Published on September 09, 2012 Turning your shopping cart into a content-website with shop
If you want your online store to really stand out in the eyes of your site’s visitors you need to present your products and services in an inviting and compelling way. You need a striking design that leaves a positive impression in the minds of your customers, and unique content that separates your business or brand from your competitors.
Unique, interesting content should be an important part of your store’s marketing approach if you wish to succeed in a competitive online world. So how do you balance useful content for customers without losing sight of your goal – shopping?
Why think about content?
It takes more than just putting your website on the internet and leaving it on it’s own. Even advertising alone will not be enough as you have to think about what potential customers will do when they get to your site. This is the process of converting visitors and member registrations into paying customers.
The search engines are also increasingly looking to the uniqueness of websites in determining search engine rankings. Both Google and Bing have indicated that unique content will become increasingly important as time goes on, so now is the time to think about how you present yourself on your website. You need to start to think more about the content of your whole site than just listing your products on it. Ask yourself: What are you saying about your brand? What are you saying about your industry? What is different about the way you present your products? Are you helping customers? Are you telling them something they can’t get from the manufacturer’s brochures?
The more competitive your industry, the more important it is to provide unique and compelling content for your website.
What ways can you add quality content to your shopping cart website?
A good way to begin the process is to think about making your site about presenting your brand rather than your products. Even if the products “sell themselves” you still need to present your brand, because if you don’t do this then there’s nothing stopping a new startup with deep pockets from replicating what you have done online – getting an account with the same or a similar supplier, putting every possible variation of the product on their website and holding it all in stock so they can get it to customer’s quicker than you can.
Quality content and a total brand experience can help protect you from this situation before it occurs.
Your brand consists of (but is not limited to):
- Your overall look and feel – do you have a memorable and striking look?
- Your logo and overall design of your website
- The way you present yourself outside of your website: your brochures, your letterhead, your business cards and other stationery, the way you answer the phone, your approach to service and setting policies, returns policies, shipping times, dealing with customer complaints
- The way you write, what you write about, the reasons you give customers to remember you, interact with you and come back to you.
- Your level of interaction with customers – are you transactional or inclusive when you deal with customers?
2. Unlimited number of content pages
You can create an unlimited number of content pages in Ozcart to write up how-to information, answer frequently asked questions, provide information about your policies and write about particular product features or in-depth analysis. You can also add PDF information sheets that your customers can download – or offer free downloadable PDF products as well if you wish.
Content pages can be set to be displayed only for particular customer groups – so you could have special VIP content areas or policies and information only available to your wholesale customers.
3. HTML blocks
You can add written content on almost any side-bar or centre panel which gives you the flexibility to provide additional information like tips and tricks, overcome known buyer objections or advertise promotions that apply to just those products, categories or product types.
4. Landing pages
You can create content pages and then link your Google advertising to them so that when customer’s click through from an ad they don’t just come to your home page, they get continuity with the ad they have clicked through from. You can present your brand with a more inviting sales pitch if the content customers see when they click through is related to what they clicked through from the ad with. It’s an easier sell that way.
Using content effectively: update it
Customers and search engines alike want to see fresh, up-to-date content so regularly review what you write to ensure that it’s as up-to-date as you can make it, and if you are going to use the blog in your store, update it regularly with information that’s useful to your customers. If it’s hard-sales everywhere then why would people use it? Customers who have already bought your product don’t need to be told why they chose you. They need help and assurance that they “need” to buy again from you.
Unique content can be a powerful strategy but like everything with your online store, you have to be committed to it if you want to make it succeed.
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