“I practically buy everything online now,” one of our colleagues confessed to us, earlier this week, “It’s just too easy and convenient not to. I’ve gotten accustomed to just looking something up online and clicking on it if it’s available. It definitely beats driving out to a store, searching for it on the shelves and standing in line to pay for it.”

Unquestionably, online shopping is popular. However, you can’t take for granted that your online shop will be successful. What can you do to create an attractive e-commerce site?

Optimize your website for search engines.

SEO (search engine optimization) counts for a lot. In simple terms, it refers to how often your site pops up in search engines. Naturally, you want your site to be a popular find when online users type in keywords that are related to your industry. To outdo the sites of your competitors, it’s important to better your website’s design and content.

“Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the practice of refining your business website so your pages rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), most notably Google,” explain Farrah Daniel and Adam Hardy of Forbes, “Ensure your design and content work properly on computers, mobile phones and tablets. Do not underestimate your website’s performance on mobile devices. Up to half of web traffic now comes from smartphones.”

Offer online-exclusive promotions.

“Only available online” – this is a great way to garner greater interest in your e-commerce shop. Consumers love the idea of being able to take advantage of special deals. If they can go to your online store and see promotions they can’t get anywhere else, they will be a lot more likely to take advantage of them. Offer exclusive deals in your online store. We’re not just talking about discounts. There’s a wide range of promotions to choose from.

“Everybody loves free stuff and fantastic deals,” writes Rocco Bombardieri of The Influence Agency, “Whether you offer free shipping for a minimum purchase or have curated bundle deals that are a steal deal, make these visible on your e-commerce site through well-designed banners.”

Regularly create and publish quality content.

The Unity Payments website is updated with a new blog no less than three times a week! We love pumping out new content because it enriches our website with valuable information. Naturally, this helps to grow our SEO. It also offers a customer service resource to our site’s visitors, encouraging them to keep coming back.

“Sharing compelling content establishes you as an expert in your industry and helps grow a loyal community for your business,” notes Daniel and Hardy, “This might include blogs, videos, podcast episodes, case studies and more. As a bonus, this content may help boost your ranking in search results and increase site visitors.”

Take advantage of Unity Payments’ online payment gateway.

Enhance your customers’ checkout experience with our reliable and secure e-commerce solution! Seamlessly integrate our online payment gateway into your website or mobile application to facilitate secure credit card transactions. To learn all about it, please don’t hesitate to call us at 1-800-661-3761 or email us at info@unitypayments.ca.

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