Retail/E-commerce Archives - Galaxy Weblinks

Top 5 Tips for Keeping Your E-commerce Website Running Smoothly

Posted on April 6, 2023October 8, 2024 by galaxy-admin

Your website is live, the product catalog is all set, and marketing is 100% on point. Now just imagine the horror of people leaving your website without any purchases. Why? Because your website lacks proper configuration.

Scary, isn’t it?

Running an e-commerce website can be a stressful and overwhelming experience, especially for small and medium-sized businesses. You’re constantly juggling managing inventory, shipping products, and providing excellent customer service.

On top of that, you have to ensure that your website is functioning smoothly and your customers have a seamless shopping experience. This can be annoying. After all, you established your online business to offer products or services, not to deal with website management.

But what happens when your website encounters issues like slow loading times, broken links, or payment gateway errors? It can be frustrating for both you and your customers and can ultimately lead to lost sales and damage to your business’s reputation.

According to the stats, 53% of people will stop engaging with a website if images won’t load or take too long to load. Visitors’ patience can last barely 5 seconds, and that’s it. If your website takes more than that to load, poof! They’re gone. And it’s not a good sign for your business.

E-commerce maintenance and why do you need it?

E-commerce maintenance is all about keeping an online store up and running smoothly. It involves a bunch of tasks like adding new products and features to the website, making sure the site is secure from any online threats, improving the site’s performance, keeping an eye on the server, updating payment gateways, managing inventory, and providing customer support. All of these activities are important for the successful running of an e-commerce website, and they ensure that customers can shop on the website without any hassles. So, e-commerce maintenance is a vital part of running an online store, and it’s something that requires ongoing attention and care.

Now let’s talk about why e-commerce maintenance is so important for you as a business owner. Keeping your online store up-to-date and secure, can improve your website performance, increase sales, and offer a better shopping experience for customers. Regular maintenance means the website is less likely to have technical issues that could result in downtime or security breaches. This ensures that the website is always available to customers, which is essential for running a successful online business. All of these benefits can help boost the business’s reputation, attract new customers, and ultimately, increase revenue.

In this blog, we’ll discuss the top 5 tips for ensuring that your website is optimized for performance and providing customers with a seamless online shopping experience. So, let’s get started!

Keep Your Software Up to Date

Software updates can be a hassle, but they are critical for the security and performance of your e-commerce website. Outdated software can be vulnerable to security threats and may not function properly, leading to a poor user experience. Ensure you regularly check for updates to your e-commerce platform, plugins, and any other software you use. Keeping your software up to date also ensures that you have access to the latest features and functionality.

Optimize Your Website’s Speed

In today’s fast-paced digital world, customers expect websites to load quickly. Slow page load times can drive potential customers away, resulting in lost sales. A one-second delay in page response can result in a 7% reduction in conversions, and you don’t want that. Right? To keep your website running smoothly, ensure it is optimized for speed. This includes compressing images, minifying code, and leveraging caching technologies. If you’re unsure where to start, consider using a website speed-testing tool to identify areas for improvement.

Test Across Browsers

It’s not uncommon for your website layout to appear different across various browsers. While it may look excellent in Chrome, it may not be the same in Safari. To ensure a smooth user experience, it’s crucial to test your site across multiple browsers. A broken or confusing layout is likely to frustrate customers, so it’s essential to ensure that your website appears correctly on all browsers. Additionally, checking your site on major browsers on mobile devices is crucial to ensure complete responsiveness.

Monitor Your Website’s Performance

Monitoring your website’s performance is critical to ensuring it runs smoothly. Regularly checking your website’s key performance metrics can help you identify and address issues before they become significant problems. Consider using a website monitoring tool to monitor your website’s performance and receive alerts if any problems arise.

Check Loading Times

If your website takes ages to load or if pages are taking too long to appear, you may need to invest in website maintenance. It’s essential to test your website’s loading times regularly, at least once a month, and especially when you add new content. Failing to do so can lead to slow loading times, which can be frustrating for customers, resulting in lost sales as they abandon the site.

Managing a website in-house can be daunting in today’s fast-paced business environment. Without the necessary expertise, you may find it challenging to keep up with the latest trends and technologies, potentially causing your website to fall behind the competition.

Outsourcing from a company that can help you with e-commerce maintenance can be your way to ensure that your website is well-maintained and optimized for maximum performance. This can lead to better user experience, higher search engine rankings, and increased conversions.

Take the stress-free road.

Remember, your website is the face of your business, and it’s crucial to make a great first impression on your potential customers. Investing time and effort into maintaining your website can improve user experience, boost conversion rates, and increase revenue.

So, take action today and implement these tips to keep your e-commerce website running smoothly. And if you ever need help or support, don’t hesitate to contact experts who can provide the necessary development and e-commerce maintenance services to keep your website in top shape. By doing so, you’ll be able to provide your customers with a seamless online shopping experience and take your e-commerce business to new heights!

We know you need a website that runs like clockwork! But always keeping it up-to-date, secure, and bug-free can be challenging. That’s where Galaxy Weblinks comes in. Galaxy Weblinks is an e-commerce maintenance company that provides top-notch e-commerce maintenance services for your online store, so you can focus on running your business.

Unlocking E-Commerce Success: 05 Essential E-Commerce Conversion Rate Optimization Tips

Posted on February 16, 2023September 16, 2024 by galaxy-admin

Whether you are considering beginning an e-commerce business or already have one, some actions must be taken before launching your e-commerce website to ensure its success. One influential aspect of your e-commerce business is conversions. All online stores work diligently to increase their conversion rates. Every team knows how difficult it is to raise the e-commerce conversion rate by even a tiny percentage.

Low conversion rates are sometimes the only thing keeping your company from achieving a certain level of success. Marketing initiatives that emphasize conversion rates are more effective than those that do not.

Data from Outgrow. co show that companies typically spend 92 USD to acquire customers but just 1 USD to convert them. Therefore, it should be easy to believe that just 22% of firms are convinced of the return on their investment from conversion rates.

