Ecommerce platforms have provided a great opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to make money online. Although new stores have succeeded in this venture, there are those who make costly mistakes and they end up getting frustrated–end eventually giving up. If you are planning to start an online store soon, learn the following common mistakes that online store owners make and see how you can avoid these pitfalls.
Not doing enough research when selecting a niche
For you to succeed in creating a lucrative online store, you need to have a clear business plan in mind which focuses on a particular niche where you can make money selling your products. Unfortunately, most of the online startups do not have a clear picture on what they should sell and whether there is demand for such products. Also, you should avoid niches which are overcrowded and highly competitive. A new online store owner that sells products which are highly competitive will have a hard time competing with already established brands.
Not choosing a reliable ecommerce platform and theme
There are many ecommerce platforms offering support, themes, and features to their clients. Avoid picking cheap alternatives because they can become unreliable when you need urgent support with your theme or any technical problems. Ecommerce platforms such as Shopify are well established and they have helped many online store owners live their dreams of online selling and making money online. They also have a wide collection of free and premium themes that you can choose from so as to optimize your online store to rank well in search engines.
Picking a store name that won’t build a brand
Did you know that the kind of store name that you choose for your business can make or break your online venture? You should never rush to just pick any domain name without thinking of its impact on SEO and relevance.
Also, before you launch your online store business, ask yourself whether your name will still be a good fit in future when you have already built your brand and you are thinking about expanding. One common mistake online store owners make is to create a store name focusing on a single product, category, or that is confined to a certain region only. Such mistakes can cost you dearly when you want to expand and build your brand image.
Failure to follow up with your past clients
Your past customers are a great resource that you need to take advantage of when building your online store brand. The fact that they bought your products is a testament that they have trust in your store and reputation. You need to reach out to them and ask for their genuine feedback about their experience with your products. One of the best ways to do this is to ask them to write a testimonial.
They can also become your affiliates and help you with outreach by giving them a small commission for every new client that they bring in. Also, their feedback and ratings can help you improve certain areas to make your business more perfect and build your brand image.
Not optimizing your store site for SEO
Many online store owners ignore the importance of site optimization and they lose a lot of potential clients. For your online store to rank well on Google and other search engines, you need to optimize it well with the right keywords. When you make your site a resource for your targeted buyer’s online searches, you will gain a lot of organic traffic, which is likely to convert into sales. You can do this by having a dedicated blog section in your online store website and use the right keywords and plugins which helps in boosting your site SEO effort.