Minimum requirements before going live with your online store

Let's assume that you've made significant progress in setting up your online store, from developing your homepage to creating a product database. Additionally, you have taken crucial steps such as establishing social media accounts, implementing a secure payment solution, and even planning marketing campaigns or designing packaging to leave a lasting impression on your customers. While these aspects are essential, there are other key considerations to address before launching your e-commerce website.

In this article, we will be focusing on the minimum requirements you should fulfill prior to launching your online store. We recommend creating a checklist based on these requirements and reviewing it thoroughly before making your website live. This will ensure that you have covered all necessary aspects and are fully prepared to launch your successful e-commerce venture.

Written content – pay attention to static pages, product pages and legal pages

If you want your e-commerce website to drive organic traffic, you'll have to pay attention to the written content, as that's what search engines value the most when indexing web pages.

Written content doesn't mean only the text on the product pages - product descriptions, or short category descriptions, but also the content on your website's static pages. These are the About us page, Terms and conditions page, Privacy policy page, Shipping and returns, Cookies policy, How to order page and any other similar page that may provide valuable information to your shop's visitors.

The content on the static pages of your e-commerce website should be useful and informative for potential customers, but at the same time optimized for search engines, which means it should include some of your targeted keywords. Surely, some of these pages won't be indexed, but most of them will, so it's worth investing in quality content. The FAQ page is a very good example.

You may be tempted to treat is as a not-so-important part of your e-commerce website, but it can be extremely valuable for customers and SEO purposes as well. Take a look at the page below from McDonalds Canada.

In order to delight your customers and encourage them to return, consider starting a blog where you can regularly post content related to the products or services you offer. For instance, if you run an online store that sells bikes, you can write blog articles about essential features to consider when purchasing a bike, cycling events, sports attire, and more. This not only provides valuable information to your audience but also establishes your expertise and fosters a sense of community.

Additionally, it is crucial to address the legal aspects of your e-commerce business. Ensure that you comply with the applicable e-commerce legislation in each country where you plan to sell your products. Take into account potential variations in tax rates, as these may differ from one country to another. By being diligent in adhering to legal requirements, you can maintain transparency, build trust with your customers, and avoid any potential legal issues.

By incorporating these suggestions into your e-commerce strategy, you can enhance customer satisfaction, establish your brand as a knowledgeable resource, and ensure legal compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

Design and UX - make sure category, product and checkout pages are user-friendly

In an e-commerce website, every page holds significant importance since it is challenging to predict which pages will receive the most visitor traffic. Consequently, it is vital to ensure that the design and user experience (UX) elements of all pages are professionally executed to assist visitors in finding products, navigating your online shop, and seamlessly completing their purchases.

A poorly designed website that delivers a subpar user experience is unlikely to sustain long-term success, especially when facing competition within the same niche. It is crucial to prioritize clean, well-organized, and easily navigable home and category pages that load swiftly. Moreover, when it comes to the checkout page, prioritize a design that fosters trust and simplifies the process for customers to input their details and make payments.

Try to keep the number of fields in the payment form at a minimum, and give your customers the option to pay via multiple means - credit cards, PayPal or similar services, bank transfer and so on. Read this article for additional checkout optimization tips.

If you notice that the conversion rates aren't satisfactory and you identify high drop-offs on checkout or product pages, it may be worth to run some A/B tests until you find that combination of design, text and functionality that drives more sales.

Functionality - add a payment solution, live chat function, and integrate social accounts

No need to mention how important it is to make sure your payment solution is working before launching your e-commerce website. Check and double check from various devices - laptops, tablets, smartphones - that the checkout pages function properly and that clients can pay using various means.

Also, make sure to add a live chat function - for some it's more convenient and faster to contact you via live chat than to send e-mails or to get in touch via social media. If you have the resources for regular social media updates, also connect your accounts to the online shop, but start only with those platforms you can be present on regularly.

Test at the beginning and if you notice that one of the platforms consistently fails in bringing results, it's better to stop using it; this way it won't hurt your brand or the credibility of your e-commerce business.

Automate what can be automated, to keep costs at a minimum

When launching your e-commerce website, it's natural to want to handle everything manually for a sense of control. However, some tasks are better handled automatically. Utilizing analytics tools and conversion rate optimization tools, for example, can save you time and provide deeper insights than manual analysis alone. While it's important for you to interpret the results, automating certain processes can be highly beneficial.

Plugins and widgets can also play a valuable role in streamlining your operations. For instance, instead of manually calculating the length of your meta-titles and meta-descriptions, you can leverage SEO plugins. Additionally, implementing surveys and exit-intent pop-ups can help reduce cart abandonment rates. These automated solutions can save you time and money in the long run.

Let's consider the example of cart abandonment. According to salecycle.com, the average cart abandonment rate in e-commerce was 74.52% in 2016, indicating that nearly three-quarters of customers who add items to their carts leave the webshop without making a purchase. Implementing a solution that saves even just 10% of these abandoned carts would be a significant achievement for your webshop. By recovering more sales from the same traffic and customer base, you can drive increased revenue and improve the overall performance of your e-commerce business.

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Email marketing campaigns can be automated, and you can also send autoreplies, or reminders to those who abandoned their shopping carts, to reduce the rate of abandonment. For such tasks, it's better to invest in tools and plugins than to try to do everything manually, as your time can be spent more efficiently.

MailChimp is probably the most known one, but there are other alternatives as well if you prefer to start with more complex tools. When planning the automated email sequences, think in advance at a couple of different scenarios: what messages should receive someone who creates an account but doesn't confirm it, or someone who downloads a free material form your website but then doesn't open the email, what sequence of emails should receive a customer who signs up for the newsletter but then doesn't open any of the monthly updates and so on.

Some tools for email marketing offer a variety of stories or scenarios that are already personalized and come with templates for several situations, so it may be worth spending some time researching the options and then implementing such a solution.

Test everything before launching your online store

Before you begin promoting your newly created e-commerce website, it is crucial to thoroughly test all aspects of your site. Start by ensuring that the Search box is prominently displayed on the home page for easy access. Additionally, test the Newsletter signup form and the checkout process. Explore various scenarios that your customers might encounter. For instance, test what happens if a customer adds items to their cart but leaves without completing the purchase. Does this trigger any follow-up action? Also, assess the smoothness and error-free nature of the process as customers navigate from a category page to a product page. Verify that functions like comparing products or filtering by specific criteria work seamlessly.

To guarantee the best user experience, we encourage you to conduct these tests with individuals who are not employees of your company. Consider involving 10, 20, 30, or more testers to gain comprehensive insights. This process will undoubtedly reveal areas that may require further attention, which is common for any new e-commerce website. Moreover, ensure that your store's appearance is consistent across various devices. Confirm that banners load correctly on smartphones and that the user experience remains consistent across different web browsers.

In our upcoming articles, we will delve into strategies for driving traffic to your newly created online shop. To stay up to date, make sure to subscribe to our Newsletter.

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