Most of the world as we know it has moved online. Everything from our social interactions to business, communication and shopping. This has not only created a whole new digital world that functions differently from the “real world”, but has made business severely alter their processes and strategies.
Ecommerce is one of the fastest growing functions online and digital shopping has seen a steady growth in the last decade. In fact, the growth has been so intense that it estimated that digital sales will account for over 13% of all retail sales in 2019. Ecommerce statistics show that most shoppers would rather shop online as it is convenient for them as they can shop at any time.
So, what makes ecommerce so successful, and how do businesses thrive online? If you already own, or are looking into owning a successful online store, the key to your success lies in one single element. Content!
If you have no idea why or how content can radically alter your businesses success, read on!
What Is The Hype?
There’s been a phrase that has been going around for the last couple of years and is almost completely overused. Content is King! You might roll your eyes because this is one of the most overused phrase on the internet right now. But it is for a reason.
What you need to remember about content, is that it is your key message. Everything about your brand is conveyed through content on your site. This is why it is so incredibly vital to have well constructed and thought-out content on your site.
Companies are spending more and more every year on overhauling their content and their message. The more you can convey about your brand through key messages, the more visibility you gain and the more you can win over your customers trust.
Content Makes You Visible
One of the reasons why organisations are spending hundreds of thousands on content is to make sure that they are visible online. Search is a vital part in any ecommerce stores marketing strategy. If you are not popping up at the top of the Google pages, you are basically invisible to visitors.
SEO optimization is the process of ensuring that the content on your site has enough backbone to it for Google to find it and rank it. Keywords need to be thoroughly researched and strategically placed in the content for it to be found. The trick, however, is to write content for humans but optimized for Google.
Should you be starting out, and are looking into starting your ecommerce store, do some research first. If you are buying a website, the chances are that the site already has a ranking on Google and that it has established traffic. If you are working through a website broker, make sure to request reports on this to do full due diligence into the website before making the purchase.
Content Makes You Trusted
A vital, and often overlooked aspect of content is the fact that it is a source of knowledge for your customer. One of the key attractions about a company or a brand is the value that they add to a customer’s life. Knowledge is one of the highest value adders in the world.
Let’s look at an example. An insurance comparison site conducts all of its business online. Not only does it compare quotes, but the company doubles as a brokerage. Lets face it, insurance is not sexy, it is a grudge purchase, and most people do not trust anyone in the financial institutions. One of the strongest elements that they have on their side is content. This site can win over their customers by putting out content that is trustworthy, informative and educational.
The more content on the site, the more the visitor learns, and the more they are likely to trust the brand and convert. The brand offers vital information on all of the need-to-knows about insurance, the how-to’s and the what you should avoid. It takes the side of the consumer and creates content that educates the consumer on details about insurance that is not common knowledge. In this way, by being totally open and transparent, the site is letting the consumer know that they are on their side and are there to help.
Content Wins Over Your Customer
What you also need to keep in mind is that people do research before buying a product. Many people will see a product out in “real-life” and will want to go online and research it before making a purchase.
If you are providing as much information about your product or service as you can, the customer is more likely to trust you as a source, and will make a purchase at your store. Take a look at your images of your products too. Product images for ecommerce can be your biggest sales point in converting a visitor to a customer, so make sure that the quality of the images is high enough to make that sale.
Get That Content Out There!
Creating optimized content makes sure that your message is being seen by potential customers in order to kick off the customer journey of converting people from unknowing observers into interested visitors, to buyers and then into loyal fans. You need to therefore, make sure that your message is spread far and wide and that it can not only be found on your website, but across multiple platforms.
It is your job then to ensure that you have visibility and entry points through social media platforms, through affiliates and over email. The more you push your content out, the more likely people are going to be to see your brand, engage and trust you. All of this content, over all of the platforms will increase your SEO ranking and spread your message further to potential customers.
In wrapping up, whether you are starting out, or are an established brand looking to build your company further, content is your key to ecommerce success.
