How to Build an Online Shop That Generates Sales

In 2020, online marketplaces in Ghana had a total of 50 million visits. This was even lesser than the previous year’s 65 million This should get you worried if you are not making sales online. Because it means you are missing out. But don’t worry, in this post, I will show you how to build an online shop that generates sales consistently.

Online marketplaces in Ghana received 50 million visits in 2020. This was even lower than the 65 million visits recorded the previous year. If you are not making sales online, you should be concerned. Because it implies that you are missing out. But don’t worry, I’ll show you how to create an online shop that consistently generates sales in this post.

To begin, understand that the goal of a website is not to generate a lot of traffic or to rank high on Google. The goal of your company’s website should be to activate the market for your goods and services. Your web presence should eventually result in sales; and repeat sales, of course. Without sales, traffic is meaningless. This concept is further explained in our post, Web Design Services.

Creating a website for your company is similar to having a physical store for the same business. As a result, I’ll use the characteristics of a physical store to explain how you can profit from your company’s website.

Good location equals good sales

To begin with, if you want to open a physical store, you will need a good location.

Shops near the road, on the ground floor, and so on are more likely to attract customers than competitors who are not. Furthermore, the structure of your shop influences sales and security. The same idea applies to an online store.

The location and structure of your online store are important. Your shop’s address and building are technically known as the domain name and hosting server, respectively, in the online world.

Think of it this way, the domain name is the address and the hosting server is the building. Let’s say my physical shop’s address is No 2 Sikamp3dede Street, Kumasi. You can easily find me with this. When you arrive at the location, you must enter the building where my shop is located in order to purchase from me.

Servers 

So the domain name is the address where you will find my shop. And the hosting server is the structure in which my shop is housed.

A website is essentially a collection of folders and files that are hosted on a server. Just like how you have folders and files on your computer. The only difference is that the computer is now a server.

In fact, servers are Internet-connected computers that run software that allows them to store or ‘host’ the components of your website. So the server is a computer that stores your website’s codes, images, videos, text, and other components. They are called servers because they perform duties like that of waitresses in a restaurant.

In a restaurant, you order food and wait for the waitress to bring it to you.

The same is true for web servers. You “order” a web page and wait for the server to serve it to you through your web browser (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, etc). When you click on a link, page, or anything on the internet, you are essentially “ordering” that it be served to you.

However, just like human waitresses, some servers are faster than others. The key is to select a reputable hosting company. They will ensure that when a visitor “orders for” or clicks on any part of your website, it is delivered quickly.

It’s excruciating to wait for your food. The same is true when waiting for a website to load. You do not want your customers to leave your website because your web page took too long to load. It may cause you to lose sales. If you require a good hosting company, I recommend Hostinger or Namecheap.

But keep in mind that the server represents the building where your shop is located. As a result, you will have to pay “rent” on a regular basis. This is known as the hosting fee. It is the fee charged by the hosting company for handling all technical aspects of keeping your website secure and operational 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Domain Names

Remember how I said your domain name is your website’s address? That is how people will find you. People will type your domain name into the address bar of their web browser to find your online store.

Some companies make a lot of money because of their location. Businesses in densely populated areas, for example. People may buy something because they are already in such places, as opposed to dry and less busy areas.

Furthermore, the signage at the entrance of your shop makes it simple for prospective customers to locate you. Assume I go to Makola to purchase a phone. The likelihood that I will enter a store called “So-and-so Phone Shop” is high.

The same works online. 

Your domain name or web address looks like this: yourbusinessname.com. The “yourbusinessname” part is similar to the signage at your store. And the “.com” part functions as the address, determining whether or not the area is densely populated.

The.com suffix stands for Top-Level-Domain (TLD). It is the most popular TLD. Nonetheless, you can use TLDs such as.co;.net;.org (for churches and NGOs); .shop; .site; .com.gh; .gov; .edu; and so on. Our other brand makes use of a .co domain (mybizonline.co).

So far, we’ve looked at how your online shop is stored on a server and how its domain helps people find it. But keep in mind that the goal isn’t necessarily traffic, but sales. So, now that you’ve got everything in order, what’s next?

