3 Website Mistakes You Should Avoid in Ecommerce
March 6, 2025
Ecommerce is a thriving sector with vast potential for growth. With a well-designed website, you can significantly boost your sales and expand your customer base, surpassing the limitations of offline methods.
While the e-commerce landscape is competitive, it's important to remember that success is not out of reach. Despite the daunting statistic that 90% of new e-commerce start-ups fail within the first 120 days, this should not deter you from entering the space. With the right strategies and knowledge, you can navigate these challenges and thrive.
The reasons for ecommerce business failures are diverse, mirroring the challenges faced by non-ecommerce ventures. From marketing issues to cash flow, these are common themes. However, there are also specific website mistakes that can hinder your success. Let's explore these together.
Key Takeaways on Avoiding Website Mistakes in eCommerce
- High-Quality Images are Crucial: Poor imagery can drive customers away. Invest in professional photography to showcase your products effectively.
- SEO is Essential for Visibility: Without strong SEO, your site won’t rank in search engines, limiting your reach and potential sales.
- Detailed Product Information Matters: Customers expect comprehensive product descriptions, clear shipping details, and well-structured FAQs for a seamless shopping experience.
- User-Friendly Navigation Enhances Sales: A cluttered or confusing website layout can frustrate users and lead to lost sales opportunities.
- Fast Loading Speeds Improve Retention: Slow websites discourage visitors, increasing bounce rates and reducing conversions.
- Clear Contact Information Builds Trust: Customers should easily find support options, expected response times, and multiple ways to get in touch.
- Mobile Optimisation is Non-Negotiable: With most shoppers using mobile devices, an unoptimised site can severely impact sales and user experience.
Register Your LLC - Company Registration
START NOWPoor Imagery
If you are selling products or services, you need images to demonstrate exactly what it is you are selling. If those images look like they were taken on poor-quality cameras and are dark, blurry, or not quite in focus, then chances are people aren't buying what you are selling. Images are essential for ecommerce. Your business needs and does rely on them. And if they aren't right, you will soon find out the value of high-quality photography on your sales. Talk to a Commercial Photographer to help you capture shots that enhance what you're selling and accurately represent your products and company.
Bad or Non Existent SEO
SEO is integral to all websites; it is what helps you become visible in search engines. If you are not implementing up-to-date, effective SEO within your websites and all of your content, then you're likely not reaching your full potential or being able to maximize reach and visibility. SEO is more than just a keyword on a page. It's about creating the full picture. You need to know what your customers are looking for and define your target keywords and phrases. You need to include long-tail keywords and alt text on images; you need a clear site structure, relevant content to your keywords, and more to help you boost your strategy for improved impact.
Lack of Details
These days, customers demand to have all the information they need to get what they want without having to contact someone or wait for "office hours" for a reply. This means,you need to include a range of details on your website that help customers in many scenarios.
From full and detailed product descriptions to informative FAQS answering common questions, you need exact shipping information, clear points for contact, and reply times if applicable; you should be focused on delivering self-service assistance to customers so they can do what they need to do and find out what they need with ease before they need to reach out to you. And when they do reach out, you need to be clear about what to expect.
There are more instances of mistakes you can make in relation to your website for e-commerce, but these three are some of the major and most commonly made issues that can be detrimental to your success.
