you’ll be ready to start growing your business.
Author Bio: Nicole D.Garrison is a content strategist, writer, and contributor at TrustMyPaper and a number of platforms for marketing specialists. She is a dedicated and experienced author who pays particular attention to quality research. At her free time, Nicole is a passionate runner and a curious beekeeper. Moreover, she runs her own blog LiveInspiredMagazine.
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