Category: E-Commerce

Marketing Tactics To Promote Your WordPress Online Store

The COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns have made many customers shift to shopping online. To adapt to the change in customer buying behavior, many retailers have moved to e-commerce. With an increasingly demanding customer base, e-commerce is quickly becoming a highly competitive industry.

In such a flooded market, having a high-quality product isn’t enough to make your site stand out. You need a solid marketing strategy to promote your online store. With the right marketing strategies, you can reach more potential customers and drive more traffic to your online store.

In this post, we’ll look at some of the best marketing techniques you can use to promote your WordPress online store and grow your business dramatically.

Leverage Email Marketing

Email marketing is still one of the most effective marketing tactics for promoting your online store. Keep a list of as many email addresses as possible of your past and existing customers, prospective clients, and those interested in the products or services you sell. Send emails to your target customers about product launches, discounts and promotions, new content, and anything else you think might entice them to visit your online store.

Offer a referral discount to those on your email list to encourage them to share your ecommerce site with friends and family, which could grow your audience dramatically. You could also use your list to promote specials and sales with a deadline to create a sense of urgency and keep customers coming back for more. When used correctly, email marketing can help promote your online store to a wider audience, driving leads and sales and increasing customer loyalty. 

2. Boost Your Organic Social Presence

Today, social media is one of the easiest and most effective ways to engage with your audience for enhanced customer retention, customer acquisition, and remarketing. One of the best ways to boost your social presence without spending a fortune is optimizing your social media profiles. You can do that by using a memorable username, adding your brand logo, keyword-rich descriptions, and including a link that redirects users to your online store.

Post engaging videos and vibrant images of your products or services on your social profiles to increase interactions and drive traffic to your site. Be sure to post interesting content and use targeting to increase organic reach and ensure the right people see your posts. You may also consider hosting giveaways and using appropriate hashtags on your posts. This will help boost engagement with your followers, increasing your chance for brand awareness with their followers.

3. Optimize your site for SEO

Optimizing your online store for search engine optimization (SEO) increases your visibility on search engine results pages, drawing more traffic. Pay attention to your on-page content, including blogs, images, product descriptions and titles, and other content on your site. Naturally integrate keywords based on popular search queries into your content.

Optimize your title tags for search engines by adding your keyword naturally and in a compelling way. Each page on your website should have a unique title tag, which helps search engines understand what every page is about. Make your meta-descriptions of your site as compelling as possible to increase the chance of people searching to click, increasing traffic to your online store. Working with a team of SEO experts from Onmark SEO agency can help ensure your site is optimized for SEO the right way and in the shortest time possible.

4. Focus on Content Marketing

Apart from optimizing your site for SEO, ensure you create interesting and valuable content for your target audience. Your content should be original and relevant to help you attract positive attention, boost engagement, and increase conversions. Informational content that resonates with customers can encourage them to interact with you and increase the chance of buying from you. For instance, if your online store sells yoga products, you can create content that delivers valuable insights on the benefits of doing yoga or practicing mindfulness.

While not everyone who reads your blogs will become a customer, posting informational content regularly will establish you as an authoritative and trustworthy voice in your industry. Your content marketing can include a variety of content types to bring traffic to your online store and deliver value to potential customers. These include blog posts, guides, articles, videos, newsletters, and many more. Most importantly, be sure to make your content shareable on social media platforms.

5. Optimize Your Website for Mobile

With almost 60% of all internet traffic comprising mobile users, it’s incredibly crucial to make your WordPress site mobile-friendly. Without a mobile experience, you could be losing a huge number of potential customers. Mobile-friendly websites also tend to rank higher on search engine result pages. Optimize your online store by using mobile-friendly themes on WordPress so that your online site will have an increased online presence and be visible to potential customers, leading to increased sales and brand loyalty.

6. Take advantage of influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is one of the best-known ways to create awareness and build your brand online. That is because influencers have the power to dictate the purchasing behavior of their followers. Working with the right influencers can help get your online store in front of as many people as possible, generating more leads.

To make the most out of influencer marketing, work with a relevant influencer to ensure their following is already interested in your niche and aligns with your target audience. This keeps you from spending extra money on testing and finding your audience. An influencer can help promote your online store by sharing your content with their following. The content can include a blog about your latest product, a short video demonstrating or reviewing one of your products, or even telling people about your brand in an event.

Endnote

With these tips, you can effectively promote your WordPress online store across all platforms to drive increased traffic and generate quality leads. The good news is that WordPress provides almost every other tool essential to marketing your online store. That means you can optimize your online store for SEO, social media sharing, images, landing pages, and more right from your WordPress dashboard.

17 Tips To Create A High-Converting Ecommerce Website

Here’s a truth bomb: Converting your ecommerce website visitors into paying customers isn’t easy.

Data even shows that the median conversion rates of typical ecommerce websites range from 2% to 3%. Given these thin slices of the pie, it’s critical to optimize your website for conversions for your business to succeed.

If you’re planning to build your ecommerce website or upgrade an existing one, here are proven insider tips to create high-converting sites.

1. Aim For The Best Web Design

Shoppers are more likely to visit a well-designed website than an unappealing one.

Ensure a professional-looking website design. Place all the essential elements such as your logo, color schemes, images, texts neatly on your site to provide a seamless visual and user experience.

Having a well-designed website helps convey your brand’s credibility, allowing you to nurture trust with visitors and encourage conversions.  

Keep track of your web development and design tasks easily using the best project management software. The tool lets you organize, manage, and stay on top of your projects for efficient collaboration and workflows.

