Online shopping has become a popular activity all around the world.
There are two reasons why people shop online:
- Cheaper prices
- Convenience
Your marketing and sales department can handle the prices. But to guarantee convenience, you need a web development firm.
A web development firm can create a customized website that can guarantee your target customers the experience they deserve.
But that’s not all.
It’s 2022, which means most of the brands are created online, gain recognition online and generate sales online. A web development firm can help you in all three aspects.
The variety of internet-connected devices available to online customers makes it possible to buy things practically everywhere. So, it is no surprise that the number of digital buyers rose to 2.14 billion in 2021.
The United States is one of the top online retail marketplaces, thus it is anticipated that online shopping will continue to be popular there.
In 2019, it was anticipated that 80 percent of American internet users will make at least one online transaction, a huge rise from 2013 when this percentage was only 73 percent.
In this article we will cover 5 ways in which you can boost your eCommerce business with a web development firm.
Create an eCommerce website that reflects your brand
There are over 12 million eCommerce companies globally excluding China. It is easy to get lost in this vast sea.
How to avoid this?
A web development firm can help you create a website that conveys your unique voice.
Fonts, colors and other visuals matter. And the choices you make will depend on the company you are running.
You can’t pick a readymade template and expect it to convey your unique vision.
For example, if you are a sustainable clothing company who hires minorities with a motto to uplift and employ them, you have an attractive goal that can motivate consumers. This goal separates you from the thousands of other sustainable clothing brands.
Your web development firm will stress this point in the website with different informative visuals. They can create a ‘meet the team’ section on your website that lets your customers meet the people you are working with and trying to uplift.
At the same time, the focus will be on the products. So, there could be snippets of how your brand has helped the minority. Along with this, there could be stories of customers who have shopped from your website.
This balance between visuals, information, and products/services can only be achieved with a custom-built website tailored to your needs.
Conduct business fast
No one is going to spend more than 5 seconds on a website. If your pages don’t load by then, you have already lost to your competitors.
In fact, Google found that:
- For 70% of the mobile landing pages, it took more than five seconds for the visual content above the fold to display on the screen.
- It took more than seven seconds to fully load all visual content above and below the fold.
- As page load time goes from one second to 10 seconds, the probability of a mobile site visitor bouncing increases by 123%.
A web development firm will:
- Mining CSS, JavaScript, and HTML
- Remove render-blocking JavaScript
- Optimize images
- Improve server response time
- Get rid of all unnecessary elements
… to ensure that your website runs fast and smoothly.
A custom-built website works just as well on mobiles
People now access the Internet in many ways.
The number of individuals using PCs to access the internet has drastically decreased over time, while the number of people using mobile devices to access the internet has increased noticeably. As of November 2016, mobile devices became the most popular way to access the internet
Your eCommerce site needs to be mobile-friendly while it is being built. If not, it is outdated and you risk losing customers.
The design of your eCommerce website should be responsive. This implies that wherever it appears, it must be designed to visibly adapt to the size and form of the screen. Not only do the finest websites adapt to different screen sizes, but they are also simple to use and navigate.
This cannot be achieved unless you have a skilled professional working on your website.
A website that Google likes
If the search engine doesn’t like your website, your chances of getting discovered and making sales plummets.
A web development firm can use the right SEO strategies to maximize your online search appearance and user engagement.
This can be done by:
- Boosting your website speed
- Having a responsive design that works on all devices
- Easy-to-read design that improves the credibility of your content and website
- Data privacy measures
These factors distinguish your website from the million other websites and tells Google that your website is legitimate and trust-worthy.
A custom-built website is more secure
In 2020, E-commerce cybercrime jumped 50% and there was a 69% increase in the average value of attempted fraudulent purchases across all industries.
This can cause you to lose valuable data, lose customers’ trust and go into loss.
There are many ways that a hacker can try to steal data.
- Code Injection
- Bad Bots
- Data breach
- Malware Infection
- Security Misconfiguration
…. And more.
To protect your company, you have to take the help of a web development firm.
Documentation, test runs, and upkeep are all included with custom web development services.
As time passes, these privacy measures should also be updated. This is because, for security, the most recent versions must be utilized.
Additionally, customization is quite helpful as copy-and-paste code is not used. It is important to carefully review the code that must be used.
A skilled professional has methods to protect your website from all such possible attacks.
For example, the use of SSL a.k.a. Secure Sockets Layer drastically reduces the chances of data breaching and your website becomes trustworthy. When this certificate is installed on the website, the URL changes from HTTP to HTTPS. A padlock also appears in the URL address telling customers that your website is safe.
A web development firm can do miracles for your business in terms of attracting sales and gaining your customer’s trust. And the best part is that your website can grow with your business.
Go with a web development firm which has years of experience in building responsive websites that reflect your brand.
They should have a team of experienced developers specializing in developing custom themes and plugins tailored to your needs.
To make sure that the firm is good, read their reviews and see which companies they have worked with before. You can also look at their previous projects or portfolio to see if they match your needs.
