Magento is an open sourced e-commerce platform that is used by some of the biggest businesses in the world. It’s especially useful for companies that want full control over their design, layout, branding, and checkout process and enables the user to customize everything they can think of. With just under 30% of the e-commerce market share, it’s definitely a popular option, however it will require you to spend some time learning how to use the software in order to get the most out of it.
Whether you are new to using Magento or new to building websites altogether, keep reading for a list of things to consider before you start.
“Magento Admin Panel screenshot” by Antonio Pardo from Neo Tokyo, Japan – Magento AdminUploaded by MainFrame. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.
Navigation
One of the first things any good Magento support team will tell you is that your website needs to be easy to navigate. If it isn’t, your potential customers will grow frustrated and leave your site. 76% of people claim that navigation is the most important thing they look for on a website – so you should focus on this more than your design. Make sure your categories are well laid out, and that you have an easy to find a search bar. Your checkout process also needs to be easy. Make sure customers can reach their shopping cart within one click, and make sure the whole checkout process can be done in three clicks or less. The Mega Menu and Instant Search Bar extensions will help you a lot, so don’t be afraid to install them.
Accessibility
While, in the past, most people focused on creating a great desktop site, you now need to build a website that can be accessed from other devices such as phones and tablets. More people than ever are now using their mobile devices to shop on the go, and these impulse buys can really add up to a lot of profits, so it’s not something you want to miss out on. Install the Featured Products extension so that your customers can find out your special offers within seconds of landing on your site, and install the Speedster by Fooman extension to reduce your website’s loading times.
Calls to Action
Sometimes a visitor needs a push to sign up to your e-commerce store and make a purchase. This is where calls to action come in. They are basically a sentence or two which encourage a visitor to take the desired action. An example would be ‘Join the 10,000 people who have already signed up to our store’, or ‘Sign up today and receive a £10 voucher to spend on your first purchase’. You would be surprised by how effective these calls to action can be.
Magento is currently the most widely used e-commerce platform in the western world, and although it can be hard to understand at first, it is the best solution for running a self-hosted store. Just make sure to keep the above tips in mind to increase your sales and lower your bounce rate.
Magento is an open sourced e-commerce platform that is used by some of the biggest businesses in the world. It’s especially useful for companies that want full control over their design, layout, branding, and checkout process and enables the user to customize everything they can think of. With just under 30% of the e-commerce market share, it’s definitely a popular option, however it will require you to spend some time learning how to use the software in order to get the most out of it.
Whether you are new to using Magento or new to building websites altogether, keep reading for a list of things to consider before you start.
