How to optimise your ecommerce website for best results

Your website must be user-friendly, easy to navigate, and have a clear value proposition. This  is crucial for attracting and retaining customers.  

But how do you optimise your ecommerce website to achieve these goals? We’ve put together some tips to get you started:  

1. Make your website user-friendly

2. Optimise page load speed 

3. Use high quality images and videos 

4. Provide detailed product descriptions

5. Implement a search feature

6. Streamline checkout

7. Use customer reviews and ratings 

8. Test your content  

1. Make your website user-friendly 

The rise of ecommerce means your website must provide a user-friendly experience. If the shopping experience is clunky then there’s a high likelihood you’ll lose potential customers. 

You must ensure your website is easy to navigate. Help your customers find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. Organise your website's content in a logical and intuitive way. Use clear and concise language, and make sure that all links and buttons are easy to locate and understand. 

2. Optimise page load speed 

Page load speed is another crucial factor. A slow-loading website is a turn off. It creates a negative impact and affects customer engagement. 

Optimise your images and videos. Reduce the number of HTTP requests, and minimise the use of plugins and scripts where possible.

You can also consider a Content Delivery Network (CDN) to distribute your website's content across multiple servers. This reduces the load balance on any single server and speeds up your website's response time. 

Using online tools to monitor your page load speed helps. Lighthouse for instance is a great tool that does this. 

3. Use high-quality images and videos 

One of the most effective ways to optimise your ecommerce website is to use high-quality product images and videos.  

Your customers want to see in detail what they’re buying. Ensure you give them what they expect - clear and detailed images of your products.  

It’s also worth considering adding videos to your website. This showcases your products in action. It gives your customers a better sense of what they're buying, and what to expect. . 

4. Provide detailed product descriptions 

Accurate product descriptions are vital to making that sale. Make sure you provide detailed product descriptions. They should be clear, concise, honest and informative,  

Including information like product dimensions, materials, care instructions etc. goes a long way to increasing conversions. Also, adding any relevant product specifications or certifications adds authority and helps sales and repeat business. 

5. Implement a search feature 

Your customers expect to find your products quickly and easily. They can only do this with an effective and accurate search function, like Sitecore Discover for instance.

Make your in-site search easier to use. Including autocomplete suggestions helps your customers find products even more quickly. 

6. Streamline checkout  

This is the most important part of your online store. A jarring checkout experience may result in cart abandonment. You don’t want that! 

Streamlining the checkout process is vital, and that includes your social commerce operations. The whole process needs to be clear, simple, and easy to navigate. Consider implementing a guest checkout option, as well as offering your customers multiple payment options. 

7. Use customer reviews and ratings 

Customer reviews and ratings are powerful. They have a strong influence on whether potential customers convert. They help build trust and add a human touch with real world experiences of your offering.

All reviews and ratings should be prominently displayed. It’s also a good idea to encourage your customers to leave reviews by offering incentives or rewards. Amazon does this with customers that upload video reviews. 

8. Test your content 

Testing your content is a great way to know what’s working and what’s not.  

Multivariate and A/B testing helps you gauge how well product descriptions, designs, layouts, button placements etc. work.  

Regularly test your content safe in the knowledge that you’re doing all you can to deliver a positive online experience.  

Working with Codehouse 

At Codehouse, we've been building digital experiences that make a difference for over 15 years. 

Our experienced teams have worked their magic on a variety of customers, whilst using technologies that build and transform customer relationships. If you have a digital project you want to talk to us about, get in touch when you're ready.