Online Shop Structure

Let me ask you a few questions. When was the last time you bought something from a dirty shop? How about when you entered a supermarket and they were playing your favourite songs and got you in a happy mood, did you realise you spent more than you had planned? 

Gotcha!

You can guess where this is going. Similar strategies must be implemented for your eCommerce website. You must ask yourself these questions when people visit your website. What are they doing there? What are they attempting to accomplish? What issue are they attempting to resolve?

You should examine the structure of your website in order to best answer these questions. This is how your pages and posts are organized and displayed to visitors.

Navigation

Goods from the same category are grouped together in a physical supermarket.

This allows buyers to easily navigate the supermarket, knowing which section to go to for which item. So if they want to buy bread, they know they won’t be able to find it in the soap aisle.

The purpose of navigation is to make it easier for visitors to move around your website. You accomplish this by including headers and footers on your websites. These headers and footers can be found on all pages of the website. As a result, if a visitor becomes disoriented, they can always use the header and/or footer to navigate to the desired section of the website.

When your visitors are at the top of your website, they will see the header. When they scroll to the bottom, they will see the footer. Links (e.g. Menus) to your Home page, Products/Services/Shop, About Us, and Contact Us should be included in your website headers and footers. This is especially true for your headers.

Home Page

The main page of your website is the Home page. This is the page that visitors will see when they enter your website’s address and it loads. It acts as a summary of your website’s content, directing visitors to the appropriate pages.

When visitors arrive at your website, they should be able to tell right away what you are selling. For example, your homepage should clearly state that you sell cosmetics, ladies’ bags, assorted goods, and so on.

Also, keep in mind that people will look at your homepage when they want to do some window shopping on your website. As a result, your homepage should include elements that encourage them to proceed to the next stage of the buyer’s journey.

Consider using your website’s home page as a receptionist to increase sales. As a result, your Home page, as the first point of contact, will answer any questions your visitors may have. And will direct them (via links) to the locations where they can find the answers.

Shop Page

If you want your website to generate sales, include a link to your shop in the header. This makes it simple for your visitors to click it, browse your store, and buy from you. This is critical for me to convey to you.

Your products should be organized into categories, just like items in a physical supermarket. So that when your visitors want to buy, say, men’s clothing, they go to the appropriate category.

You can also have sub-categories under the main categories. Men’s clothing, for example, can be a major category. Then, as child categories, there will be “Men’s Casual Wear” and “Men’s Office Wear” under the parent category (Men’s Clothes).

Describe your products in a way that will convert the visitor into a customer. What would you have said if the person was standing in your physical store contemplating whether or not to buy that product? Put this in the product description. The key is to emphasize the product’s benefits rather than its features.

Contact Us

Assume a visitor is unsure about something, it could be anything. And they’d like to speak with you about it. They may become dissatisfied if they cannot easily find your contact information on your website. A dissatisfied potential customer may not become one at all. 

As a result, make sure to include on your website your phone number, physical address (especially your GhanaPost digital address), email, and, if possible, a map in your website’s header/footer. So that they can easily find your contact information whether they are at the top or bottom of any page on your website.

About Us

There are a lot of online businesses. Some are fake, while others are genuine. Before they buy something from you online, most customers want to know they can trust you. That means you should use your About Us page to tell the visitor about yourself and/or your company in a way that encourages them to do business with you. Also, highlight your advantages and the benefits of doing business with you.

Search Bar/Icon

One of the most important elements on your website that can lead to sales is the search bar or icon. Unfortunately, I examined several online shops and discovered that some of them lack a search bar or icon.

If a visitor wants to go to your home page on your website, they can always click on your logo/name. When they are looking for something specific, the search bar/icon on your website will help them find it quickly.

Let’s say they saw something on your social media page and went straight to your website to buy it. They know exactly what they want. However, with a large number of products in your online store, they may struggle to find that specific product.

The simplest method is for them to enter the product’s name into your search bar/icon. And then the product will appear, and they will be able to purchase it. When there isn’t such a thing, they’ll be frustrated because they’ll have to search through all of the items in your shop/category to find it.

Call-To-Action

When you are attending to a customer in a physical shop, you may encourage them to purchase additional items while they are shopping. However, you are not physically present on your website.