If web design is not your strongest suit or you don’t have an in-house web development team, you can always work with professional agencies or graphic designers.

2. Ensure Seamless Website Navigation

A complicated website navigation structure can frustrate your visitors and cause them to leave.

Imagine finding something you love but can’t buy because you can’t see the buy button. A situation such as this can raise your bounce rates, and you’ll lose tons of conversion opportunities.

Provide seamless website navigation to keep this from happening. A simple, intuitive browsing experience makes it quick and easy for visitors to find what they need on your site. It can encourage them to buy (and buy more).

3. Make Your Search Bar Visible

On average, 30% of users utilize the search functionality of an ecommerce website. Such quick search options allow visitors to find what they want in a few clicks, improving the user experience.

Also, website visitors who quickly discover what they’re looking for are more likely to become paying clients.

Provide a quick search website functionality to allow fast and easy browsing. Make it prominent and readily accessible for visitors.

4. Improve Your Website Loading Speed

If your website takes more than two seconds to load, 53% of visitors will abandon it. A few seconds of delay can reduce your ecommerce website’s conversions by as much as 7%.

In other words, a one-second lag may cost you $125,000 in revenue if you’re a $5,000-per-day ecommerce business.

Get rid of slow load speeds and provide a good user experience, encouraging visitors to buy from the site.

Improve your website load speed by using reliable hosting, optimizing images, and cleaning up your media library and anything that can slow down your site

5. Add Compelling Content

Create compelling content by including product images, videos, features, descriptions, and testimonials. Detailed descriptions can appeal to the emotion, enticing shoppers to click on your Call-to-Action (CTA) buttons.

However, if you’re time-strapped and not confident with your writing skills, buying blog articles from reliable writers or content creation agencies is always a good move.

6. Blend SEO With CRO

SEO is the process of optimizing content for search engines such as Google to improve your web pages’ ranking.

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) refers to the tools and strategies to increase the percentage of visitors that convert to your website. It focuses mainly on reducing friction in your funnel and enhancing your offer’s value.

Blending SEO with CRO can increase your website conversions because the primary purpose of SEO is to drive traffic, while CRO is to persuade visitors to perform a specific action.

Use the best content management software to streamline and simplify creating and publishing content to support SEO and CRO strategies.

7. Provide An Irresistible Value Proposition

Create a value proposition with your customers in mind.

Assess how your products or services provide value to your clients and highlight this on your website.

More visitors will get attracted and become paying clients when you offer something valuable since they can benefit from your product or services.

8. Optimize Your Website For Mobile And Desktop

Optimize your website for mobile and desktop devices to accommodate more users and potential customers. Having a mobile-friendly website allows smartphone users to access your site and buy your products on the go.

9. Design Value Packed Webpages

Ensure your web pages educate readers and motivate them into action. Doing so helps you attract and better connect with audiences and ultimately convert more visitors into paying clients.

Place valuable information near the top of your web page and include subheadings to help your visitors quickly find the sections that matter to them.

10. Make Your Sales More Visible

Who doesn’t like a good bargain? Some shoppers will purchase items they don’t need because they are on sale.

Make a concerted effort to connect with bargain hunters and ensure they find what they’re searching for straight away.

Display your ongoing sale and special offers on highly visible parts of your website to draw attention to them quickly.

11. Emphasize Your Return Or Refund Policy

Display clear, concise, and transparent return policies prominently on your website.

A well-thought-out return policy helps inspire confidence in your products or services. It can increase customer trust and, ultimately, increase conversion rates.

12. Leverage Social Proof

92% of online shoppers check reviews and feedback before buying.

The figure highlights how reviews and product feedback can influence your visitors’ buying decisions.

Testimonials can alleviate shoppers’ uncertainty about your products’ value or quality since it’s challenging to determine these when buying online.

Overcome shopper objections by displaying social proof across your relevant web pages.

13. Simplify The Checkout Process

Sometimes, all the customers want is to buy a shirt and go. If your website can’t accommodate this, visitors will likely leave without buying.

A study showed that 26% of shoppers abandon their carts because the checkout process is too long.

The solution? Simplify your checkout process.

You can implement a two-step checkout, and instead of a first and last name box, use a “full name” field. Have clients fill out their full address in one line and remove unnecessary optional entries.

You can also offer a guest checkout option for shoppers who simply want to buy and can’t be bothered to create an account on your site.

14. Offer Free Shipping

Providing free shipping is one way of enticing shoppers to buy from your ecommerce website.

If you can’t provide free shipping without any strings attached, determine the price or quantity threshold you’d have to meet to offer free shipping. For instance, offer free shipping when customers buy more than three items or buy more than $100 in total.

15. Add Bold And Clear CTAs

The CTA is a critical website element that helps visitors know what to do next. Effective CTAs can improve your click-through rate and increase visitor conversion.

Use compelling CTAs such as “Send me my copy now” or “Sign up for exclusive offers.” Use eye-catching color schemes to create CTA buttons your visitors can’t help but click. 

16. Display Your Trust Seals

Trust seals are badges or emblems to assure users that your website is trustworthy and that all transactions are secure and safe.

Trust or security seals can include your payment processor’s logo, business patents, or accolades you’ve earned.

Displaying your trust seals is an effective method to reassure your new customers of your company’s credibility. It helps entice customers to subscribe to your email list or buy your products. 

17. Use a Chat Plugin

Businesses that reply to a customer’s query within five minutes are 69% more likely to earn a sale. Essentially, the faster you can respond to and help visitors, the higher their chances of converting or buying.

Include a chat plugin on your website or provide a way for customers to contact you easily while buying.

