Why The Majority Of Websites Fail

Why The Majority Of Websites Fail

Why E-Commerce Sites Fail
(It’s A Two-Phased Problem)
Phase 1
  1. Online Marketing (Lack Of Traffic – Applies To Your Website or Amazon)
    1. What use is a watering hole in the desert if no one knows where it is? You might have an industry leading ecommerce store, backed by outstanding customer service, however, without targeted traffic, you’ll not reach the heights you desire, or possibly not make enough sales to sustain the business.
    2. A common issue with start-ups and smaller brands is that they do not have in-house expertise when it comes to marketing. The brands attempt to do this themselves (without results) or hire expensive consultants but do not know how to measure results.
    3. To have sales you have to have traffic. It’s simple math:  Let’s say a website has the industry average conversion rate of 2.5%.  Let’s say the initial goal is to have 30 sales/day (900 sales per month).  The daily traffic required would, therefore, be 1,000 visits per day or 36,000 visits per month.  And that assumes that traffic is real traffic, not spam.
    4. There Isn't a Marketing Plan. Be sure you've planned how you're going to market your website. Without a strategy developed, you'll never make it. Map it out and take time to execute the plan. And remember, if it does not work the first time, tweak it and continue to grow your ROI. Since most online sales start with a search, have a search engine optimization and paid search marketing strategy (and budget).
    5. You’re targeting the wrong audience. You may have organic and paid search campaigns on the go, along with comprehensive social media management. However, this is all wasted if you aren’t targeting the right audience. Are you targeting generic terms that may not be appealing to people looking to purchase? Research is needed here to select the right approach to generate sales.

 Phase 2

  1. Poor quality images and product descriptions.
    1. When shopping online, customers are unable to pick up a product and take a good look at it. Instead, they rely on the images your store provides, along with matching descriptions. If you have poor quality photos or offer limited descriptions, you’ll almost definitely lose sales.
  2. Big screen, small screen.
    1. We’re a society moving more and more to mobile. This is especially true for e-commerce. If your online store hasn’t been properly designed for mobile, you will be offering clutter, poor navigation options and incredibly difficult user experience for mobile users. Make sure your site is mobile responsive.
  3. Your pricing is all wrong.
    1. Pricing is a huge factor online. People can compare your pricing in seconds, instead of having to trudge around multiple physical stores. If you are too low, customers may think your products are low quality. If you are too high, they'll feel like you’re trying to rip them off.
  4. Hidden fees
    1. Cart abandonment is high as a result of this issue. Shipping rates should be shared upfront, at product selection. Hiding them until the very end is guaranteed to anger the buyer.
  5. Missing contact information
    1. Not displaying full contact information, or trying to bury it deep in the site, is a major trust barrier for potential customers. Before they buy, they will look for this information, as they want peace of mind that if they need to contact you, they can. If you refuse to show location and contact information -- including a phone number -- you are going to have a hard time establishing trust with potential customers.
  6. Customers don’t know what to do
    1. Even with an e-commerce website, you need to make it very clear what you want the customer to do on your site. Non-product pages should direct the customer using a blatant and obvious call to action. The most successful e-commerce sites tell customers exactly what to do. Never leave customers to guess what the next step is.
  7. No Value Proposition
    1. Be unique. Something must make your company different. Whether your products are organic or you're connected to a charity, let people know. If you can't think of a reason why someone should by from you instead of a competitor, then your visitors won't be able to either.
  8. The Website Isn't Ranking in Google
    1. A big part of your marketing plan and business model should be eCommerce search engine optimization. The basic idea is moving you to the top of the search engines which allows search engine users to find your website when searching keywords related to your website. 36% of customers start their search for a product on Amazon, while 35% start on Google.

Any questions?  Send EpochBG a note and we will get back to you!

Back to blog

Leave a comment

Please note, comments need to be approved before they are published.