According to e-commerce Guide, e-commerce currently accounts for almost all retail growth in the US, which is expected to continue for the foreseeable future. That should be enough reason for you to put your business at the forefront with cutting-edge technology via the best-optimized website and user experience.

How Is CRO Beneficial to the Business?

The unifying objective of all marketing initiatives is to improve results. Furthermore, the pursuit of innovation and development must be continuous to seize growth possibilities, regardless of the KPIs used to gauge the effectiveness of these processes.

Therefore, when addressing how to focus the lead or visitor’s attention and guide them to a specific action on the website, focusing on approaches such as CRO Marketing or Conversion Rate Optimization is beneficial.

While increasing e-commerce conversion rates is the primary goal of CRO, it also has the following extra benefits:

CRO enhances the user’s experience. By removing obstacles, you streamline and hasten the consumer experience. It therefore benefits your business’s bottom line and its standing in search engine results pages (SERPs).
CRO uncovers marketing possibilities: CRO identifies marketing opportunities that were previously prohibitively expensive, helping them to get a large number of new consumers.
CRO Adds Business Momentum: It boosts your capacity to spend money cost-effectively and helps you obtain more value out of every dollar invested. Momentum is crucial for recruiting further investment, so it also has that secondary advantage.
CRO uncovers your target audience: Since CRO calls for ongoing research and hypothesis testing, it provides a thorough insight of the target audience.

05 E-Commerce Conversion Rate Optimization Tips

01- Use high-quality images and videos on your product pages

According to MIT research, the human brain can process a picture in only 13 milliseconds, giving your customers a quick first impression of your brand and goods caliber. According to research by Shopify, only 0.52 percent of customers prefer to see a single product photo, 33.16 percent like to see many shots, and almost 60 percent prefer images that allow them to get a 360-degree perspective of the product.

When someone purchases anything online, high-quality photos & videos clearly show them what they will receive. They give an overview of texture, shape, shades, etc. Additionally, they assist customers in understanding the product’s size and the variety of its uses.

Key Takeaway- It’s no secret that visual marketing is crucial for developing a brand online. High-quality visual content, such as product photos, can make or break an e-commerce brand’s online visibility and consumer experience. Your images must provide information and help the consumer distinguish between various products.

02- Be competitively priced.

When it comes to price, consider not just the product you’re trying to sell online but also the value it provides and your e-commerce USP. A company must first conduct some research to determine the pricing using a competitor-based strategy.

You must conduct market research on your competitors offering products that are incredibly similar to or identical to yours to develop this pricing plan for your online business. This should include high-end and low-cost retailers to give you a thorough market overview.

Let’s imagine you run a business selling sports footwear and looking forward to adding new designs. Even if the sports shoes cost you $20 to manufacture and advertise, the average cost for a sports shoe is $40. You can start your pricing slightly over the market average of $45, giving you a $25 profit.

Key Takeaway: The cost-based strategy is extended by e-commerce market-based pricing strategies that take into account your niche competitors. This is crucial if your products are identical to or highly comparable to those offered by other online retailers, allowing buyers to compare prices.

03- Clear navigation menus

Homepage navigation is one design feature that gains from familiarity and convention. However, many design website navigation as a last-minute addition after considering pages and content. In a recent poll, just 50% of internet users could anticipate where relevant content will rely on typical page navigation.

Users want to save time figuring out complicated, almost buried menus and strange iconography. The use of a traditional navigation structure improves usability. Navigation is made more efficient by placing the most crucial pieces in well-known places.

Key Takeaway: A simple navigation menu makes it easier for customers to understand your website’s many product categories. You must categorize your products using generic terms. For instance, a yoga brand can categorize its product line into “Bestsellers,” “Women’s,” “Men’s,” “Maternity,” and “Sale.”

04- 3-30-3 rule for creating content

In today’s fast-paced environment, capturing a potential customer’s attention can be challenging, even if your content is excellently crafted and highly relevant. The “3-30-3” formula can help you create content that engages readers and has an impact. The 3-30-3 rule lasts three seconds, thirty seconds, and three minutes.

3 seconds- This implies that you have just three seconds to convince a website user that they are looking for the right product and are in the right place. Ensuring your title is intriguing, compelling, and grabs the reader’s attention is crucial.
30 seconds- You only have 30 seconds to make your pitch after a visitor has chosen that your website is the best place for them to be. Therefore, your product introduction and opening H2 ought to be excellent. At this stage, you should grab their attention with eye-catching industry figures, quotations, or a fact that sets your product apart from the competition.
3 minutes- At this point, users start to show a desire to understand more about your products. You must now choose what will convert the best for you, whether a short story, a demo, a client review, or infographics.

Key Takeaway:

The “3-30-3” rule states that you have only three seconds to get a reader’s attention, thirty seconds to keep them engaged, and around three minutes for them to read the entire content. Here, it’s crucial to succinctly explain what they will gain by reading your content and how it will impact them.

05- Maximize the Mobile Experience

According to Statista, 93% of Millennials have used a mobile device to compare online deals, while 82% of Internet users in the United States have used a mobile device to shop online. Furthermore, Marketing Land says mobile app conversion rates are three times greater than mobile website conversion rates.

Businesses that have adapted to the popularity of mobile experiences in e-commerce are reaping the benefits in a very diverse business environment, while those that still need to commit to this area are inevitably losing out on a growing segment of the customer base.

A mobile-optimized website will automatically alter its size to accommodate different screen types, depending on the device used to view it. A non-responsive website will not display correctly on all devices, interfering with the user experience. This is particularly damaging for online stores as it could increase bounce rates and worse conversion rates.

Key takeaway: With direct communication with customers, the mobile experience gives away an opportunity to reach a broader range of customers and access valuable customer data. All it requires is to create a mobile experience with a slick appearance, fluid operation, and everything in its proper place.

Final Thoughts

E-commerce has become a crucial component of the global retail landscape in recent years. As modern life is increasingly digitized, online shopping has become essential for retail and e-commerce businesses. A well-designed website that checks all the above-listed points is necessary for immediate and long-term success.