Shoppers hate looking for information or waiting for replies, so a well-executed live chat system provides the best possible client experience.

Get that Website Up and Converting

Boosting your website conversions may not sound easy, but knowing what to optimize and the elements to tweak can do the trick.

If you implement these ecommerce conversion tips, you’re bound to see significant ROI in no time. Set your ecommerce website apart from the billion other sites vying for your shoppers’ attention and optimize it to drive conversions and sales.

6 eCommerce Functions You Can Outsource

When running an eCommerce store, there are certain functions you will need to outsource in order to have time to increase conversion and drive more sales. From graphic design to order fulfillment, you should outsource certain tasks to enhance growth and efficiency. Here are six functions you can outsource:

1.  Graphic Design

When creating marketing aids such as banners, logos, and images, it is best to hire a professional who has experience in eCommerce and produces designs that will convert customers into buyers. Benefits of outsourcing graphic designs include taking advantage of visual psychology, consistent branding, and professionalism.

A graphic designer’s work takes time and effort, so it is best to outsource this function rather than spending hours on a task you can easily hand over. Having an eCommerce store without professional graphics will reduce the overall value of your website regardless of how many products or services you offer.

2.  Content Writers

One of the most critical functions that ecommerce stores can outsource is content writing. Search engines give priority to sites with plenty of unique and exciting content. You need to have a constant supply of high-quality, relevant, and SEO-optimized articles for your store, which you can achieve by outsourcing content writing.

Writing content for an eCommerce business is difficult because the articles have to be appealing and informative without being shoddy marketing pieces. Content writers have a natural flair for writing compelling blog posts and product descriptions that will keep your customers coming back, so they’re worth every penny.

3.  Customer Service

Customer service is an essential function of eCommerce. However, you wouldn’t want to put in countless hours responding to customer queries and complaints. Answering customer questions can be draining, especially when you have a busy schedule running your online business or handling responsibilities outside of work.

You need time for strategizing with the team members on how best to scale your business. Handing over customer service to a team capable of handling the queries and complaints will allow you time to focus on other tasks and an improved sense of well-being. By outsourcing this function, you can take advantage of trained professionals who know how to deal with customer queries and complaints, thus saving you time.

4.  Social Media Marketers

Creating, updating, and publishing posts on social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram take a lot of time. In order to keep customers engaged with your business or brand across various platforms, you need professionals who can focus on the task without being distracted by other matters.

Allocating tasks among team members might lead to a lack of consistency in terms of updates. Your followers will be confused about what your business stands for, especially if there is no coordination among team members in social media marketing campaigns. It would also take too much time to coordinate with all the team members and discuss which content needs to be shared on which platform.

By outsourcing this function, you can save time while taking advantage of a team that knows how to focus on the task at hand. They will also come up with unique posts that your customers want to share and engage with, thus driving more traffic towards your eCommerce website.

5.  Web Designers

A great-looking site that reflects your business’ image and tone of voice will result in more sales. Whether you want to give your website a completely new look or make some changes, hiring an expert is better than attempting to do it yourself.

Web designers play a crucial role in the success of your eCommerce store. They create an appealing and professional website that will attract customers to buy from you rather than spending their money elsewhere online.

Web designers who know how to create eCommerce websites are rare. Hiring a web designer might take months or even years, depending on your location and the availability of skilled professionals in your area. Outsourcing this function will save you time while allowing you to access one-of-a-kind designs that will help increase sales.

6.  Record Retrieval Services

Another function that ecommerce stores can outsource is record retrieval services. This is an excellent option for those who want to cut down on paperwork and don’t need it done as often as you used to. You can focus your time and energy on looking after your customers and growing the business, knowing that the records will be stored safely.

Record retrieval services are vital for any business. Not only do they make access to records easy through a quick, remote search, but they can help you maintain your privacy and keep costs down. There is no longer a need to store files on site as you can pay for record retrievals online.

These are just some of the functions that can be outsourced to have more control over your online business. Outsourcing is a great way for businesses, large or small, to gain a competitive edge by leveraging knowledge, experience, and skills from outside their immediate team.

8 Best WooCommerce Sales Funnel Plugins to Boost Your Conversions

Would you like to increase conversions with WooCommerce’s best sales funnel plugins?

WooCommerce plugins aid in optimizing your sales funnel to make more money with your existing traffic.

The sales funnel plugins we’ve chosen in this article can increase conversions on your WooCommerce store.

Why Use WooCommerce Sales Funnel Plugins?


The default features and settings of WordPress don’t help you sell more products, but WooCommerce makes it easy to set up an online store.

Typically, only 10% of shoppers will add anything to their carts. They abandon their carts within 60-80% of the time.

There is a range of WooCommerce plugins that can help you boost conversions and increase sales. Sales funnel plugins for WooCommerce can help your store in many ways.

  • Recover sales from abandoned carts
  • Stay in touch with your customers with email marketing
  • Promote best-selling products on store pages
  • To increase sales, offer coupon codes
  • As well as much more

In this article, we’ll examine some of the best WooCommerce sales funnel plugins available to you.

1. SeedProd

There are over 1 million websites using SeedProd, a drag-and-drop WordPress page builder.

Easily customize your WooCommerce product pages, checkout pages, and more with this premade template library.

You can increase conversions, promote popular and related products, and earn more money with custom WooCommerce pages.

This plugin is compatible with any WooCommerce theme, so it allows you to design custom product pages, checkout pages, and more, without any limitations.

You can create beautiful landing pages with Seedprod’s free version. However, WooCommerce blocks can only be found in the pro version.

2. OptinMonster

Over 1 million websites use OptinMonster, the best WordPress popup plugin.

