Our company has been providing development services for Magento stores since 2010. We have extensive experience in different projects and we want to share some of the myths that merchants may believe.
Let’s dive right in!
How to Start an Ecommerce Business
Use the best platform or CMS for your online store. In fact, there are a lot of tools to create an online store. You can use both open source solutions and ready-made self-supporting solutions. The main difference between them is that in the first case you should have at least minimal programming skills. But at the same time, you get endless possibilities for customization of the site. The second option is more popular among amateurs. Such website builders have the basic functions for the website to start making money from the very first day of creation. These include the user’s cart, payment methods, product catalog, etc.
It is very important to understand the idea of your future online business and create a professional business plan.
1.Сhoosing a domain name
If your business is properly organized and you have your own logo and well-designed brand style, then choosing a domain name will not be a problem. Try using a domain name that identifies your business and will be well remembered by your customers. After brainstorming you should have several options for the site name.
2. Design
Most users make online purchases using their mobile phone. Therefore, it is worth paying special attention to the design of the online store. If you cooperate with an e-commerce agency, remember that you need a responsive design for an online store. Your online store should be convenient for usage on mobile devices, and the user’s path should be simple and straightforward.
Even if the online store does not have a super-actual design and custom functionality, but at the same time it is intuitive and easy to use, it will bring you profit. On the other hand, an online store with excessive design and other clappers can dispel customer attention from making a purchase. The main goal of the online store is to make the customer’s way from the product catalog to order forms simple and intuitive.
3. Call-to-action buttons
CTA, or call-to-action buttons, is one of the ways to motivate customers to perform a specific action on a page. Often these buttons are called:
- Click here
- Buy now
- Subscribe
This is a very powerful marketing tool that is popular among many online stores and is suitable for any kind of business. In particular, websites with calls to action increase conversions for 1.5%, if the button is located on the side menu. If the button is on the Main page, you can expect an increase in conversion for 25%.
4. Audience
While creating a design for your online store, you need to take into account the preferences of your target audience. For example, people born in the early 2000s love it when you can find a lot of photos, videos, and reviews on the product page. They also love bright colors and attractive designs. But if your target audience is people over 50, you should stick to more traditional elements in creating design.
5. A mechanism for returning money and goods. Payment
It is a big mistake to start an online store business and not to think out a mechanism for returning money and goods. To get started, get acquainted with how to legally return the goods and money to the buyer. Next, apply this to your online store. You can even make a separate page where customers can view the return policy on your website.
Visitors of your online store should shop quickly and easily. While paying for goods they should have no difficulties. If there is a problem while paying for goods or placing an order, they will leave the cart with products, and you will lose customers. As a result, it will negatively affect your profit and reputation of your business.
6. SEO
SEO, website optimization for search engines is important for every online store. It helps customers to find your eCommerce site on Google with keywords. If you devote enough attention and time to SEO, your website will appear on the first page for a key request. Moreover, it will help you to receive more requests from your website.
Before the creation of your own online business, you should have heard many different myths about tips which are given above. You should know that many of them are real but still others are really only myths. In this article, we would like to present you to some of the most popular ones about ECommerce Business Development.
ECommerce Business Development Myths Busted
All myths that we have identified are based on our observation and they do not always take place. They can be considered as a recommendation or points that you need to pay attention to.
Myth 1. An online store can be created within one day
This business development myth appeared due to the abundance of advertising headlines such as “Build an online store in 24 hours”. In most cases, this refers to the SaaS solutions.
It is true, that with the SaaS platform you can start quicker compared to open source and self-hosted solutions. SaaS is a completely different approach to business. There are a lot of research studies concerning what is better and you, as a customer, have a lot of options to choose from.
In any case, even if we ignore the problems of the online store technical setup, you will need to fill out the store content, place the information about products, distribute them by categories, and it is hard work that takes time. Usually, it is more than one day and even more than a week. So, be realistic when you evaluate the work schedule.
Myth 2. Clients will come immediately when an online store starts working
Unfortunately, this myth is still believed.