As boosting e-commerce conversion rates should be the number one priority for businesses, Galaxy Weblinks can offer more specialized solutions with streamlined processes that drive growth and encourage customers to do what is most important, buy your products. To continue serving your people, you must be ready to make the next move. If you need us to help you with anything related to e-commerce website/app design and development, contact us! We’re happy to help.

Why Is the Discovery Phase Important Before Ecommerce Website Development?

Posted on November 23, 2021October 9, 2024 by galaxy-admin

Setting up an Ecommerce shop online isn’t easy and comes with its own set of complications. The insane level of competition aside, your problems begin even before you’ve begun to build your website. There are numerous Ecommerce website platforms, a lot of plugins for various features and functionalities, and several design elements to consider tailored to your business needs for driving internet traffic and high conversions. There are a lot of moving parts to analyze, design, plan, and setup. These have to be done while making sure that your visitors have a good user experience

It is important to conceptualize before spending a lot of time and money towards Ecommerce website development costs. Your website should address several factors such as understanding your user requirements, conducting competitive research, identifying the key functionalities/features of your product that you want to address, and designing according to your company’s brand. Without an understanding of these, you are bound to make frequent changes in your scope resulting in the development project exceeding the budget, missing its deadline and failing to meet the end objective.

So it’s very important to carry out a Discovery phase before starting any development work to better understand the overall objectives and to eliminate the risks in order to make the website successful. In this article we will explain the meaning of a Discovery phase along with its importance.

What is the Discovery Phase?

Discovery phase is a crucial stage in the Ecommerce website development project life cycle that involves collecting and analyzing information about the project including its targeted market, intended users and their needs/preferences, competitor analysis, carrying out design UX/UI, identifying the correct technology stack, and selecting the features/functionalities for your Ecommerce website ahead of the development work.

The key objective of the Discovery phase is to get an in-depth understanding of the goals, scope, and limitation of the project. It helps get a reasonable and accurate estimate of the costs and the time it would take to execute the project.

A Discovery phase could take one week to 2 months for completion, and is dependent on the project scope and its complexity. In addition to the time, the cost during the phase would also depend upon the hourly rate of the company carrying out the Discovery phase. Typically, Discovery phase could be up to 10% of the total project costs.

What are the key benefits of a Discovery Phase?

The Discovery phase helps –

Reduce risks as the phase focuses on getting a clear understanding of your goals and requirements. This helps the development team create reasonable and accurate estimates of time and budget. The overall cost savings from carrying out a Discovery phase can make-or-break a project’s success.
Formulate a roadmap as the Discovery phase helps build a full timeline of the project with interim goals, deliverables and milestones.
Build confidence in your development partner as the Discovery phase would highlight the approach that your development partner will take during execution of the project. A poor Discovery phase would help you re-evaluate your partner options before spending the entire budget with a wrong partner.

What are the key deliverables from the Discovery Phase?

Given the focus of the Discovery phase is to define the overall project, the key deliverables/outcomes from this phase are –

User Personas and User Flows: These are outcomes from the business and user base understanding process that is carried out to understand the business/user better.

– User Personas represent your ideal customers and cover aspects such as demographics, behaviors, needs, pain points, etc.
– User Flows are flowcharts or diagrams that display the complete path a user takes when using a product. The flowchart starts with the user’s entry point on the product, like a registration/login, and ends with the final action or outcome, like purchasing a product. User Flows allow creations of a better user experience and helps focus development efforts keeping the same in mind.
Competitor analysis: This includes researching competitors and identifying competitor’s key uniqueness and limitations. Analysis of competitor’s designs and features/functionalities helps evaluate existing solutions and help you determine the niche of your future product.
Tech stack requirements specification: This deliverable fully describes the project, its features, suggested technology stack (custom development, Shopify, Magento, etc.), and architecture overview. This allows for course correction, if needed, before the start of the development spend.
UX/UI design: The visual representation of the software flow including wireframes, screens, etc. allows further clarity on the overall product. This also helps developers have a clear understanding of what is required to be coded and developed.
Development plan and estimates: The end objective of the Discovery phase is to get an accurate estimate of the development timeline and budget.

Conclusion

A Discovery phase is an important part of the Ecommerce website development. Without a clear understanding, a lot of time and money is spent into a project that has frequent scope revisions, cost overruns, time delays, and a website completely different from your original vision / objective.

Running a successful Shopify Ecommerce website in today’s highly competitive online environment requires a good development partner who understands your business requirements and provides a helping hand in realizing your company’s vision, achieving your growth plans and having a great user experience. If you’ve any doubts related to Ecommerce platforms and if you need assistance developing one, then feel free to talk to us here.

8 Reasons Why Node.js is the Best Choice to Develop Ecommerce Web Apps

Posted on August 23, 2021October 9, 2024 by galaxy-admin

From a technical standpoint, an Ecommerce platform is a complex system. It needs to be user-friendly and easy-to-navigate at the frontend, and robust yet responsive at the backend. To make all the pieces work together, you’ll need dependable technology to back it up.

The Node.js framework is fast and scalable, but is it a good fit for your platform? Let’s find out.

It is a wise decision to create an Ecommerce app or website. While the store needs to look good and have a great user experience that can lead to more conversions, we also believe that the backend must be robust. Node.js is among our favorites in building Ecommerce websites.

Why do we recommend Node.js to create Ecommerce applications

Node.js is a JavaScript environment that allows you to create high-performance, scalable apps. It’s ideal for real-time collaboration tools, chats, streaming mobile apps, and other applications that require multiple I/O operations. If you want to read more about the technology, here’s a primer to Node.JS. It is essentially a server-side platform built on Google Chrome’s V8 engine. Node.js is well-known for its fast and scalable applications, as well as its extensive library of JavaScript library modules.

One of the most likely reasons Node.js is the best choice for Ecommerce web applications development is that it provides stability and aids in the incorporation of critical features such as a cart, payment gateways, and shopping options.