You can convert your abandoned website visitors into new customers and email subscribers.

The benefits of optinmonster include increasing conversion, reducing shopping cart abandonment, showing targeted website messages, growing an email list, and many more.

You can boost sales with optinMonster’s built-in popup features.

You can use a floating header or footer bar to announce ongoing sales, free shipping, sale countdown timers, and other special offers.

Additionally, every popup can be customized to display based on the rules you choose. You could, for example, only display the countdown timer during checkout, or only display the sales banner for certain categories of products.

Popups can even display based on the visitor’s location. With the spin the wheel feature, you can gamify popups and much more.

Note: For WordPress users, there is a free version of OptinMonster.

3. MonsterInsights

The best analytics solution for WooCommerce stores is MonsterInsights.

It’s easy to set up and features enhanced eCommerce tracking, which gives you additional insights you can use to improve your funnel and increase sales.

Additionally, all of this information is displayed directly on your WordPress dashboard. Using Google Analytics doesn’t require you to sift through complex reports.

Additionally, you’ll be able to see details about your shopping cart activity, the total number of purchases, top sellers, and more.

It helps you make data-driven decisions to grow your business and see if the changes you’re making are improving conversion rates.

4. WooFunnels

WooFunnels is an easy-to-use plugin for building sales funnels for WooCommerce. You can create lead pages, checkout pages, order bump pages, upsells, and downsells.

There are dozens of templates that you can use to create your sales funnel pages in a few clicks.

The drag and drop builder allows you to easily customize every aspect of your funnel. WooFunnels also includes customer reporting, so you can track customer and order information.

5. TrustPulse

WooCommerce’s TrustPulse plugin is the best social proof plugin to boost conversions.

Potential customers will see notifications from other customers who have recently made a purchase when they are close to making a purchase. Social proof encourages your visitors to complete their purchases.

TrustPulse makes setting up this type of notification incredibly easy. It can be installed on any WordPress website without coding, and the notifications can be customized to match your branding and website design.

There are advanced targeting options, so you can pick the products and pages you want to advertise.

6. CartFlows

CartFlows optimizes your checkout process with WooCommerce sales funnels.

A variety of templates and customization options are available, including thank you pages, checkout pages, and more.

With the plugin activated, the default WooCommerce checkout process will be replaced by a conversion-optimized checkout process.

Also, it works with many popular page builders in WordPress, such as Divi, Beaver Builder, etc, so you can easily customize templates and pages.

7. LiveChat

The best available live chat software is LiveChat. The WooCommerce live chat plugin lets you add live chat to your store and respond to customer questions immediately.

As a result, it is easy for your visitors to move forward with their purchases and avoid abandoned carts. Additionally, the chat window can be fully customized to match your brand.

In addition, it integrates with top email marketing, WooCommerce CRM, and customer support tools.

You can answer questions without logging in to your WordPress dashboard with the mobile, tablet, and desktop live chat apps.

See our guide on how to add Live Chat to your WooCommerce store for more details.

8. Nextiva

Nextiva’s business phone solution works seamlessly with WooCommerce.

You can improve credibility and trust by adding a business phone number to your online store, while also increasing conversions.

Tips For Your First Online Store Sale

Owners of online stores may be unsure where to begin when it comes to curating their stores.

Here are some great suggestions for building a successful online store to start drawing consumers and retaining loyal clients. These tactics show how shoppers interact with each piece of your online store and how each one should be designed to attract customers and increase sales.

Sellers can target clients’ interests through their online store by implementing these tactics, making their firm stand out among less sophisticated merchants.

1. Optimize The Site

Even if you’ve already launched the site, you’ll still need to optimize it after it’s been online for a while. As a result, you should try to evaluate the site’s performance on a regular basis and discover areas of weakness.

Since it’s been released, you’ll have a good chance of observing how the public reacts to it. Use the few visitors you’ve had to map out the issues that are preventing them from making a purchase.

You can utilize heat mapping software to find items that need to be improved or deleted. Heatmapping tools can assist you in determining the best locations for email marketing forms. Never become too comfy with your website design unless you’re certain it’s generating as many conversions as possible.

2. Ensure that the site gives customers a sense of security.

The issue of client trust is one of the most pressing challenges in the e-commerce business. Some consumers are suspicious of new websites that sell to them because they believe it is a scam. Some people have even utilized specific identifying marks to avoid potentially fraudulent websites.

You must break free from their playbook in order to close your first sale and continue to increase the conversion rate of your company. How do you go about doing this? First and foremost, by securing the website with SSL encryption.

Many people ignore this important factor, but a website that begins with HTTP rather than HTTPS is regarded as dangerous. SSL is a useful technique to demonstrate the site’s security precautions.

3. Target the Right People For Business

Once you’ve worked out all of the site’s kinks, it’s critical to get your offerings in front of the proper people. This necessitates a comprehensive digital marketing plan that includes finding the most effective distribution channels and methods. Social media is one of the most successful distribution channels because it is free and frequently used nowadays.

Of course, the distribution methods and strategies you employ will be heavily influenced by your business and special interest. Certain business methods and platforms may be successful in one industry but not in another.

The aim is to create a personalized marketing plan with the goal of reaching as many relevant people as possible. Don’t forget to use effective SEO to help you reach a larger audience, which could lead to more sales.

4. Partner With Other Brands

It can be difficult to buy from a brand-new online store that no one has ever heard of. To increase your credibility and trustworthiness, try collaborating with other well-known or well-established firms. You do not have to target the most popular brands, such as Nike or Adidas; if a local brand has a significant enough following, it can suffice.

