Tips For the Novice E-Commerce Entrepreneur

You might know a few people who make their living selling stuff online, which tells you it is possible to be your own boss and work from home, yet success is not a given, far from it. To be successful, you need to invest heavily in SEO and have the best logistics in place, while offering a wide range of popular products at attractive prices.

If this is your first rodeo, here are some important tips to help you navigate your way to sustainable growth.

Outsource everything

Yep, everything can be handled by 3^rd party providers, from web design, build and hosting, to digital marketing and logistics, while your bookkeeping and accounting can be in the hands of a local small business. Start with IT consulting in Charlotte to ensure you have all IT hardware you need and the provider can handle all of your IT needs including secure transactions, web security and secure data storage.

SEO & more SEO

Search engine optimization is the key to success and a leading SEO agency can make your store appear on page 1 of Google search results. Millions of online shoppers use Google to find what they want and a high ranking means high volume traffic sent to your store. How difficult is it to reach that first page of search results? Some top-rated SEO agencies say they can achieve this, although it will take a few months and a serious budget; the SEO work needs to be ongoing to retain the high ranking.

Third party logistics 

The smart way to do things is send your products and your packaging to a 3PL warehouse and forward all orders to the logistics experts, who pick, pack and deliver, ensuring rapid order fulfilment. You only pay for the services you use and the 3PL company can handle high order volumes, great for Xmas and New Year. Search with Google for ‘3PL companies near me’ and that should give you a list of websites; choose an established company that has the resources to fulfil orders fast and efficiently. They will even add your complimentary slip into the packaging and are always flexible.

Professional product listing

Nothing less than pro sales copy and great hi-res images will do for your e-store; it is all about presentation and with quality listings will come orders. Never use other people’s images, as this can quickly lead to a cease & desist notice being issued by the owner, or worse, it could lead to prosecution. The days of copying images on the web are long gone and content owners vigorously protect their pictures, so make sure you hire a product photographer who has all the lighting and equipment needed for top-notch images. Here are a few ways to enhance the user experience.

Connect with your customers

You need a 24/7 chat service so that a potential buyer can make a real-time enquiry; outsourcing costs a few dollars and your customers have access to the info they need. An unanswered query usually leads to the consumer using another store and they are unlikely to ever return.

Once you are ready to register your new business, you can start with the shopping cart website build and set things in motion, with some serious SEO and careful planning, your e-store will enjoy continued success.