That is when calls-to-action (CTAs) come into play. They are elements that you add to your website to encourage visitors to take the desired action. “Shop Now,” “Buy Now!” “Sign Up,” and so on are examples of CTAs. As visitors are on your website, CTAs tell them what you want them to do.

Other Information & Elements

These are not the only pieces of information you may want to make accessible to your visitors. Your working hours, booking forms, testimonials from previous clients, reviews, samples of projects you have worked on, achievements, certificates, subscription to an email list, and any other information that will entice them to purchase from you should all be included in your website.

Furthermore, as an e-commerce store, you must have a simple checkout process. So that the visitor does not have to do much before making a purchase on your website.

Visitor Experience

Okay, this is a question for the guys: do you spend more money at the shop when the beautiful lady is the attendant?

Beauty

See, having a beautiful website is similar to having a beautiful receptionist. This alone can bring visitors to your website. Color schemes, page layouts, fonts, and images should all be eye-catching. Make sure that when someone visits your website for the first time, they have a positive first impression.

When your website is finished, test it in various browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and so on) and devices (laptop, tablet, and mobile phone) to see how it looks.

Speed

Your website should load quickly. If it takes too long to open, the visitor or potential customer may close it and leave. The speed of your website is determined by both you and your web developer.

Your product images should not be in high resolution. These images are enormous in size.

Web pages load faster when images are smaller in size. Anything under 60 kb is acceptable.

You can reduce their sizes without affecting their quality by using online compression tools to reduce their sizes without affecting their quality.

Furthermore, it is recommended that you convert your images to WebP image formats. Google created this image format to help websites load their pages faster.

Your web developer, on the other hand, should use fewer codes and plugins. If she is building your website with a CMS (for example, WordPress), lightweight themes are preferable. She should also select the best hosting providers to ensure that the web pages load quickly.

Mobile-Friendliness

Many people use their smartphones to access websites. This necessitates that your website is mobile-friendly as well. “Responsive design” is the technical term for mobile-friendly web design. This is due to the website’s ability to adapt to the user’s screen size.

You can use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool to test the responsiveness of your website. 

Secure Payment Processing

If you want people to buy from your website, include a payment processing system.

Furthermore, it should be secured to protect your customers’ information from hackers.

In this regard, I will recommend Paystack. Their payment gateway accepts VISA, MasterCard, ApplePay, PayPal, and Mobile Money (all networks). That is what we use on this site as well as all of our customers’ sites.

Generating Sales Around Customer Needs 

Customers who visit your website have a need and are looking for a solution to it. It is your responsibility to easily provide them with what they require. You can easily generate sales from your online store this way.

Your company has objectives. And your customers have needs. You can generate sales by providing your customers with the content they require. This is a feature of Content Marketing.

This necessitates the creation of blog articles on your eCommerce website that address the needs of your customers. Your customers have questions, they are unsure how to use certain tools or products, and they are unsure which product is best for them to choose from a large selection. These are the concerns you should keep in mind and address in blog posts in order to provide them with what they require.

You not only provide them with such information, but you also present your products as the (or a component of) solutions they require.

As previously stated, the goal of a website should be to increase sales. Keep this in mind at all times. Whatever you do should eventually lead your customers to this single destination. You accomplish this by giving them what they want and encouraging them to do what you want on your website.

Measuring Sales Performance

Finally, it is critical to analyze and optimize your web presence on a regular basis to ensure that it is effective at generating sales. This can be accomplished by tracking website traffic and conversions with tools like Google Analytics 4 (GA4) and by testing different elements of your website to see what works best.

You need data as a business owner to make informed decisions. As a result, you should monitor your website’s analytics. It will show you which products or pages are driving sales, which are directing people to your page, and so on.

These statistics are unavoidable. Because they will advise you on the changes you should make to your sales-generation strategy.

Conclusion

Building your online store in order to increase sales necessitates paying close attention to your hosting server, domain name, website navigation, user experience, and content marketing.

We understand the dynamics of creating sales-generating websites. You do not need to look for web developers and tell them to complete all of the above-mentioned tasks for your website.

Buy a service from us now and you will get your website done with all these included to help you get more sales online.

Buy a web development service from us now and we will complete your website with all of these features to help you increase your online sales.