Including their logo and indicating that you are partners with them can significantly enhance your sales. Fans of that brand will feel more at ease shopping on the site you’ve created. That relationship can help you close the first transaction and increase your conversion rate.

5. Make the Customer Journey a Pleasurable Experience

Customers dislike frustrating or perplexing encounters. Instead, they prefer to be on the easy side of things, and you should show them how simple the customer journey is. Include payment options that are impractical for customers, for example. Instead, try to determine which ones are more efficient for them and employ those payment methods.

If you’re aiming for a global market, this may become more difficult, but you should endeavor to cover all convenient and popular solutions.

You might also think about allowing busy internet shoppers to check out without creating an account. These tiny details make a major difference to purchasers and might be the deciding factor in their buying decision.

6. Create Blogs On Your Site

Yes, it is still functional. If your blogs are optimized, they will keep you visible in search engines. To get an audience to like you and become acquainted with your company. There are numerous things to blog about depending on your industry or expertise.

If you manage an online fashion store, you may try to post industry-related current news. Create material that speaks to people and offers value to their lives.

Other sectors may find it beneficial to generate how-to articles involving their products. That type of content on blogs generates a lot of sales, and it all comes with a large following.

Boosting your popularity is essential for making the first sale and increasing sales over time. Creating a blog will get you those outcomes; it will make you popular and help you build a relationship with your customers.

7. Allow Product Reviews

Customers, according to Assignment help UK, need some pull in order to make purchases that benefit the company. Allowing user reviews on your website with the product range is one of the most effective strategies to accomplish so.

Customers will see if the products you’re selling are worth buying if user reviews are enabled on each product description. To be more trustworthy, you can enable it on the site as well as in Google search results.

Remember that the more user reviews there are on a product’s description, the more likely buyers are to buy it. That implies you should aim to persuade customers to leave favorable reviews, and as time passes, many more potential customers will have confidence in the company. When you close your first transaction, ask the consumer to post a good review shortly after they check out.

Final Thought

It takes a lot of effort to start an online business, but it doesn’t stop there. You’ll still need to put in some work to maintain a steady supply of consumers. If you follow these ten suggestions attentively, you may take your business to new heights.

Never get too comfortable with the website you use to conduct business; always look for ways to improve it.

10 Ways To Improve The Speed Of Your WooCommerce Store

Think of yourself as a shopper looking for chocolates for a gift. When you are on one of the websites, it usually takes forever for the page to load, and it is difficult to find what you are searching for. How do you deal with it? After leaving one store, you go to another.

Speed is an important determinant of the success of an eCommerce site. When customers cannot easily find what they’re looking for within two seconds (if you make it easy to navigate your store), they will go somewhere else. As a result, your products lose potential customers. Why would anyone want that?

This article shows you how to improve the speed of your online store by looking at how quickly your site loads.

#1. Host your site on a high-quality server

It’s crucial to choose a host that is focused on speed since your website relies on it to run well. Feature-rich websites include:

  • The server-side caching mechanism
  • Resources like bandwidth and RAM are enough to meet your website’s needs
  • SSD drives with high performance
  • Upgraded software, including PHP and MySQL

If you are using a shared hosting plan, you are often sharing resources with thousands of other users. Choose a hosting company that limits the number of sites per server, or consider upgrading to a VPS or dedicated plan.

#2. Choosing a fast, reliable theme is essential

With a complex theme, your page will load slower because more code will be installed. When it comes to themes with plugins and page builders, this is particularly true.

Obviously, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use a “heavy” theme – you may need the extra functionality or design tools – but looking at both sides is essential. Additionally, many themes give you the option to turn off features you aren’t using, which is an excellent way to balance speed concerns with your site needs.

What does it mean for a theme to be fast? To find out what actual users think, run the demo pages through the speed tools we mentioned earlier. Customer reviews are also available one can check out.

#3. Use a limited number of plugins

WordPress is one of the most flexible platforms due to its plugins. Despite the fact that all of them are good, you don’t necessarily need to install them all.

The impact of plugins on speed can be attributed to:

  • Requesting additional HTTP resources: Some plugins add extra Javascript or CSS files to your site, which causes your store to slow down due to an increase in HTTP requests.
  • The addition of database queries: The front-end of many plugins uses information from your database, which increases server load.
  • Hosting resources are being used up: A larger number of plugins means more server resources are consumed. When you exceed the resources on your hosting plan, your loading time will be slower.

The right number of plugins isn’t the only factor to consider – the quality of the plugins is just as important. Consider plugins that perform multiple functions, review the speed and update them regularly, and look for options from reputable sources.

#4. Update WordPress, themes, and plugins

Plugins, themes, and core updates in WordPress are more than just security updates. Their optimized code will often speed up your website.

Make sure you update your software whenever necessary. When it comes to WordPress settings, you can have automatic updates enabled if you don’t want to check often

#5. Image compression

You want your images to be as small as possible because images are some of the heaviest files your server has to handle. The size and quality of the image need to be balanced, however. It’s best not to have blurry product pictures! To get started, follow these steps:

  • Select the right format: The best way to upload an image is with a JPEG file, which is smaller than a PNG.
  • Ensure that you are using the correct size: Do not upload an image that exceeds 2000 pixels in width if you only have the space to fill with 500 pixels.
  • Compress the image: Compressing images lowers their file size by stripping off unnecessary data. The EWWW Image Optimizer and Smush plugins automatically deal with this. Alternatively, you could run your pictures through ImageOptim prior to uploading if you use a Mac.

