5 Ingredients Every Ecommerce Website Needs

Want to know the recipe for ecommerce success? A lot of it comes down to the quality of your website. Here are five key ingredients that every ecommerce site needs to make sales.

High quality images

Customers won’t buy your product if they can’t clearly see what it looks like first. Make sure to capture high resolution photographs of all your products under soft, bright lighting using a high quality camera. Maintain consistency by taking photos of all your products in front of the same background from the same position. You don’t have to settle for one photo per product - in fact, the best product pages often include multiple photos from different angles (potentially even 360 degree photos), close-ups of details and ‘lifestyle’ shots of models interacting with your product. Hiring a professional photographer with product photography experience is recommended. 

SEO-optimized product descriptions

Next, think about your product descriptions. These should be detailed descriptions containing essential information such as price, size dimensions, materials, care instructions, country of origin and delivery times. Add keywords to these descriptions that you think your customers will be searching for - this will help your product landing pages to rank more highly for these search terms. You can do your own keyword research  or work with an SEO agency to find the best keywords. While product descriptions should be detailed, they also need to be easily readable, so try to use succinct language and features like bullet points and charts to highlight key information. 

Secure payment gateway

A secure payment gateway that meets PCI DSS standards is also essential. This involves working with a payment processor. When choosing a payment processor for small business operations, compare pricing and make sure that all major credit/debit cards are accepted. Some payment gateways can also process multiple currencies including crypto payments. Think about what your payment needs are - a basic payment gateway may be all you need if you’re just handling low-volume domestic orders.

SSL certificate

To make your website more secure and improve customer trust, consider applying for an SSL certificate. This is a digital file that helps encrypt the data of each visitor to help reduce the threat of information being stolen by hackers. An SSL certificate also changes the beginning of the URL from ‘http’ to ‘https’ and a padlock symbol is displayed in the browser address bar to boost customer trust. You can apply for an SSL certificate online via most hosting providers. 

Return/refund policy

What happens if someone wants to return their product or wants a refund? A transparent return/refund policy can outline exactly what your customers’ rights are - you can include this as small print under each product description or direct customers to a separate page. Information to incorporate in this policy should include the return window, methods of refund and exclusion conditions (specifying clothes must be ‘unworn’ to be returned). Legal writers can help you to create a clear return/refund policy, or you can look at templates online to copy.