“Your Quick Reference Guide To Starting a New Ecommerce Store”

 

 There is a lot to think about when starting a new online store. Use this guide to make sure your store is ready to sell at its best!  Dive in and check it out.

 

Check out more helpful guides on our website or on Amazon

Now On To The Checklist!

Do You Have Multiple Product Images For Each Product?

Multiple product images are usually the way to go.  Customers like to view products from all angles. AND, Google will rank pages with multiple highly quality images above pages that only have one image.

Do You Have High Quality Images For Each Product?

Low quality images can sink a sale.  Get bright, brilliant images for all products.  Preferably one image for each side of the product AND an image of the product in use.

Do You Have A White Or Clear Background For Each Product?

A clear or white background is preferred by most ad platforms and looks best against most products. Solid white background is best.  This will also make adding your products to sites like Google Shopping Ads much easier.  (They prefer white backgrounds)

 

Do You Have A Privacy Policy In Place?

Both Google and Facebook require a privacy policy to run ads on their platform.  You need to make sure you have a complete privacy policy that complies with the commerce laws of your state and any state you sell in.  Also, make sure that privacy policy is linked to each product page.  It is a big SEO boost with Google if you add all shipping and privacy info (or a link to each page) on each product page.

 

Do You Have A Shipping Policy In Place?

Again, FB and Google require this if you want to run ads on their platforms.  Also, Your customers will want to know your current shipping policies. 

 

Do You Have Shipping Times Added To Each Of Your Product Pages?

Get your shipping times on each product page.  Paypal, Facebook and Google all recommend it. Even if your shipping times are long, it is good to be upfront about it. And, it will help your products outrank your competition. 

Do You Have Headers That Separate Different Sections Of Your Product Description Page?

Potential customers browse your products fast.  Separate your product descriptions with Big Bold headers, so customers can easily find the info they want.  Headers like the examples below should be added to each product page. It will help your products rank higher in google search AND it will help your customers find the info they are looking for fast!

Example Headers:

• Description
• Specifications
• Shipping Time
• Returns
• Common FAQs

 

Do You Have Complete Product Descriptions For Each Product?

You need a catchy intro, a technical section (where you show what your product is made of, dimensions,etc) , a shipping time section and a top features section for each product (at a minimum).  Make sure your product description section is complete.  Do not just add one sentence about your product.  Tell a story about it which the reader will really enjoy!.

 

Do You Have Product Reviews In Place?

Product reviews sell products. If you do not have them you will be cutting 50% to 90% of your potential sales!  Get reviews on your site asap.

You can import customer reviews from dropshipping sites, amazon, just about anywhere.  Or you can get reviews from your customers by emailing them and asking them to send in a review. 

 

Do You Have A Related Products App With A Minimum Of  3 & A Maximum Of 5 Products?

90% of customers do not buy the exact product they came in to first view. Related products help your customers see other versions of or similar products to the one they are currently viewing.  This is a huge sales booster! Amazon and other big retailers invest heavily in related products sections because they work!

 

Do You Allow Guest Checkout?

If you require every customer to create an account you will reduce overall sales. That is a fact Jack (or Jill). Some people just don’t want to create an account.  Allow the option to checkout as a guest to make sure you get the max number of sales.

 

Do You Have Proper Shipping In Place?

Make sure you have the right shipping and preferred shipping time for the customer’s country.  Giving customers several shipping options is even better, but not always possible with some supply chain models; like dropshipping. Just make sure shipping is working.  You do not want to spend money on ads just to have all of your sales blocked by incorrect shipping setup. 

Do You Have A Sizing Chart In Place For All Apparel And Jewelry Products?

Accurate sizing charts are a must for all products that need one.  Apparel, jewelry, watches, etc. all need sizing charts that are sized for the country and region you are selling in.  If you only have a sizing chart that is for China, but you sell to Americans, pay someone (or do it yourself with a site like sizely) to create a U.S. sizing chart.  

You do not want your customers to have to guess their American size on a Chinese sizing chart.  

 

Do You Have A Fast Loading Website?

You do not need the fastest website, but it does need to load quickly enough that the customer will not think something is wrong! Make sure your site loads well on mobile and desktop.  If it loads slow try reducing the size of your images or eliminating some apps (if you have a shopify or wordpress based store).  Hiring someone should be avoided.  Most people who say they can make your site faster are lying.  If you want a faster site, get a faster hosting plan.  That is where most of your slow site problems are coming from (if you have already tried the steps above). 

 

Does Your Website Look Good On Both Mobile And Desktop?

Not only does your website need to load fast, it needs to look good on both mobile and desktop. Make sure all images and product descriptions fit on each page. Make sure your homepage looks good on both mobile and desktop before you launch.  Google and Facebook will start logging your web pages for future use.  You want to make sure they see a well formatted site the first time.  Otherwise, they might penalize your site and lower its overall ranking in search results. 

Do You Have Good Copy Across All Website Pages?

Make sure every webpage has good website copy. This means your copy makes sense, is grammatically correct and hopefully, adds a bit of a personal experience for the customer.  That way they relate to your brand and, hopefully, remember you the next time they want to buy what you are selling. 

Both Google and your customer will appreciate quality content like videos, blogs, etc.

 

Do You Have Website Pages That Are Easily Searchable?

It is a good idea to tag all pages on your site, so they are searchable right along with your products. This will help ensure that both Collections and important blog pages are easily searchable with the default search function of your website (shopify users).