#6. Load images slowly

Your site may benefit from enabling image lazy loading if it has longer pages or lots of images. A site visitor will be able to view images when they scroll down the page since this functionality automatically delays their loading. As a result, your consumers will not have to wait for your media (or your products) to load before they are able to consume your content!

One of the free features available in Jetpack’s lazy loading feature that can be enabled easily.

#7. Set up a caching plugin

If a customer visits your site, all site data, including images, videos, Javascript, and HTML, must be loaded. Your website’s size will determine how long this takes. Caching, however, allows the browser to store a copy of your site’s files so that when they return, they can load the site much faster.

Hosting providers may provide this service on a server level, but plugins such as WP Super Cache may also suffice.

#8. CDN setup

In the case of content delivery networks (CDNs), a network of servers around the world sends information to users. Using its own network, it serves your images, videos, and other assets, reducing strain on your server.

The solution is perfect for stores selling internationally, as well as for stores selling in any country. Suppose your New York servers are visited by someone in India, and it takes them to that New York server to load your site. In contrast, a CDN connects your site to the server closest to the user. All visitors experience the best possible speed through this service.

Setting up a CDN can be challenging, especially if you have no experience with them. There is a Jetpack option that can be turned on with a single click that can handle images, videos, JavaScript, and CSS files.

#9. Be proactive about brute force attacks

Cybercriminals use bots in order to try to gain access to your site using brute force attacks. A minute can be spent testing thousands of username/password combinations!

However, this appears to be a security issue rather than a speed issue.

It certainly impacts security, but when that many attempts are made per minute, it puts enormous stress on the server and can severely slow it down. There is an easy way to protect yourself against brute force attacks. By enabling Jetpack’s free brute force attack protection feature, you can protect yourself from these attacks.

#10. Upgrade PHP and increase memory limits

As you are updating themes or plugins, you are also trying to upgrade your PHP version (the programming language WordPress uses). You can increase the performance of your site with every update.

PHP version is determined by your host, and you can normally change it through your hosting control panel, though your steps might be different. You may also contact customer service to have this done for you.

How about your memory limit?

Your hosting provider allocates your website a certain amount of memory. If you exceed that limit, it will depend on your specific site (WooCommerce recommends at least 128 MB).

Final Thoughts

Take advantage of every opportunity to sell
Having people who intend to purchase your products lose interest is the last thing you want. It is possible that your website loads too slowly, though.

Optimizing your online store is as simple as a few simple steps. Let’s get started right now before it’s too late!

5 Ways To Automate Business Processes With Salesforce Test Automation

It feels good when you have a set of tasks to be done daily. No stress on what new would come up every day. Just the same tasks and a perfect routine. But how long would you think that doing some tasks will make you feel happy and productive? One week? One month? One year? And then? It would definitely start to bore and you might feel like doing different things and maybe would like to take up some other interesting and important things. In this case, salesforce test automation can help you and your team to streamline tasks and focus on many important things to uplevel your business.

Coming To How Salesforce Test Automation Can Help?

If you are consistently doing repetitive and mundane tasks, or if your tasks are consistently prone to human errors, or if you waste a lot of time doing the same thing over and again and the time has come to automate! To save you — and your team — time, energy, and money, we’ve compiled a list of our top 5 business procedures to optimize and automate in Salesforce.

  • Automate Your Onboarding Process: Hiring a new employee is exciting, especially if your business is rapidly expanding. It’s difficult to remember to onboard everyone on a regular basis. By automating your onboarding process, you can ensure that you never miss a step — or miss vital information. You may relax knowing that your hiring procedure is rigorous and consistent with each new recruit. You can set up an automatic welcome email with user information once their user account has been created in your Salesforce org. You may even add them to the appropriate groups/teams in Salesforce Chatter after the first setup and have a welcome post ready for their first login.
  • Prospect Client Automation: Now that you have automated sending emails and regular follow-ups, there is a high chance of your prospect turning into a permanent customer. You may set up large deal notifications with Salesforce test automation tools to ensure you don’t miss any possibilities. Create tasks to remind team members to check in on a regular basis. You can also use automation to remind managers and other employees to check on any changes that may have slipped through the cracks.
  • Account Management: Now that you have converted the prospect to a permanent customer , you should try and keep the customer for a long time. In this process, if it is done manually, there is a high chance of your team wasting a lot of time in retaining older customers. Leave that task to Salesforce test automation! Setup tasks to follow up with the customers whose accounts have not been opened for a specific period of time.
  • Create Quotes/Contracts: With fewer duplicative activities on your plate, you’ll have more time to shine in your interactions with prospects and customers. You may also utilize automation to generate quotations and contracts by pulling data. Set up customer follow-up reminders once the original email has been sent to avoid dropping the ball later.
  • Take Charge of Lead Management: With Salesforce test automation features, nurturing leads is as simple as generating workflows and emails tailored to your prospects. Your sales staff can take advantage of personalized campaigns — from welcome emails to perfectly timed follow-ups and even phone calls — without having to reinvent the wheel.

Before you automate, take a look at the tactics that have shown to be the most successful for your team and expand on them by implementing them across the board. Automation also helps you to track the effectiveness of your efforts, allowing you to understand how changes in the text, graphics, or scheduling affect engagement.

The Importance Of Customer Experience In 2021

The world of commerce has changed immeasurably over the last thirty or so years. With the ongoing evolution of the internet and tech in general, the customer journey today is almost unrecognizable to that of yesterday.

From vastly improved connection speeds to the seemingly never-ending progression and sophistication of our devices, the how and where of shopping is continually changing. The digitalization of commerce is shaping our modern world, disrupting markets and ending practices that have existed for centuries.

