Ecommerce merchandising is a broad term that can be used to encompass all aspects of selling products online. While there are many different moving parts to the ecommerce machine, successful merchandising is one element that can have a significant impact on how much your business grows.
Taking the time to explore ways you can improve your product pages will help set your brand up for success now and into the future. Here are five ecommerce merchandising tips from this merchandising guide to give you an idea of how to succeed with your merchandising efforts:
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1. Optimize Product Titles
There are exceptions to this rule, but most ecommerce sites should include each product’s title as part of its basic metadata rather than simply including it in the body copy of the page itself. By default, Google assigns an 80 character limit to the meta titles of any website or webpage indexed by their search engine, so it’s important to be concise and strategic when thinking about how to market your product.
Including the main keyword for which you’d like your product to rank as well as other relevant keywords can help improve click-through rates (CTRs) from SERPs, as searchers who are looking for a specific product will more easily find what they’re looking for if your title is properly optimized.
2. Use Eye-Catching Images
When it comes to ecommerce merchandising, images are key. Not only do they help potential customers get an idea of what the product looks like, but they also play a role in determining where your page will rank in comparison to others on SERPs.
When it comes to product images, high-quality is key. Using unedited pictures of your products rather than digitally created mockups will help provide customers with an accurate picture of what they can expect when ordering from your site. Make sure that the size and quality of each image are optimized for web use as well, or bigger sales may be lost due to poor image quality.
3. Categorize Your Products Effectively
Website design is crucial. One easy way to help improve customer experience on ecommerce sites is by organizing products into relevant categories that makes sense to both visitors and search engines alike. By using filters to create groupings based on the type of product, people browsing through your site will be able to easily find exactly what they’re looking for in a matter of seconds.
Categories also play an important role in helping search engines rank your page for specific keywords, so it’s important to ensure that each grouping is relevant and useful. If you sell watches, for example, it doesn’t make sense to group them with shoes or bookmarks rather than other timepieces. By organizing your products correctly from the start, you’ll be setting yourself up to see potential benefits over the long term.
4. Incorporate Product Reviews and Ratings
One thing that can really influence whether or not a customer orders from your site is the feedback they get before making the final purchase decision. By incorporating product reviews and ratings into ecommerce merchandising strategy early on in your company’s journey, you’re giving your customers a chance to hear what others have had to say about a product before they make their purchase.
People trust the opinions of others when it comes to making decisions, so having an area on your page that showcases customer feedback can be incredibly helpful in boosting conversion rates. As an added bonus, reviews and ratings also help improve your site’s SEO ranking as they show Google that your content is valuable and useful to searchers.
5. Optimize for Mobile Devices
According to recent studies, more than half of all online shopping now takes place on mobile devices. In the last 6 months, 79% of smartphone users have purchased online using their mobile device. This number is only going to continue to grow in the years ahead, so it’s important that you take steps now to ensure that your ecommerce site is optimized for mobile devices.
This means using a responsive design that automatically adjusts to the size of the screen being used, as well as creating easy-to-use navigation menus and checkout processes. By optimizing your site for mobile devices now, you’ll be able to ensure that you’re catering to the majority of online shoppers who are likely using their phones or tablets to make purchases.
Incorporating these five ecommerce merchandising tips into your business can help improve traffic, conversion rates, and overall sales. Keep in mind that each one of these suggestions should be used in conjunction with each other in order to see the best possible results. Start to put them into practice today and watch your business grow.