Furthermore, Node.js provides the benefit of rapid prototyping. You should be aware that top brands such as eBay, Uber, PayPal, LinkedIn, Netflix, Walmart, and the American Space Agency NASA use Node.js to build their primary applications. It could then be your turn to shine brightly among the stars.

Let us look at the main reasons why Node.js is the best choice for developing Ecommerce web apps:

#1 Performance

Node.js facilitates multitasking by producing better results at a lower cost. It is much more convenient vis-a-vis other backend options.
The buyer’s journey at an Ecommerce store involves numerous operations. The list includes adding items to the basket, changing product features, selecting payment methods, and so on. It is critical from the standpoint of performance that the technology serves such tasks efficiently.
Node.js is also capable of handling multiple operations at the same time, making it an excellent choice for Ecommerce development.

#2 Scalability

Node.js allows for rapid scalability. Your Ecommerce store can grow significantly in a short period. It is an important consideration when selecting a technology. Node.js includes a mechanism for managing scalability and tailoring it to your specific requirements.

#3 Cross-Platform JavaScript Platform

One of the most significant advantages of Node.js is that it functions as a cross-platform development platform. In most cases, developers must be familiar with at least two programming languages to code, but Node.js is said to be an exception.

It can be implemented appropriately for both client-side and server-side applications. It also allows developers to choose code reusability if there is any modification. Isn’t it clear why Node.js is ruling the world of web applications today?

#4 Many Plugins and Packages in npm

Node.js includes a plethora of packages that can be easily integrated into your mobile or web app. As a result, instead of having to write everything from scratch, developers can rely on dependable open-source solutions. It significantly accelerates the development of Ecommerce. There are also excellent Ecommerce packages available.

#5 Budget-Friendly

Despite working in real-time, the Node.js I/O model is very effective and does not obstruct I/O operations. The website application can be updated more quickly.

It lowers development costs because you don’t need to hire two separate teams for front-end and back-end development. Only experienced Node.js resources will do justice to your project.

#6 One Language on Back-end and Front-end

Node.js is a JavaScript-based development environment, and it is used by many popular front-end frameworks (such as React, Ember, and Angular). As a result, you can create isomorphic applications written in a single language. It simplifies the development process, makes communication between front- and back-end teams much easier, and allows them to better understand both sides of the codebase. You could have a smaller and more efficient team that is easier to manage. Finally, because there is no technological diversity, recruiting new employees in the event of growth will not be a problem.

#7 Big and Active Community

A very active and vibrant community of Node.js developers contributes to Node.js’ continuous improvement. Due to this collaboration, the framework is well documented, and is being continuously supported, which makes the development process much easier and faster for everyone involved! Plugins, modules, plugins, and many other possibilities are available. In addition, if a problem arises, you’re likely to find the solution on StackOverflow.com.

Whereas, open-source JavaScript platforms such as Node.js have the advantage of having access to professional and well-experienced developers who can assist you in code correction and adding more functionality or features to your Ecommerce website.

#8 Uniformity in Data Streaming

Using Node.js, any HTTP request and its corresponding response travel through one data stream. Consequently, the files are much easier to process, which is great for Ecommerce sites that load N items at a time. As a result of the speedy uploading of the videos, customers can make quick purchase decisions.

Final Thoughts

In addition to Node.js, you’ll also need to consider what technologies you’ll be using for building your Ecommerce store. Everything must be consistent, including the frameworks and solutions. To avoid this, it’s best to use one of the Ecommerce platforms mentioned in the previous section. As a result, you’ll be able to avoid a lot of issues that could arise during the development of the app.

Node.js can be faster than other technologies in many cases. For building Ecommerce stores, it has proven to be a stable and fast solution. Software development is made easier and faster with the help of several ready-made frameworks.

It’s important to note that the selection of a technology stack is based on many factors. Write to us, and we’ll help you make the right decision.

About Galaxy Weblinks

We specialize in delivering end-to-end web application design & development services and have hands-on experience with popular back-end frameworks like Node.js, Python, etc. We have expertise in customizing websites using multiple platforms, be it Shopify, Woocommerce, Magento. Contact us for your Ecommerce project today.

5 High Impact Ways to Drive Traffic to Your Ecommerce Website

Posted on April 29, 2021October 9, 2024 by galaxy-admin

Every business owner wants to increase traffic on their ecommerce website. Because more traffic translates to greater conversions. However, getting more traffic is not as easy as just saying that you need more traffic.

It’s crucial for growth and survival when you’re starting and it’s essential to sustain when you’re mainstream. In this blog, we’ll discover 5 high-impact ways to drive consistent traffic to your business.

1. Paid Social Media Ad Campaigns

The world is on Social media and there is no better way to reach your potential customers than social media platforms. On average people spend 5 hours/day on social media of their preference. With the help of paid social media ads, you can deliver highly targeted ads to the customers who are most likely to convert.

Facebook ads

Tactic type: Short-term

Effort: Low

Impact: High

FB’s robust advertising platform lets you target users based on their interests, behavior, location, and more.

Instagram ads

Tactic type: Short-term

Effort: Low

Impact: High

Instagram has more than one billion active users worldwide, with 90% of accounts following a business according to Instagram.

Pinterest ads

Tactic type: Short-term

Effort: Low

Impact: High

According to Pinterest, 72% of active users say they use it to find new brands and services, and, in another study, 90% of respondents said Pinterest gives them ideas about which products to purchase.

Google Ads

Tactic type: Short-term

Effort: High

Impact: Very High

Google is different from others as it lets you advertise your products and services directly to people actively searching for them.

2. Engage and be a part of a community

Engagement as a strategy is way more complex than it might look at first; like commenting on posts. To get people to visit your website you need to have an impact on them via a thoughtful dialogue, share and talk about things that drive emotion, and get people pumped.

Get friends and family to share

Tactic type: Short-term

Effort: Medium

Impact: Moderate

It might not look as impactful at first but it’s essential to drive that initial momentum, traffic, awareness, and sales.

Drive excitement with contests and giveaways

Tactic type: Short-term

Effort: High

Impact: Very High

Everybody likes freebies. Contests and giveaways are a great way to get more followers on Instagram, increase social media engagement, and drive traffic to your website.

