How to Scale Your Online Store

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Want to grow your online store to new heights? Check out these essential tips for scaling your e-commerce store.

Today, it’s pretty easy for anyone to start an e-commerce store. But building an e-commerce site and having a successful online store are two different things. The business of e-commerce is more than adding a product to a webpage and waiting for sales to roll in.

Sure, you might make a sale here and there with that tactic. But, you really want your business to grow, you need to optimize your e-commerce website.

Here are four tips for scaling up your e-commerce store.

1. Boost your SEO.

Search engine optimization (SEO) will help your e-commerce store get discovered by online shoppers who are looking to buy. It takes time for SEO to drive results, so you’ll want to start boosting your e-commerce SEO ASAP.

One of the most effective ways to boost your SEO is to include relevant keywords in your website copy, blog content, product descriptions, etc. As an e-commerce store, your goal is to make sales, so you’ll want to put a strong focus on transactional keywords. Transactional keywords are the words and phrases that users type into a search engine when they’re ready to buy.

Think about what your audience would be searching for on the web. For instance, if you sell shoes on your e-commerce site, a good transactional keyword you might want to include would be “leather boots online.” Using transactional keywords helps ensure that your site is found by consumers who are ready to make a purchase.

2. Build an email list.

Building an email list is a great way to not only form relationships with current and potential customers but also generate sales. Your email list allows you to speak directly to your audience. If you want to announce a sale, for instance, you can send a message straight to your subscribers’ inboxes to encourage them to visit your website and make a purchase.

In addition, with most great email marketing services, you can segment your email list in order to send highly personalized emails. This allows you to give your subscribers exactly what they’re looking for, making them more likely to buy. 

You should be adding a popup form to your website to start building your email list. Consider offering a discount, or another incentive, with your popup form so your visitors will jump at the chance to join your email list.

3. Collect customer reviews.

Customer reviews are another key facet to scaling your e-commerce store. Research shows that nearly 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase. If you want to increase your conversions and grow your online store, you need to start collecting reviews from your customers. When online shoppers see glowing reviews from others about your online store, they’ll be more inclined to shop with you.

Start asking your customers for reviews right away. If you run your e-commerce website on WordPress, you can easily start collecting online reviews by installing a plugin like WP Product Review Pro. A plugin like this makes it easy for customers to leave you a review. 

4. Utilize ads.

Utilizing online ads can dramatically widen the reach of your online store. Ads can get your e-commerce website in front of thousands of shoppers who have never even heard of you before; it also encourages the consumers who are aware of you to make a purchase.

For example, Google Shopping ads allow you to get your products displayed in search results. When a user searches for a particular product, your product image, title, price, store name and other information will be shown at the top of the results, encouraging consumers to buy. Plus, you only have to pay when someone clicks through to your website or views your local inventory.

Retargeting ads are another strategy you can use to get shoppers to return to your site and buy. Retargeting is a pixel you add to your e-commerce website. When a visitor leaves without buying, you can “follow” them around the web (Facebook, Google, etc.) and display targeted ads that entice them to return to your site and make a purchase. Instead of losing the opportunity to convert website visitors, you can get them to convert with retargeting.

Conclusion

With these four tips for scaling up your e-commerce store, selling online won’t be a hobby any longer. Your online store can become a top spot for online shoppers looking to buy. Don’t forget, as your e-commerce store grows, your customer service will need to grow with it. Make sure to step up your customer service game as you gain more and more customers.

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