Starting an e-commerce store, or adding e-commerce features to your existing website, might seem like a daunting project but it doesn’t have to be. Focusing on a few fundamentals is the place to start for how to attract customers to your online store — and make them love it! From designing for user experience to improving organic search visibility, keeping these simple factors in mind can help you launch an exceptional online shop that converts and brings in repeat business.
Knowing how to attract customers to your online store from the beginning makes it easier to run and manage your online store in the long run. Take a mindful approach to your site design to start off on the right hoof!
How to Drive Customers to Your Online Store
You can offer every product in the world, but if no one is shopping on your site, you’re out of business! Learning how to attract customers to your online store should be the priority of every business owner as they build their site. Staying on top of e-commerce site design best practices will have your store be the talk of the trough!
So how do you drive customers to your online store, then? Try out these tactics:
- Start with a mobile mindset
- Focus on eye-catching and professional design
- Hone in on the homepage
- Think about user experience
- Make a plan for SEO and social media
- Showcase the heart of your business
Start With Mobile-First Web Design
While e-commerce has continued its year-over-year rise, mobile e-commerce sales increases can’t be described as anything short of meteoric. In fact, statistics show that mobile sales represent 72.9% of all e-commerce transactions. That’s enormous! What that means is that in today’s world, almost 3 of every 4 dollars spent online is done via mobile. Makes sense that you should start with a mobile-first web design, then, doesn’t it?
Mobile-first web design is one of the most basic and critical methods for how to attract customers to your online store because it optimizes their experience. Websites optimized for mobile search should be responsive, meaning images, text, and other on-site elements automatically adjust for size depending on the device being used to browse. It also means making sure your load times are lightning fast, including checkout and payment systems.
A perfect example of an e-commerce site built with mobile-first web design in mind is EveryDayFresh.club, a subscription-based business featuring all-natural
skin and beard care for men. While Every Day Fresh’s desktop website is certainly something to oink about, their mobile site is well-optimized for mobile shopping with interactive graphics,
an easy on/off sound switch, and super-fast response times for page and image downloads.
Their site is made even better with easy navigation as well as offering plenty of mobile-friendly payment options. Everyday Fresh Club has made it incredibly easy to do all of your shopping right from your phone.
Bonus Oink: Our Porkbun Site Builder lets you create mobile-friendly, responsive sites with easy to use drag & drop tools! 🐷
Focus on Creating an Eye-Catching Website
Before you start working on your site, take a look at a few of your favorite online stores. What catches your eye? Does their logo pop? What about imagery, font, a tagline, and the site layout? You don’t want to copy their site (keep your own identity!), but an undeniable part of how to attract customers to your online store is making sure it’s visually appealing. Take inspiration from your favorite online stores and see how you can translate what they’re doing well into your own site and brand identity.
First, your photos and font absolutely have to be on brand for you. Make sure they fit your overall theme, color scheme, and vibe. If you’re a swimwear company, an airy, beachy feel could be right for your site. Cool colors like blue, teal, or seafoam green pair well with options like white and sandy yellow for the breezy, laid-back feel.
We oink out over the look of spark.fit as a great example of creating an eye-catching website! Founded by Thomas Palmer (Coach Thom), Spark Nutrition & Fitness is a holistic wellness program focused on getting individuals fit both in the gym and in the kitchen. This site is filled with vibrant colors, great imagery, and clear content letting visitors know exactly what they can expect from the program. Added into the mix is a gear store that encourages users to show off their confidence, engaging them in the brand and the lifestyle!
Hone in on Homepage Design
Let’s face it, learning how to attract customers to your online store is only half the battle. You have to keep them there, too! According to a recent study, it only takes 50 milliseconds (you read that right, milliseconds) for a customer to decide whether they like your website or not. That means you’ve got a fraction of a second to keep them there or that’s a potential sale lost!