3. Influencer marketing is well… Influential

Influencer marketing is building relationships with influencers with a huge following and getting them to talk and promote your product or service. You need to ensure that if the influencer’s content and reach are relevant to your industry, otherwise it’s futile.

Send free samples to Instagram influencers

Tactic type: Short-term

Effort: High

Impact: Very High

4. Content Marketing is a necessity

Content Marketing is one of the most organic and very reliable ways to get loyal visitors to your website. It typically includes the creation of interesting, informative, and engaging content. Blogs, podcasts, videos, guides, and ebooks are some of the popular mediums to engage your target customers with.

Content marketing is also considered a best practice as far as search engine rankings are concerned. You can use free tools like Google Keyword Planner and Keyword.io to identify relevant content that matches customer’s intent and be visible in front of a larger audience in the process.

Write blogs to provide information or solve problems

Tactic type: Long-term

Effort: High

Impact: Very High

According to WordPress, the world’s largest blogging platform, each month 409 million people view more than 20 billion blog pages. If blogging is a part of your strategy, then you’d need WordPress experts to get the most of your potential traffic. We can help.

5. SEO will help amplify your visibility

If your customers can’t find your store online then all the efforts will go in vain. When people search for your products your store should be amongst the top results to appear. A solid SEO strategy and consistent efforts to apply that strategy will ensure that you appear in those top searches.

SEO or Search Engine Optimization tweaks your website to increase its chances of ranking highly in search results for relevant keywords.

Write titles that match search intent

Tactic type: Long-term

Effort: Low

Impact: High

Google explains, “Titles are critical to giving users a quick insight into the content of a result and why it’s relevant to their query. It’s often the primary piece of information used to decide which result to click on, so it’s important to use high-quality titles on your web pages.”

Pro-tips for efficient SEO:

Create unique titles for each page.
Keep page titles to less than 55 characters.
Keep writing style consistent with the use of title or sentence case across all your pages.
Include your target keyword.
Ensure you match the search intent of the query.

All the tactics we’ve covered in this blog are tried and proven to be very effective. Moreover, the tactics will help you optimize your website for conversions and increase high-quality traffic. An increase in high-quality traffic could mean more customers and more sales; which is our ultimate goal.

About Galaxy

Our team at Galaxy prides itself in designing some of the best Ecommerce solutions for businesses globally. Contact Us right away for a free consultation!

7 Clever Ways to Boost Ecommerce Store Sales in 2021

Posted on April 14, 2021October 9, 2024 by galaxy-admin

Increasing conversions and enhanced customer engagement is the primary goal of all Ecommerce businesses, both large and small. This leads to more sales. However, increasing sales and conversions is not a cakewalk.

There are numerous ways to increase your online sales, many that can be implemented with an immediate effect. We have curated 7 such practices which will help you get more conversions and thereby, more sales swiftly.

#1 Cross-selling is BIG in Ecommerce right now

It is a strategy for selling products that are related to the items that are already in the customer’s shopping cart. They may fall into a completely different product category! Did you know that using a cross-sell on the checkout page can increase conversions by up to 3%?

Cross-sell items should be at least 60% less expensive than the item added to the cart. If you offer your customer a complete package, such as a camera and batteries at a lower price, they will not hesitate to purchase both.

#2 Create a streamlined UI/UX

How simple is it for a typical user to interact with your store? A streamlined user experience and interface are critical for your website’s growth. Put product recommendations at the bottom, for example, and include “frequently bought together” options as well.

#3 Optimize newsletter sign-ups

Email newsletters are the go-to option for promotions in both B2B and B2C market space. Digital marketers understand the importance of email newsletters in shaping a brand’s tone and image. It is convenient to capture customer’s attention with the help of a simple newsletter sign-up popup.

#4 Offer a range of filters

Your existing customers have an understanding of your online storefront. The new browsers, however, need some guidance to navigate through your store. Consider them to be the online equivalent of window shoppers.

This is where product filters come in handy. They help organize your products in a manner that enables visitors to easily pick and choose products based on their preferences.

#5 Enable guest checkout method

If you want to convert your customers into repeat buyers, instead of forcing them to create an account, offer them the option of checking out as a guest. Allowing for a guest checkout option could do wonders for your online business.

Currently, many Ecommerce websites require a user to sign up for an account – and this may be doing more harm than good to your business because many website visitors do not have ample time to create accounts.

#6 Cover a Range of FAQs

Because you are not physically available to answer every other customer question, provide all of the information necessary for your customers to make a decision. Don’t overestimate your customers’ knowledge. Make as many arrangements as you can for them.

Be clear and transparent in your conversations and transactions with them, from Frequently Asked Questions to Return Policies, and from Shipping Dates to your Shipping Policies.

Put yourself in the shoes of a buyer and consider what questions they are likely to ask. Cover everything you can think of.

#7 Work on Improving Loading Times

KissMetrics report state that 47% of customers expect a web page to load in two seconds or less. A simple 1-second delay can result in a 7% decrease in conversion rate.

You might be frustrated when a website you’re trying to access takes forever to load. If your website’s loading speed is slow, your visitors will likely feel the same way. Consider the following factors:

Optimize images
Optimize CSS delivery
Prioritize above-the-fold content
Reduce the number of plugins
Reduce redirects
Minimize HTTP requests
Reduce server response time
Enable compression
Enable browser caching
Minify resources

To sum up!

Although there are numerous other Ecommerce best practices that entrepreneurs should consider, incorporating these listed seven will not take much time and effort. We recommend evaluating your conversion rates regularly and making changes to your strategies as needed. Keep in mind that what works for one brand may not work for you. Simply continue to be unique, and your customers will reward you with the loyalty you seek.

We hope this practical piece curated from our experience in Ecommerce will help you drive sales. And if you want to interact with your customers in a whole new different way and enhance your conversion rate, contact our experts here.

