A good website is critical to the success of any online store because in most cases the website and the store are one and the same. It’s where customers will go to browse and make purchases. This article will walk you through the most important things to include when you create an eCommerce website checklist.
4 eCommerce Success Factors
According to one study, there are four factors of eCommerce success.
The overarching factors of success are:
- Goal Setting. What do you hope to achieve with your eCommerce website and how do you plan to achieve it?
- Service. What are your customers’ needs and how will your website meet them?
- Marketing. How much traffic do you need to meet your goals and how will you get it?
- Security. How will you protect your site and shoppers?
Each factor is met through the inclusion of seventeen essential subfactors. We’ll explain each factor in this section, and then share the priority level of each item in the eCommerce website checklist below.
Goal Setting
As with any business, it’s vital to know your goals and objectives. The success of an eCommerce website depends on its contribution to reaching business goals.
- Business Goals. First, you need to identify these goals so you can measure whether your site is helping achieve them.
- Website Objectives. After establishing your business goals, you need to determine what role your website plays in reaching them.
- Marketing Strategy. You’ll also need to understand who your audience is and how you’ll reach them.
Service
When you create an eCommerce website you should prioritize a satisfying shopping experience. These factors include critical items that will make your website easy and enjoyable for shoppers.
- Product Detail Pages
- Search and Filtering Tool
- Maintainability
- Shipping and Delivery
- Checkout
- Payment Gateway
(Other than maintainability, these are all pretty easy to understand. Maintainability means that your website should be easy to update with new products and information.)
Marketing
Creating your eCommerce website is only one piece of the puzzle. Like any business, an online store won’t be successful if no one knows about it. These factors include online and offline tactics you should leverage to drive the right traffic to your eCommerce site.
One of the studies we relied on to develop this article recommends the following tactics:
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Search engine marketing
- Social media
- Display advertising
- Email marketing
- Printed material (e.g, catalog marketing)
Security
Security is especially important in the eCommerce industry. Since they handle a large volume of financial information, eCommerce websites are particularly vulnerable to cyberattacks. In fact, security concerns are a leading cause of cart abandonment.
Some of the most important measures you can take to keep your business and your customers secure are:
- Getting an SSL certificate
- Using a firewall and antivirus software
- Website and data backups
What You Need for Your eCommerce Website
Now here’s our 17-factor eCommerce website checklist ranked in order of importance.
- Business goals
- SEO
- SSL certificate
- Maintainability
- Social media
- Search and filtering tool
- Website objectives
- Checkout
- Payments gateway
- Shipping and delivery
- Product detail pages
- Firewall and antivirus
- Website and data backups
- Printed materials
- SEM
- Display advertising
- Email marketing
Create an eCommerce Website that Drives Sales
Whether you’re using something like a Mailchimp Store or you’re creating an eCommerce website from scratch, the tips in this guide will increase your chances of success.
Then it’s time to turn your attention to eCommerce marketing to get the word out.