Getting a domain and setting up store features are not enough to start your business. Clients don’t know about the new store and they can’t find it in Google search. Any new eCommerce business requires promotions in order to get in front of your audience. SEO, PPC, and SMM marketing can be used to generate traffic at the beginning and as your storefront moves forward. All these activities require time and money for them to be effective.
Myth 3. It is easy to get a quick SEO effect
GoMage is a team of professional developers for Magento ® and we are not experts in SEO. Nevertheless, in many projects, we have to explain the basics of search engine optimization to our customers. The new site should be alive at least six months before you will see the first SEO results. Professional SEO agencies recommend considering the term of 1 year. The older the site is – the more valuable it is for search engines.
Most likely you will not be able to compete and get the top positions on SERP during the first 6 months, even if your online store is ideal for search engines. Unique content, filled titles, H1, H2 on each page, the absence of broken links, correct placement of canonical tags, link building strategy – all these activities will bring business development results, but not right away.
Myth 4. Professional technologies guarantee your success
GoMage specializes only in Magento. This eCommerce platform is the leader in the open source solution segment.
On the one hand, Magento is a strong fundamental platform that opens a lot of opportunities. But on the other hand, it is only an instrument and your success depends on how you use it. The platform can work perfectly on a technical level, but poor marketing, wrong pricing strategy, bad delivery service can bring to naught all benefits of Magento.
Here is an example of our practice.
GoMage LightCheckout has a good reputation. It is considered as a very reliable extension and it is used in thousands of Magento stores. One of our clients who bought this extension for their store told us that after its installation the percentage of abandoned carts increased significantly.
We started to look for the causes. Technically, everything worked correctly. The process became more convenient, and instead of 5 pages, there was one checkout page with all steps that users had to pass. The client didn’t tell us that the display of taxes and shipping costs was also changed.
That information was displayed only on the checkout page where users could see the full price. On product pages and during listing there were prices in which these extra costs were not included. After discovering this fact, it was clear why customers preferred not to complete purchases and abandoned their shopping carts instead.
Myth 5. A developer knows everything about a merchant’s business
We have the experience of working in different projects in various spheres of business. It helps us a lot, but we are experts in Magento only.
Each business is unique and has its own peculiarities. The project can be successful if there is cooperation and synergy between the development company and the merchant.
Myth 6. Service of professional developers is expensive
In most cases, prices for our services can’t compete with freelancers, but we know that many of our new clients were surprised that our services are not extremely expensive and the prices are quite reasonable.
Professionally designed websites from business development companies can create an image that these companies are too cool, have high prices and are not interested in small projects. It is a huge mistake. There are various offers on the market and you have the right to choose.
It is very difficult to create a price list on development services and we don’t publish it on our site. What we can recommend: before the project is launched, you can send a request for the development costs to different companies. You will surely discover that it is possible to find the optimal price-quality ratio.
To send a request to GoMage, visit this page.
Myth 7. After the start, everything works perfectly and there are no bugs
You can try to plan your project perfectly and test the online store carefully, but it is impossible to foresee everything.
There are clients who work well during the project, but they are not willing to spend the time to make corrections after the launch.
Whatever platform you choose for your eCommerce business development, the online store is a complex system that includes various requirements. Reality always makes allowances so be ready to adjust as necessary.
Myth 8. SaaS is better than open source solutions (software license)
As mentioned above, SaaS solutions allow you to start easier and quicker.
Even though we are a development company for Magento, we have cases when we recommended our potential clients to pay attention to popular SaaS platforms. We always do this, when we understand that it is more acceptable for a customer.
But what is important to understand is that there is no single answer that is better. It all depends on the specific situation, type of business, the company’s long-term objectives and associated factors.
If you are sure that the SaaS business development solutions are better, then ask yourself why do so many merchants continue to choose Magento and other open source platforms that are used as usual software which needs to be installed on the server?
Before starting your online business, we recommend that you consider various options and make choices based on a variety of opinions. If you need help to understand how to make the best choice, the GoMage team is ready to be your guide.
You can contact us at [email protected].
In the end, we want to say that all myths often appear because of lack of experience and questionless faith in the available information. Explore different sources carefully, ask questions and take all information at face value until you are able to experience the reality of the results.