5 ways to optimize your ecommerce website for Voice Search

Posted on June 30, 2020October 10, 2024 by galaxy-admin

Voice search is at its peak in popularity among millions of users. According to an OC&C Strategy Consultants market research, Voice Shopping is projected grow to be a $40 billion plus segment in next two years. Numbers alone are a proof that voice assisted interactions are no longer exclusive to accessibility.

Your customers are now speaking more to Google assistant and Siri than to your website’s chatbots for their product queries.

In such a scenario, voice search will help your customers to visit your website, look for their product, and make the purchase (if only it was that easy). But you can make it easy for your visitors.

Google’s insight says a lot about the current consumer mind set about shopping and smart speaker.

According to Google, almost half of the people who own a smart speaker are willing to receive information related to deals, promotions and sales from brands

People are willing to share and receive information via these devices. Now the question is, how to optimize your ecommerce website for voice search? Scroll down to find the answer to this question.

Here are 5 actionable tips to optimize your ecommerce for voice search-

1. Prioritize Long-tail, Contextual Keywords

In voice search the keywords are not just 2-3 words, instead it’s a complete sentence. The reason being, when we ‘speak’ to our devices, we are considering it to be an actual life conversation and therefore frame the queries accordingly.

Your visitors have a high probability of saying, “Siri, where can I find toys for my 5 year old child?”. When a person types the same query, it goes something like, “Toys for 5 year old”.

Voice search revolves around the illusion of having a conversation with your search assistant or search engine. Additionally the typing effort is absent here, so a person subconsciously speaks more as compared to typing the same query. Thus, long tail and contextual keywords come into the spotlight here.

2. Decrease your website’s load time across platforms

A lot of your traffic will be from mobile devices, thus you should optimize your website’s speed for mobile. A speedy website benefits from higher engagement from visitors, they will be able to see various products offered, and thus improve the overall user experience.

Tools like PageSpeed Insights will provide you information about all your webpages, which ones are slow and possible recommendations to increase the speed as well.

Optimizing your website’s speed is even more essential as Google is now deploying the mobile first ranking system.

For improving the speed, you can start by doing these tweaks:

Compress your images but do not compromise on the image quality
Deploy caching technique
Constantly look out for broken links
Select fast web hosting platforms like A2 hosting, Hostinger

Google tends to rank those websites higher from where it can readily extract the information requested for and this is done via structured data, more on this later.

3. Target the Local SEO first

The voice queries from mobile devices have 3 times more chances of being locally based according to Search Engine Watch. And it fits well because mobile searches are done when on the move like driving and the query is done hands free.

Phrases like, near me, within x meter range, etc are popular ones. Cracking the local SEO will help in such situations. Your visitor will appreciate this as they will be directed to the right place within minimum time limits.

4. Focus on your website’s content

Your website’s content needs to be educational, easy to understand, relevant and in line with your consumers thought process. This can be done with paying adequate attention to your FAQ page, product descriptions and content for featured snippets.

Your FAQ page will answer the what, where, how, when, why type of questions which are conversational in nature. This means that when your potential customers are looking for these answers, say while driving, they will be directed to your website.

When writing your FAQ page, you will be able to think of numerous questions that your customer will have as they come across your products and services. When done right, FAQ pages will increase your visibility chances.

Your product descriptions also play a vital role here. They should follow a natural conversational tone and sound like a conversation between friends. When elaborating the features of your products, you should aim for a more friendly sounding tone instead of a salesy one.

Your FAQ page and product descriptions can also be taken for Featured snippets by Google if you are close to answering the questions that customers put in. And who does not wish to be on the top of the search results page?

The content that resonates with the way your customers converse will win at the end of the day.

5. Schema markup for your website

Using Schema markup or structured data helps Google in extracting the most important information about your products and sending the same to your customers upon related search queries.

A well structured website facilitates easy discovery of key information for Google and thus your website can be ranked a bit higher, giving an upper hand over your competitors. When necessary information is highlighted on the search page itself, people will be more inclined to pay a visit to your website.

You can visit Schema.org for getting started and to see how well your website is structured, you can test using the Structured Data Testing Tool.

There is no denying the fact that people have shifted to voice search and will be relying heavily on it in the future. Once your ecommerce website is optimized for voice search, you can leverage it to increase your sales and who knows, you can hope for reductions in your churn rate as well.

Reach out to us for our expertise in building optimized solutions for all your ecommerce woes.

A failproof Magento 2 migration plan

Posted on June 10, 2020October 10, 2024 by galaxy-admin

Editor’s note: If you are still wondering ‘Do I really need to upgrade to Magento 2’, we recommend reading our 5 reasons why you should migrate to Magento 2 blog. Alternatively, you can take a leaf out of the book of Land Rover, Helly Hansen, Byredo, and thousand other brands who upgraded their Ecommerce websites to Magento 2 way ahead of time.

Migrating from Magento 1 to Magento 2 is tricky, as it involves a lot of manual tasks. No doubt the data migration tools do make the task easier!

But what about the prerequisites? Or existing traffic?

You can’t afford the bummers because of a lack of proper planning.

Here’s an ideal migration process for Magento 2 for a successful, hassle-free, and safe migration.

Cut down all the complexities before making the move

Video of a man thinking with math figures floating around his head

Here’s why?

You might start with setting a plan that includes deadlines, efforts required, and then end up with hair-pulling frustration by making unnecessary changes.

Mark down: The amount of time and effort depends on the number of customizations, complexity, and the number of extensions running on the existing store.

Here are the initial practices that should be taken into account before migrating to Magento 2:

Prepare full backup

Make sure you have a complete backup of your Magento 1 store and the required database, files, and folders.

Check compatibility

Check if your current extensions, custom code, and themes are compatible with Magento 2.

Analyze the data
Review what needs to be kept or removed from the new Magento 2 website.
Staging environment

Do not migrate when your website is live. Transfer the data from the copied database of the Magento 1 store.

SEO analysis

To avoid losing traffic, perform SEO analysis to retain best-performing URLs, keywords, and fix other possible issues.

You are ready for migration after you review and account for your existing site’s extensions, customizations, website design, and the data stored within your Magento 1 installation.

