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• Business, commerce, eCommerce, eCommerce Expo 2015, expo, globalisation, Internet, localisation, London, Marketing, online, trade

It was my first visit to the eCommerce Expo in London and today I am sure that I will participate in this event again. Here you will not only learn about new companies that will help you with your e-commerce business but also you will be able to take part in various panels and presentations that will certainly inspire you to try new things or implement some best practices. Here are some tips from the last event that it is worth trying to follow in 2016.

Build your online credibility

Some interesting facts to start with:

• “57% of the purchase decision is complete before a customer even calls a supplier.” (CEB)
• “67% of the buyer’s journey is now done digitally.” (SiriusDecisions)
• 43% of consumers will visit a competitor’s site next after a negative mobile shopping experience (source: radware)
• 41% of buyers don’t complete a purchase on mobile device because too difficult to enter credit card information, and 47% gave up because checkout process took too long (source: Harris Interactive 2014)
• 46% of users read reviews and blogs before purchasing online
• Blogs influence purchase, 13% said that a blog post had inspired a purchase
• 84% of online shoppers refer to at least one social media site for recommendations before shopping online
• The abandonment rate for mobile shopping carts is 97% compared to 70-75% for desktop carts (source: radware)

There are 4 pillars of online trust

• Competence – show your clients that your company is the best choice, tell them how good you are. Unfortunately, ‘About us’ and ‘What we do’ pages are not enough. Strive to get as many positive reviews as possible and show and explain your products on your company’s blog and through social media. Few recommendations from other clients say more than a thousand words.
• Commonality – relate to your potential clients on your website, use industry language and jargon. Show that your service or product solves their problems. Ensure that it is happening through all your Social Media and Marketing Material.
• Propriety – ensure your website looks the way your potential clients expect it to look like, use the language they will understand and produce content that will interest them.
• Intent – think about the genuine intent of your business, what groups it is aimed at and is the purpose of your company demonstrated throughout your Website, Social Media and Marketing Material.

(Source: Rocket Fish)

Make your website responsive

A responsive website adjusts to the size of your device’s screen size and is user-friendly. It is especially important nowadays to have a responsive website since there has been a huge growth in mobile.

ComScore stats show that we are long past the mobile tipping point and Internet usage on mobile devices exceeds desktop usage.

Source: ComScore

Time spent with mobile digital media is significantly higher at 51% compared to desktop (42%):

Source: KPCB

The reason behind this trend is the growing popularity of mobile devices such as smartphones and emerging mobile devices like smartwatches:

Source: Global web index, as seen on www.smartinsights.com

These facts will certainly convince you to make your website mobile friendly:

• eMarketer predicts that by 2018 half of the world’s mobile users will have a smartphone. (marketingland.com)
• After April 21st “unfriendly” pages will get lower rankings on mobile search results
• Each page on your site will be classed as either mobile friendly or not – and tested every time there is a relevant search (to check if your website is mobile friendly, go to Google Mobile Friendliness-Tool)
• Mobile apps (Android) will achieve better rankings in mobile search result (and it’s worth linking your app to your mobile pages)

Get started with this responsive website tutorial.

Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to check if your website is responsive or not.

Optimize your website for better rankings with top search engines

There is no need to explain what SEO is and how important it is nowadays but few things are worth mentioning.

First, it is really important to search for the right keywords that are used in your industry. This is why you have to know your audience well and your company’s goal. When choosing which keyword is best for your website consider its popularity, relevance and intent. Also, if you have a multilingual website, try to use  area- or country-specific keywords or phrases that are popular for the same service or product.

Second, search for the right keywords for your social media. It will enable you to discover the needs and wants of social communities.

Third, appropriate keywords choice is not enough as search engines now focus more on high-quality content. It means that websites with content that is useful, relevant, informative, creative and up-to-date will have better rankings in search engines.

Last but not least, don’t forget about such data as images. You can improve your rankings by using the right keywords in your image alt attribute and file names, to name a few.

Go global, think local – adjust your website to target audience

When you decide to expand your business to other countries you have to have a good strategy. It will depend on to what markets you want to extend your trade. This will mean to localise your website first to make it understandable to the target audience. Think about different colours, ads and slogans, products as well as currency.

Going global also means that you will probably need to change or extend your payment methods. Different countries use different payment options and payment service providers. For example, in addition to PayPal some Polish website use PayU payment services provider.

60% of all on-line cross-border transactions are not completed because the merchant trader does not provide adequate payment methods for international payments.

(Source: ingenico)

This is why it is so important for your company to offer not only multicurrency options but also different payment methods, for example, debit, credit cards, direct debit, e-wallets, gift cards etc.

Moreover, seamless customer journey is also important. Don’t create unnecessary barriers in your checkout process. Make it as simple as possible. Your customers will certainly appreciate it and will be more likely to come back.

Here is the list of payment services providers you need to know about.

Try contextual marketing

Contextual marketing is online targeted advertising based on terms people search for or their online behaviour.  A good example of this marketing model is amazon. The company adjusts its offer to your latest search results.

Engage with your customers

One of the best ways to engage with your customers and gain new clients is through social media. Use them to inspire your customers, show them how your service or product solves their problems, encourage them to take part in competitions or campaigns in order to get a special gift or bonus. Always remember that social media should not be used for direct marketing. It is a place where you can show you brand’s personality, inspire your target customers and build trust with them. Many companies use social media to deal with queries and complaints. By doing so they show they are always there for them and ready to help. A good example of such practices is asos.com. They use Facebook to respond to their’s clients complaints and queries.

Featured image – source: eCommerce Expo

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Hanna Gembus

Hanna Gembus is a professional Polish English and Polish German translator and communication specialist based in the United Kingdom providing translation, content, interpreting and market research services to small, medium-sized and large companies and organisations. She specialises in business, marketing and e-commerce, using linguistic and cultural knowledge to help both start-ups and established companies improve their presence on the market and increase sales. http://langoa.eu