So how do you grab someone’s attention that quickly? The answer is with fantastic homepage design. Commit to making your homepage look its best with a clean, welcoming layout that’s informative without being overwhelming — nobody likes sensory overload the second a site loads!
While you want to pay attention to customer retention, returning customers already like your brand. The homepage should focus heavily on snagging those new customers and letting them know why your brand is awesome. Define your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) and why they should buy from you, instead of your competitors.
An awesome example of homepage design is VisitAfrica.biz. Right away, visitors are greeted with a slideshow of breathtaking videos of the grassy plains of the African savannah, majestic waterfall footage, and other sights that are only available in beautiful Africa. Now that the homepage has done its job to capture visitor attention, users can scroll down to begin searching for their next adventure, choose from traveler’s favorites, or search experiences by country. The combination of eye-catching homepage design and utility makes it hard for a visitor not to book an excursion on the spot!
Think About User Experience
Visuals on a site are undeniably important ways to attract customers to your online store, but the overall user experience has to be a priority, as well. You can’t grab a potential customer’s attention and then serve them a clunky site, now can you?
If you haven’t guessed it, user experience most often starts at the homepage. A visible navigation bar is a must on any site today. This is the primary tool to guide your potential customers through your online store to finally convert into sales. Your navigation bar is more than just a spot for product categories, but also is an opportunity to guide visitors to learn more about your brand or drop a little knowledge on them with your blog. Arguably the most important element to a navigation bar for an online store, though? The cart. Don’t make it hard for people to find the checkout!
Thinking of mobile-first web design doesn’t mean you can neglect the desktop version, either. Ideally, your site will be designed to be responsive, giving you no worry about the kind of device your customers are using. Additionally, sometimes simplicity in design is your best friend, as high-tech animation and graphics could just lead to longer loading times.
Did you think we’d leave you without an example of great site design for UX? Not our style! The GoDojo.fit website shows how simplicity can be mastered for user experience. Right away, visitors are prompted with two clear options meant to direct them to the content they’re looking for. By making site navigation easy from the very beginning, GoDojo has made it more likely visitors will check out more than the homepage (lowering their bounce rate) and directs them to the info they want to find. The longer a visitor spends on your site, the higher the chance they’ll take an action you want like sales conversions or subscribing to your newsletter.
Don’t Neglect SEO and Social Media Strategy
You can plan for all the visuals and user experience in the world, but if people can’t find you it’s game over. We’ve arrived at one of the biggest ways to attract customers to your online store: showing them where it is!
Search engine optimization (SEO) and social media go hand-in-hand to boost the organic searchability of your site and drive customers to your online store. To follow best SEO practices, customize your URLs for simplicity and targeted keywords, use headlines wisely, and include unique product descriptions with applicable keywords to avoid duplicate content. You can also integrate content strategy into your overall SEO plan, creating blogs that cement your brand as an industry authority and providing solutions to user search intent.
Social media is another must for every brand in today’s marketplace. Not only is it essential for brand exposure, but it’s a free tool for organic reach! Share your product
launches and new blog posts to social media platforms, leverage hashtags to reach the right people, and build a loyal community through the power of content. Once you’re starting to scale your marketing efforts, you can look into paid social media ad strategy, as well, to engage with an entire new level of potential customers.
Showcase the Heart of Your Business
At the end of the day, one of the best ways to attract customers to your online store is to showcase the heart of your business. You’ve poured your soul into it, so tap into why you became an entrepreneur in the first place and share it with your customers. Be sure your passion is evident in every aspect of your brand.
Learning how to attract customers to your online store starts when you build your site. Take the first step with a domain name that exemplifies your brand and helps it stand out from the crowd. Don’t settle for a .com(mon) domain when you could showcase your brand better with great domain extensions like .biz, .fit, or .club. Tell your audience exactly who you are, what you do, and why they want to shop with you!
Ready to build your brand? Check out these top domain extensions and see which fits you best.