5 necessary steps for successful Magento 2 migration

1. Theme and extension migration

First, you need to check whether the themes and extensions are compatible with the Magento 2 version or not. If it’s compatible, then you can install the same theme and extensions in Magento 2. This will automatically make the migration process a lot easier for you. If not, then you need to head towards the next step…

2. Custom code migration

Magento 2 follows new approaches and architecture for developing themes and extensions.

Existing extensions, themes, and customizations are unlikely to work with a Magento 2 installation. Therefore, you will need to build them if they aren’t available as out-of-the-box functionality.

If you have installed a third-party theme for the Magento 1 site, then you have to check with the vendor whether the current theme will support Magento 2. You would need to create a custom theme and migrate this custom code using Magento toolkits.

3. UI and Design

During the redesign stage, you should consider which features and functionalities should be carried over, removed, or added to your new website.

Just like extensions, Magento 1 UI can be incompatible with Magento 2. It’s because the Magento 2 uses modern architecture and has different back-end and front-end requirements. This may make it impossible to convert Magento 1 theme and design code.

You’ll need a front-end developer to create a custom theme and templates from scratch if you want to create something unique and memorable to your retail business.

4. Data Migration

Next, start your engines!

The migration process starts with setting up a development environment by moving Magento 2 on a new server. Make sure to install a fresh copy of Magento 2 on the same hosting server where your Magento 1 store is located.

It is recommended to migrate data from a replicated Magento 1 database instance. You may be required to suspend all the activity on your Magento 1 admin panel, and stop Magento 1 cron jobs, except for the order management functions.

With the help of Magento data migration tools or back-end developers, you can migrate critical settings and data such as:

Settings: Websites, stores, system configurations like tax settings, payment, shipping, etc.
Data: Products, orders, wish lists, customers, categories, ratings, etc.

Magento offers a tool to assist in Data Migration. It can help you in importing product and customer data to the new 2.0 version.

Advantages of using Magento’s Data Migration Tool:

Migrating configuration settings
Migrating main data in the database
Transferring incremental data updates to the storefront and admin panel

Alternatively, you can outsource this project to an expert Magento development company.

5. Testing and SEO Audit

You’ll need to vigorously test the Magento 2 site to make sure there aren’t any issues before going live.

The internal testing involves whether the website and any new functionality have been completed as per the specification or not.

Run through a predefined list of user stories to ensure that there are no issues with the site’s usability and functionality. Once the website has passed all the quality assurance guidelines, you can go ahead with the SEO audit phase.

Complete an SEO audit to ensure that all content has been migrated over to the new site. Remove any thin or duplicate content, and ensure that all of your pages are optimized with relevant meta content, heading tags, alt text, and structured data.

Make sure that 301 redirects have been set up to direct users to your new pages.

And you are all set to go live!

It’s about User Experience!

Migration is the perfect opportunity to refresh your website and rethink about – “How can I offer the best customer experience?”

It’s not just a migration phase for your Ecommerce website. It is also the best time to review whether you need more advanced functionality in your Magento store.

If you want to create a high performing Magento 2 website or put together some initial mobile-first designs in it, reach out to our team of Magento developers here.

About the Author

Vinod Khajja is an Ecommerce expert at Galaxy. He is a firm believer of AI and it’s possibilities with Ecommerce. As a Senior Project Manager he has multiple ecommerce successes under his belt

5 reasons why you should migrate to Magento 2?

Posted on May 18, 2020October 10, 2024 by galaxy-admin

It’s high time for users to finally migrate, you cannot defer Magento 2 upgrade until the last minute. As it’s not a one-click-upgrade, Magento 1 users need to understand why this migration is crucial for their business.

Magento 2 is offering much more intuitive functionalities and benefits in comparison to Magento 1. But before the advantages, let’s understand where we’re coming from when we say ‘migrate now’.

Why sticking with Magento 1.x is not a good idea?

After June 2020 there will be no official support for Magento merchants or developers. This means there’ll be no more technical assistance, no more security patches, and ultimately, no more Magento 1.x as a viable platform.

Any technical issues with your website, as mentioned below, could have a huge impact on your revenue and brand image.

Security vulnerabilities

After the cut-off date, any sites that missed out on a migration would be vulnerable to security breaches and hacks. E-commerce sites that are still on unsupported versions of Magento will be exposed to hackers equipped with backdoor exploits.

This means you will be putting your customers’ data at risk. And without protection of their payment details and security updates, your checkout may no longer be secure.

Quality fixes

Magento will no longer be rolling out quality fixes for Magento Open Source (Community) or certain versions of Magento Commerce (Enterprise). Users with Magento 1.x will not get any further improvements to existing core features, and will find it difficult to make their site more user-friendly with broken features.

And with no more feature upgrades to Magento 1 means low customer retention, as it will be difficult for you to keep up with the services offered by your competitors.

3rd party extension

Magento’s security patches and quality fixes only cover the core platform and not any extensions, bespoke modifications or enhancements.

In this case, you’ll need maintenance support to improve extensions and prevent them from getting defunct as they won’t be compatible with any new patches released to the core platform.

Magento 2 has several advantages over its predecessor

You must think about migration if you are looking towards a smooth customer shopping experience with your existing ecommerce website. Here are our 5 reasons to migrate to Magento 2:

1. Improved Performance

Load speeds on the first version were slow. The possibilities of working with dynamic databases like PostgreSQL and MySQL has allowed better processing of caching, re-indexing and queries.

Magento 2 sites will run on average 20% faster than the sites based on the previous version. Pages will load in half the time as it has full-page caching. Whereas with an efficient indexing system, transactions become faster and easier to process.

Thus, faster site speed will encourage more sales and increase website search engine optimization.

2. Mobile Friendly

As we know that online shoppers perform more than 50% of online transactions on mobile devices, a responsive web shop is a must.

Magento 2 makes mobile commerce a priority as Magento 1 sites did not deliver optimum performance on mobile devices. Customers can take their mobile performance even further with the release of PWA (Progressive Web Application) Studio in Magento 2.3.

