How Can I Improve My Site?

[Tkatsmail]

Hello, I just opened www.wild-brush.com
I realize that it's a young shop, so I probably shouldn't expect big results very quickly, but I wanted to see what I could do to improve on the shop. What would make it shine?

Also, I'm unclear on if people can rate products as a built in feature, or if that's something I'll need to add?

Thanks,
Tkat

[AskBeat]

Hi @Tkatsmail 

Your store looks great and well taken care of :) Great job!

Here are some things from my side: 

1. When landing on your homepage, the background image seemed not that eye-catching and the white-colored content is not easy to read. You could try something that draws immediate attention and also have a call-to-action button, e.g. Shop now! 

2. It is of great importance to show customers the shipping information, before checkout and before them having to enter all their personal information. Research has shown that it is no. 1 reason for abandoning carts.

3. Generate a potential customers email pool

• Use the psychology of free stuff. Giveaway something free for exchange of their email address. People love free stuff. Ask them to sign up for your email newsletter, so to send them for example something free along with their first order, if feasible.
• Or ask visitors to subscribe in your emails list to send them a special offer, e.g. a discount code, for their first purchase.

-> The pop-up format is a great choice and there are many email pop-ups apps in the Shopify app store.

-> Don't forget to clearly mention your offering in the pop-up and create a sense of urgency, e.g. "sign up to our newsletter and receive a $10 coupon code UNTIL 24 of February!"

-> Here is an interesting article on how to increase email signups: https://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2014/08/05/increase-email-signups.

4. Start an advertising campaign, targeted to your Customers Personas, e.g. in facebook you can set up a pay-per-click campaign and target on specific user demographics and/or interests that apply to your store's target audience.

• Create and run a different campaign for each of your Customers Personas.

5. Remember to reach out to customers with abandoned carts, as they are potential customers of yours.

• Use one of the apps available in the Shopify app store to send them browser notifications, what’s up messages or email reminders about their abandoned carts.
• Or email them a short survey to determine the level of satisfaction with your store and the reasons for not completing their purchase. You might find out abandonment reasons that you can rapidly help with (e.g. a client worried about the return policy) and others that need your attention and action (e.g. expensive shipping and not shown until checkout).

6. Last, but not least, don't overlook SEO, if you want your store to show up in the results of the search engines and get organic traffic. SEO may seem hard, as it requires your continuous and long-term commitment; yet, it's the only way in getting organic visitors in your store.

• Search for the term "seo techniques" and you will find many interesting and useful articles and handy to-do lists.
• Of my favourite resources: SEO made simple at https://neilpatel.com/what-is-seo/ by Neil Patel and The Definitive Guide To SEO at https://backlinko.com/seo-this-year by Brian Dean.

When you have paying customers:

Don't forget to always follow-up with them, after they've placed an order. Their feedback will help you with optimizing the customer experience and thus with possibly growing your customers base. Ask them what they think about your store by sending them a post-purchase NPS customer satisfaction survey.

• Show your customers that you value their opinion and get to know your strengths and weaknesses. You can also increase your retention rates, and thus your sales, by giving the participants for example a discount code for their next purchase at the "Thank you page" of the survey.
• Display results and comments from your satisfied customers on your website -in the form of testimonials- to showcase your happy customers and build trust with potential customers.
• There are various apps available in the Shopify app store for surveying your customers, and we would be happy if you also tried our newly-added app, AskBeat, for emailing NPS surveys to your Shopify store customers.

Wish you all the best!

Maria

[AiTrillion]

Hey @Tkatsmail, here is the feedback:-

1. Add attractive slider images in the first fold of the homepage.

2. The first fold of the website should always have a call to action in it - 

And here’s why; in most cases placing the CTA above the fold works wonders for your campaigns. This placement immediately draws your visitors’ attention to your CTA which is always good for conversions.

3. Add favicon- They are an immediate visual marker for the website which enables easy and quick identification for web users as well as unifies all of the various browser components into a well-branded browsing experience.

Other tools that you should add to make your store engaging and interactive:-

1. Add an announcement bar to highlight important information that you don't want your customers to miss out on.

2. You can add a countdown timer to create urgency for your promotions or offers with the countdown timer bar and motivate your customers to buy more from the store.  It helps in increasing sales.

3. Add a referral program. A referral program can help optimize your sales cycle, help you produce quality leads, and take your marketing efforts up a notch. People are more like to make a purchase when a product is referred by any friend.

4. Add web push notifications, it will help you to retarget your customers even when they are not on your store without getting their email address. Also, it will also reduce the abandoned cart rate.

5. Add a chatbot to make sure you never lose any of your customers. Every visitor can be your customer.

6. You should add reviews or testimonials to build trust with other visitors. Add FAQ.

7. You can start giving Loyalty Points and Rewards to WOW your customers. This will increase repeat purchase and customer lifetime value by giving points and rewards that give customers more reasons to return to your store.

You can implement all these features to maximize engagement and conversions on your store. I would suggest you to install AiTrillion.com. It is 'All in One' Shopify app that has all the essential features in a single app and is a fully integrated app.  Plus you don't need to install multiple apps. You can check it out. I am sure you will find it useful.

[Dani]

Hi @Tkatsmail,

Dani here from Shopify. Thanks for writing in and congratulations on launching your store!

It looks beautiful so far! Are all your products handmade, or are you using a Print on Demand service?

At first glance, I'd suggest adding a more lively slideshow image. Something that will grab your customers as soon as they access your store. If you don't have large amounts of photos handy, I'd suggest taking a look at the options on our Burst photo catalog. I'd also limit the text you have on this image, instead add a quick blurb of text below the slideshow image to share more about your brand.