As if further evidence of the impact of the internet on shopping was needed, the recent lockdowns caused by the emergence of the Coronavirus served only to further highlight just how much we have come to rely on the e-commerce model. Indeed, many experts predict COVID may also have served the final death knell on the traditional high street and accelerated the mass take-up of e-commerce by around five years.

From search engine to site visit to sale – the changing shopping journey

Even before COVID, the high street had been in decline for many years. Many forward-thinking companies jumped on the considerable advantages of selling online and reaching a potential global marketplace 24/7/365. With hugely reduced overheads and ever-improving tracking tech, these firms were quickly able to offer a more personalized service to their clients (both existing and potential), offering a level of customer service that simply couldn’t be rivaled in the real world.

These days, progressive companies are integrating more and more with tech, handing over their initial client sourcing and ongoing Customer Relationship Management (CRM) to automation and further improving the level of bespoke service provision they can offer their customers. These platforms far exceed what humans alone can perform and offer a previously unimaginable personalization and customer service level.

Using modern tech, the internet, and Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems, companies can now track and monitor every stage of the customer journey – from initial search right through to ordering and final product delivery.

Making your company first choice is now harder than ever

However, with so many companies now operating online – and so much trade shifting from brick and mortar stores to e-com suppliers – it’s becoming increasingly harder for firms to differentiate themselves from their competitors. Sure, most businesses are aware of the need for a professional, easy-to-use website and the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to entice users in the first place – but how can you give your firm that competitive edge that transforms visitors to customers and keeps them coming back for more?

Many suggest the key these days is to improve the customer journey – to pre-empt what clients want and give better customer service.

Ways to improve the customer experience

Even as a company owner, you should still be more than aware of what it is to be a consumer and what constitutes good customer service. After all, we’re all continually buying goods from other stores, so being attuned to the customer experience and service should be second nature.

Nonetheless, many firms struggle with the idea of taking a third-party, impartial view of their operations – particularly when it comes to their online processes. Improving your customer experience means taking a holistic view of your firm’s web operations. Below are just a few ways you should look at which will help improve your overall customer journey – particularly from the point of view of your website.:

Is your website Responsive?

First things first, if your site is over five years old, you will likely need it redesigned. Coding, design, and web tech have changed massively in recent years due largely to the seemingly unstoppable dominance of mobile device access. Tablets and cell phones now account for over 50% of all web traffic, meaning if your site isn’t built in a Fully Responsive format, you’ll be missing out on a huge chunk of your potential market. And it doesn’t just stop there – having a non-Responsive site will only serve to alienate your users, and Google and other search engines will heavily penalize you. 

Take a long hard look at the design of your site

Programming isn’t the only aspect of web production that has changed in recent years – design trends have had a marked overhaul too. Once designers were often keen to use smaller fonts and graphics, now the web is full of bold typefaces and imagery. These days we are surrounded by good design in all aspects of our lives. Whether people are consciously aware of good design’s power is, perhaps, up for debate; however, one thing is for sure – pretty much all of us can recognize bad design.

Your Call to Action

Do you provide customers a good way to contact you and purchase from you? Looking good and being responsive is great, but you need to keep the main event in mind. What do you want your customers to do? What is the goal of the website? In most cases, you are trying to get your customer to buy your product or service. This could mean making the purchase experience simple (amazon one-click) or it could mean providing many ways for your customer to contact you to ask questions or to begin the sales cycle. Adding contact information, or a way to book an appointment online with your sales team are a great way to improve the customer experience.

Try to think as a stranger

Sure, you know exactly what your firm provides, the services you can offer, and products you sell – but that doesn’t mean everyone else does. When studying your site, try to think as a complete stranger and imagine visiting your pages for the first time. Do you get a clear idea of what your firm does? Is the content clear? Are your products and services immediately obvious? Is the navigation simple to understand? How easy is it to order products or request information? Does your company send out automated order confirmations or read receipts? What about other aspects of ecommerce automation? If you think in this way, you’ll likely highlight many potential areas for improvement.

What do you do with customer feedback?

When a client leaves user feedback (either positive or negative), it can provide you with a valuable insight as to how you’ve performed – plus let you identify areas for improvement. A client taking the time to write you is a sure sign you either performed admirably or poorly – but, regardless, you need to act on it. It’s vital you first let the user know you’ve received their comments – but also that you will act upon them.

Check your site’s download speed

Slow-loading websites are an immediate turn-off for web users and will serve to drive customers away. Indeed, industry behemoth Amazon found that an increase of just 100ms in page-loading times cost them a massive 1% in sales. Use a page-loading speed tool like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to get an idea of how well your site performs and make any appropriate changes.

Compare your customer journey to that of your favorite service or competitors

As mentioned earlier, we are all consumers to some degree, and it’s highly likely you will already have your own favorite e-commerce websites or services. Consider what makes you use these companies time and time again – what you enjoy about their provision and what sets them apart from other firms. By analyzing the tools and practices used by your favorite services, you can effectively ‘borrow’ elements of their operations to improve your own.

In truth, the customer experience goes far beyond just the function and form of your website but taking a close look at your current operations should let you identify other, subsequent areas for improvement. If you’re in any doubt about how to improve, consider hiring the services of a professional web development company that will be able to give you advice and ideas, or try customer experience management software.

3 Essentials For your E-Commerce Start-Up

The online marketplace has grown beyond the wildest dreams of even the most optimistic tech investor, and the forecast is for this growth to continue into and beyond 2021. Research shows that globally e-commerce in the US has grown by almost 130% over the past year, and e-commerce sales reached over $700 billion in 2020.