If your website allows you to add tags to your products and blogs (or other content) do it.  This will help improve the searchability of your site.  It will also help you rank higher in Google.  Google keeps track of tags associated with your products and will help use those tags as keywords in future searches.

So, long story short, make sure all of your products can easily be found with a quick search using the search bar on your site….. If you do not have a search bar, get one…. 

 

Do You Have Products That Are Easily Searchable?

Make sure your search function works properly on your website.  I know I just covered this in the above section, but I want to make sure this point really hts home.  Tags MUST be used.  They are such a big boost to your ranking ans search results.  And they will help you get more online sales!

 Use product tags, so your products are easily searchable through the default search function of your website. Customers love using the search bar when looking for new products or similar products. Make sure your product titles have tags of brand names, and other top info.  Also, make sure your product titles include as much top level info as possible.

Example product tags might be:

• Brand Name
• Type of product (Apparel, electronics, etc.)

Title examples might include:

Good Title → Nike Men’s Shoe - Red - High Top - Comes With Bag

Bad Title → Men’s Shoe Red

***Just make sure you separate out all info in clear and easy to understand formats.  I used - to separate My title options in the example, but you can use any separator you prefer. 

 

Do You Have Collections Set For Each Of Your Products?

Make sure your products are all part of a collection; unless of course, you only have one product. If you have a small collection and can’t think of more than one collection, try “top selling” “most popular” or something similar.  People love knowing what is popular!

 

Do You Have A Facebook Page In Place For Your Website?

You need a Facebook Page for an ecommerce store.  Period  Set one up, Get to posting daily  AND setup a facebook store if possible.  Linking your Facebook store to your Online store is the IT thing in 2021.

Do You Have A Facebook Pixel In Place For Your Website?

Get your facebook pixel setup now.  It tracks your website traffic for free.  Even if you don’t run ads on facebook you can build facebook data by simply setting it up!

 

Do You Have Google Analytics Set Up For Your Website?

Google analytics will give you a ton of customer insights. Setup Google analytics on your website; and enhanced e-commerce within Google analytics. Enhanced ecommerce will give you further insights into your customer’s, their orders and the overall lifetime value of each customer. 

 

Do You Have Product Titles That Include All Necessary Information?

As mentioned above (a few steps back) Detailed Product Titles are the best way to go.  People will often copy and paste titles from Amazon or dropshipping sites and call it a day… That will not work in 2021. Whether you dropship or sell your own products, it is a good idea to write unique titles that have all the necessary information; size, color, key features (like “rain cover included”).  It will help you rank higher, help your ads do better AND it will help you sell more products!

 

 Do You Have Product Titles That Comply With Google And Facebook Shopping Ads?

You want your product titles to contain good information, but not be too long. Both Facebook and Google have limits on how long titles can be. Keep within their limits to make sure your products do not get rejected from their systems.

Do You Have A Facebook Product Feed Set Up Yet?

Setting up a product feed that connects your store's products to Facebook will allow you to set up a shopping tab within Facebook. Customers can browse your shop right in Facebook without ever leaving the platform!  AND, Facebook is promoting store in a big way (often for free) on Facebook.  They want more people to shop on Facebook in 2021.  If they want to buy something they can check out from your website or right on Facebook.  2021 is going to be big for Facebook Shops. You need to make sure you are onboard!

 

Do You Have A Contact Page On Your Website?

Customers want to know that you're easy to get ahold of. Having a contact form in your site is something that both Google and Facebook recommend. It is also something that helps customers interact with you BEFORE they go to leave a bad review. Adding chat to your website is another great feature; to improve communication and to help follow up with visitors who did not buy. 

 

Do You Have An Easy Way For Customers To Track Packages?

If you're shipping to customers, especially if you have longer than normal shipping times, it is a good idea to have an easy tracking app or web page that allows customers to track their package while they wait. If you aren't using a Shopify or WordPress website that allows integration of a tracking app you can develop a page with links to each of the tracking pages, for each of the shipping methods you use (like Fedex, UPS, DHL, etc.).  That way the customer can track their own package.

Do You Have Live Chat Setup On Your Website?

One of the easiest ways to set up chat for your website is through Facebook Messenger and Manychat. The Manychat app allows you to set up your Facebook pages messenger Service right on your website and track your audience over time. You can direct people to have a live chat from your website or right in Facebook messenger; to make sure they stay connected to your business. 

 

Do You Have Pricing Set Up Properly For All Products?

If you want customers to buy it's a good idea to have a high comparable price showing right next to a Buy It Now price. This is something that people just love seeing.  The average consumer still believes stores are honest when they set a high price and offer a sale or deep discount.  You should be doing this whenever possible.  DO NOT just set your price.  Always present it like the customer is getting a deal if they act now!

 In Shopify & WordPress this is easy to set up. Always make sure you have at least a 50% markdown on products when possible.  I am not saying, mark down your products; just make it look like your products are at a minimum 50% discounted by having a 100% higher comparable price vs your buy it now price.   

 

 Do You Have The Seo Basics Completed Across All Pages On Your Website?

Do you have image tags set for all your images? 

Are you using headers correctly?

 Do you have good copy that is grammatically correct? All of this matters. 

Make sure your behind the scenes SEO is setup correctly before you start running ads to your website. This will help you rank better in Google, Bing  and other search engines and it will help you sell more products. If you are looking for all onsite seo steps  search “seo checklist” on Google and you should see tons of helpful cheat sheets.  Good luck selling!  For more helpful guides check out How2Ecommerce.com or search me, Marshall Garth”  on Amazon.  Thanks for reading!