Continuing with photography, I'd also recommend taking your own product images. Your pieces are so beautiful and fun, it would be nice to see this style come out more throughout your website. Product photography doesn't have to be expensive, our free course teaches you how to DIY while still maintaining that professional look.

I'd suggest editing your main menu to include the collection names. This makes for better user experience as your customers will be able to quickly navigate to the items they're interested in. Take a look at our tutorial here for how to set this up.

How are you currently marketing your store? If you haven't already, I'd highly suggest taking a look at the courses available on our Shopify Academy. These courses are all taught by leading industry experts to share their tips for success with your store.

If there's one thing I've learned while having my own store, it's that you'll never be done editing it and continuously improving. Just remember that done is better than perfect. You've already done the hardest thing by putting yourself and your store out there. Our support team, and the members of this community, will always be here to offer guidance and support for you.

Let us know if you have any further questions!

All the best,

Dani

[Sudipta]

Hi,  

I have gone through your site. Though it looks good, there are quite a few things missing on your store which if added can really make a lot of difference to the user experience, conversion rate and your overall sales.

Logo & Favicon :

Logo & Favicon -- Your logo should highlight your brand name. Add a favourite icon so users can locate your webpage easily.

HEADER & FOOTER :

1. Header -- Have a sticky header and a clear smart search bar to help users locate the products they're looking for.Also a slide out cart, a cart icon with item calculator must have features. Login icon must be there for buyer account creation before purchasing.
2. Footer -- Optimize your footer with more professional and functional look and also highlight your newsletter sign up so people who follow your brand will receive more updates about promotions and sales. There are legal policy pages which are missing in the footer that must be included for authenticity and security purpose

HOMEPAGE :

A lot can be done to your homepage to make it more informative & attractive.

1. Banners & Branding -- Add hero banner with prompt CTA buttons that syncs well with your store theme & branding. This banner should include info like free shipping, offers/deals like 50% off, etc
2. Color, Font & Branding -- Over All Text, Font , Paragraph , Alignment , Spacing , Padding etc should be more elegant so that your store looks well-organized, neat and visually appealing. Maintain the same or similar colors and fonts throughout your store to keep your  branding intact 
3. Featured Collection -- Add all the top featured collection on the homepage so users know the type of products you're selling on your store.
4. Featured / Bestseller products -- Engage your customers by letting them know the bestseller products on your store                                     
5. Testimonials -- They add to the trust factor as when customers see what other buyers have to say about your products, it makes them more sure about your brand.
6. Highlight your USP -- What's unique about your brand that none of the other Shopify merchants have? This needs to be highlighted in your store presentation, features & more.
7. Trust Badge on Home Page -- This is important as this helps to build trust and assures your customers that your brand is authentic

COLLECTION PAGE :

Your customer views this page to have an in-depth view of the products and services you offer.

1. Banner adding on Collection page -- Make your collection page stand out with interesting & creative collection banners
2. Product filter for easy navigation -- Categorize & filter products by their size, color or type so users find product to product navigation easy.
3. Product Label -- Product labels like % off, ‘New Arrival’, ‘Sold Out’ must be there must be there for the ease of the buyer
4. Product Showcasing -- Clear product title and description , high quality images , reviews , related products , color swatch function, grey effect for sold out products , product labels . All these features make your store much more convenient, authentic, easy to use and user friendly.
   Example of Good Collection Page

PRODUCT PAGE :

1. Features like custom swatches, product zoom in, product reviews, unique product titles/descriptions and  cart drawer that will make your product page more interactive and user-friendly.
2. You Can Add Sticky Add to cart / Buy Now Bar on Your Product Page : Demo Example
   
   This floating bar on the product page makes it impossible for your customers to miss checkout with the always visible Sticky Add to Cart Bar. Here the user can quickly select the variants, sizes and quantities for their order and checkout directly. You can use this app Cart2Sale ‑ Sales Booster
   Example of Good Product Page

CART PAGE :

1. Sticky Buy now or add to cart button ,Sticky cart -- A Sticky Cart feature or sticky checkout bar reduces cart abandonment and engages the customer in your store.
2. Functionality Of Cart Page -- Discount code , Gift wrapping , additional cart notes , delivery date picker, i agree with terms and conditions, trust badges, etc.  for personalizing your customer's shopping experience on the cart page. You to try our all-in-one app, Cart2Sale ‑ Sales Booster

            Example of Good Cart Page

INTEGRATIONS :

1. Social Media Link -- Include links to your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram or any other social media business pages.
2. Proper integration of Google Analytics, Facebook store, Instagram store, google search console -- These features will help you track and analyze how customers interact with your store.
3. Proper setup shipping, taxes -- Set up shipping and taxes options for different areas/countries or for particular products.
4. Google shopping -- Let your users easily discover & buy your products with Google smart shopping marketing campaigns.

App Integration :

Try This App - Cart2Sale ‑ Sales Booster .
11-in-1 App to Maximize your Sales and Conversion

1. Sticky Add to Cart Bar and Buy Now Button
2. Sticky Checkout Bar
3. Sticky Cart Icon
4. Quick Buy Button
5. Free Shipping Bar
6. I Agree to the Terms and Conditions Checkbox
7. Gift Wrapping
8. Delivery Date Picker
9. How Did You Know About Us
10. Additional Cart Notes
11. Trust Badges

Please check our fully functional Demo Store

Hope these suggestions are useful for you. Wish you many more sales in the future. If you have any queries, do let me know here.

Good luck!