Shoppers have changed the way they look, buy, and discuss their purchases, and the online space is where most consumers have chosen to interact in this regard. How the internet is used for shopping and business, in general, has evolved even further over the last 18 months, and because of the covid pandemic, more people than ever imagined have been forced to go online for even the simplest of purchases.

From tonight’s dinner to the new roof and everything in between, you can get it sorted from the comfort of your home. The internet is a treasure trove of products, services, advice, and knowledge. E-commerce is the business opportunity of the decade, and for you to take full advantage, you will need the three essentials detailed below.

Quality products or services

If you’re thinking of launching online, then you need to ensure that your business is credible. The product, service, or concept that you have must be genuine. You must have a product that does what it says and is better than the myriad of competitors out there. Having a good idea is only the beginning, but creating a service or product that works, or simply improving on an existing idea, means that you will need to eliminate all errors, have an ongoing testing regime, and after-sales service and support that provides your customers with surety. This is a key step, and the best advice is that you should never go to market without knowing that your product is quality; once released, your initiative will not be able to hide in what is a cutthroat arena of consumer competitiveness.

Professional and organized management and staff

If you are planning on running a successful business, you will need a good team and solid management. It is a creative process to start a business, but the mechanics and systems associated with management may not be your area of expertise. Most start-ups make use of project management apps to simplify and streamline this function. Do not think that you can do it all alone or in the various spreadsheets that you have developed. Use tried and trusted methods and techniques that are universal and able to be understood by others out there; you never know when you will be looking for investment. Keeping management data clear and easy to understand is a key function of running the start-up. If you are the creative, ideas person who could not be bothered with this aspect of the business, then either hire the right people or prepare to fail. Your business start-up requires a very hands-on approach in its early stages; setting the right systems in place and creating the right behaviors are vital for start-up success, and effective management can do this for the business.

The right technology and e-presence

If you are thinking of going online, you need to ensure that you have the right tech to manage, interact, and ‘follow’ what transpires. You will also need a reliable and stable internet connection. These are the basics that will allow you to participate in the boom that is the online marketplace. The tech and connection are only the first step, and to drive the numbers to your business, you will need to have a great e-presence. Everything you do online needs to be linked and have a constant theme running through it. Build a brand, and the best way to do this is with the visuals and interaction ability of your website, shopfront, blogs, and social media.

A few more things you will need if you have any hopes of succeeding, are commitment, dedication, and the ability to form a good work-life balance, because a business should not take up everything that you are. It is a hard slog, but if you get some of the basics right, you will be organized as you try.

How To Start An Online Business From Scratch

With a bright idea and a mountain of ambition, starting a business from your bedroom may be easier than ever.

Since most American entrepreneurs start their business from home, there might be more than a few compelling reasons to pick up your idea and run with it, virtually speaking.

Knowing how to begin making your fledging idea a titan of industry is the billion-dollar question, but the journey starts with a single step, preferably a website.

An Authentic Brand

When you are just starting out in the complex world of business, it can be all too common to feel as though your brand lacks legitimacy. A brand that appears authentic in both aesthetic and message can stand out amongst the competitors and lay the foundations for positive development.

If the sheer number of websites is anything to go by, starting out with a clear vision and an eye for design could be essential for those of you wishing to emanate their individual flavor.

Individuality is a clear component of what can make a brand appear authentic. It might be worth capturing this by writing a mission statement, outlining your goals and desires, and identifying your USP. Even if this part is just for yourself initially, the process can help you to write blog posts, whitepapers, and manage your brand image online in the future.

If you feel like your brand lacks legitimacy, remember that every idea started somewhere, and thanks to the miraculous functionality of easy-to-use CMS like Squarespace and WordPress, you can build on a feeling of authenticity before you even have your first customer.

Know Your Market

Behind the mythological origin stories of wildly successful entrepreneurs, there is likely an incredible about of market research, alongside all the hard work, of course.

Thoroughly knowing your market can prove beneficial in various invaluable ways, such as who your demographic is, the position of your business in relation to your competitors, and the maximum possible value you can expect from your products or services.

This may come across as a gigantic task because it is in many regards, but there are ways to make the process simpler when combining intuition with some online tools.

Google Analytics, Trendwatching SurveyMonkey, and Slideshare are all good examples of various online market research tools available for free. For a new business, anything free is a huge bonus, as financial concern tends to be somewhat high on the list for new entrepreneurs.

However, market research is an ever-adapting field, which means keeping up to date with the latest consumer trends requires regular care and attention.

Hiring Professional Help

An online business can have a vast number of factors to consider at any given time, including analytics, website maintenance and updates, mailing list, and digital asset storage. It is not uncommon for this to feel overwhelming, but luckily there are methods to deal with your operational requirements in a clear and organized fashion.

You may wish to consider investing in some cost-effective expert solutions from Zeta Sky, which can offer you many useful services that cover a host of bases across your new business, such as cybersecurity risk assessments, strategies to protect your network, and cloud solutions, among others.

Hiring professional help can save you money in the long-term, as your investment in expert knowledge can help you to build the foundations of an infrastructure you can rely on for years to come.

Taking Care of Your Finances

Following on from finances, starting a new business does not necessarily need to be immensely expensive, especially with the number of tasks you can now conduct by yourself using the help of online tools.

For example, you can save yourself money on advertising with a little SEO knowledge by instead starting a blog to run alongside your website or writing social media posts and working on your brand image across various platforms.

Finances are of the utmost importance when starting out, and it is important to remember that business loans should not be scary, as they are there to help you for that very reason.

Whichever direction you decide to take, it is worth bearing in mind that success is entirely possible.

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