3. Smooth and Simple Checkout Process

Even though the Magento 1 checkout was a single page process, it was cumbersome.

Now Magento 2 offers a simple 2 step checkout process and the Instant Purchase feature. Existing customers can use their email address to check-out faster using their saved information like using previously-stored payment and shipping information to skip checkout steps altogether, taking them to a confirmation purchase page.

This increases conversions and reduces abandoned cart rates.

4. Better Admin Interface

This is a non-technical user’s dream! The admin user interface has been touted as the most problematic elements of Magento 1 for its confusing layouts and being intimidating to first timers. That problem was solved in Magento 2.

Magento 2 offers a user-friendly and clean experience where even the most non-technical users can add new product listings and find tools with ease. The admin dashboard enables you to find crucial business information about your e-store in one single place, leaving no room for confusing navigation.

The new version is easy to navigate and use which means that your customer will get to pages or products they desire faster.

5. Improved Security

A lot of attention has gone into the security of the online platform in the wake of increased data breaches.

Magento 2 also offers robust desktop protection due to major changes in the source folder structure. Ther number of root folders has been reduced to five by Magento 2 which in the previous version of the platform was containing nine root folders.

Moreover, the mask folder has also been deleted from the root folder. This new structure means that the code cannot be stolen or stolen directly from the root, making Magento 2 more secure than Magento 1.

The Next Big Step Towards Migration

Customers reported they benefited from Magento Commerce 2’s comprehensive security standards, native B2B functionality, multi-site capabilities, and easy-to-use content development functionality.

Their reasoning for choosing Magento was based on how it can be customized to meet their specific needs. You can certainly find your why in the above mentioned reasons to not delay the upgrade any further.

We recommend you to take a systematic migration approach or get a team of Magento experts onboard to help you with the migration with zero down time.

About Galaxy Weblinks

We have a team of Magento experts that will assess your eCommerce website and help you stay up-to-date when it comes to security, performance, and stability. Contact us for a free consultation!

6 factors to consider before choosing your e-commerce platform

Posted on November 27, 2019October 11, 2024 by galaxy-admin

Setting up a shop online? Well it’s easier than setting one up made of bricks and mortar.

But it doesn’t mean that E-commerce is easy. The insane level of competition aside, your problems start even before you’ve begun to build your website. You start with zeroing in on an e-commerce platform for your business but the options are numerous and all seem to offer similar functionalities. It can be a bit confusing.

This is not a comprehensive list but we intend to simplify the selection for you. So here are some factors like pricing, payment gateways supported, security, etc. to help you select the right e-commerce platform.

1. How secure is the platform?

One of the first things that you should consider in your e-commerce platform is that the language it is based on. Because the platforms based on object-oriented programming language come with embedded security protocols and hence are considered safer.

Magento and Shopify pay extra attention to reduce the vulnerabilities of websites with two factor authentication. And for platforms which do not have multi factor authentication to protect sensitive information, security plugins can provide that extra layer of safety.

A platform is safe when-

An e-commerce platform should conduct security audits for sustaining websites.
It should safeguard sensitive data from breaches and attacks.
Also, to prevent any monetary frauds an e-commerce platform should be PCI and SSL certified.

2. If it is SEO friendly

39% of e-commerce traffic comes from direct searches. This is a good reason for you to take SEO considerations into account.

Popularity of a website depends on various factors with content playing a significant role in attracting the audience towards the site. To understand things better, ask questions like, does the e-commerce platform allow you to write meta-information about the product or is there Google site map support? These questions are important as they have a direct impact on SEO rankings of the site.

Onveos is a perfect choice if you are considering SEO as a selection factor because it provides independent fields for SEO elements. Other than this you can also go for Magento, Woocommerce, and OpenCart as they play a significant role in inbound marketing initiatives.

3. Responsiveness

A responsive web design helps in providing a great user-experience from a desktop to tablets and mobiles of various sizes and orientations.

Having a separate mobile and desktop site requires having different marketing campaigns, product information & banners, catalogues, etc. Platforms like Magento and WooCommerce have various responsive themes and templates to make websites vertically stacked.

Shopify even lets you edit HTML and CSS directly. You can change the colors, size, and positioning of any element on the page within the platform.

4. Multi-channel support

Always prefer a platform that lets you sell product or service across different channels like Instagram, FB Messenger, Amazon, and others. It increases the revenue percentage on whole.

The best multi-channel e-commerce platforms are Shopify, Big Commerce, PrestaShop, Magento, and Woo Commerce. As soon as you choose a platform, your next step should be towards understanding the audience. It will help you analyse what your end users are looking for and how do they buy things online.

Adding more channels will increase the task of managing and tracking inventory system. Centralised management of the data creates diversified selling options in online marketplaces. Multi-channel selling increases the revenue of e-commerce sites.

5. Plugins and integrations

Even though an e-commerce platform has all the things to run an online business, it still needs integrations and plugins to add crucial functionalities like Payment gateways, Tax calculators, Inventory management, etc.

You’ll find a popular bunch of essential plugins and integrations that are common to all the platforms. But your platform of choice should be the one that has an active community and supports plugins and integrations relevant to your business.

6. Last but not the least, compare the price

Price of an e-commerce platform depends on multiple factors like design, setup configuration, custom development, maintenance, and so on.

The per month cost of Shopify platform starts from $9 and goes till $299 whereas Volusion starts from $15 and goes upto $299. Shopify is a perfect choice if you are looking for multiple features and add ons in your app. You can select Volusion for a more selling-focused experience.

Big-commerce has the highest starting price of $29.5 followed by 3dcart at $29. Big commerce is one of the best platforms for SEO considerations. 3dCart is a feature rich platform that builds and manages online stores real well.

Before you zero in on any platform, match your website’s specific needs with the platform’s features and estimated cost. E-commerce platforms can also utilize AI, VR, Chatbots, and Blockchain to help your online business stay relevant.

We know how important is it for you to get things right as your business is in question. If you’ve any doubts related to e-commerce platforms and if you need assistance developing one then feel free talk to us here.