We are very close to launching what I like to call our “Glasses Revolution”.  An E-commerce website that will bring affordable prescription glasses to every door in Ireland.  So, in the spirit of all things E-commerce I have decided to make a list of all the essential elements that you need to make a successful E-commerce website.  So, here we go!

1) An SEO Friendly Structure.

I would consider this to be one of the most important elements to an e-commerce website.  If you’re Meta Tags and URLs are poor, it will be very hard for your website to achieve high rankings in search engines. There are a variety of plugins that you can get for Joomla, Wordpress, Magento or any other platforms. These plugins will give SEO friendly URLs and add the product name as your Title Tag. This is essential for a well optimised E-commerce website.

2) A Sexy Design.

Your website has to look pleasing on the eye. Your visitors will be buying your products but also buying into the concept of your website. If they are turned off by the design you are shooting yourself in the foot before the race has even started! Try to reflect the ethos of your company in the design. You want your visitors to believe in you and your products. You can sex up your website with a number of Plugins such as product zoom and 3D functionality.

3) Social Media Identities.

Ignore social media at your peril! The power and reach of social media can really help a business succeed online. Facebook and Twitter can act as a secondary shop front for your business. Make it clear on your website that you have a social media presence. You can drive visitors to your Fan Pages by offering special discounts if they sign up to your Facebook or Twitter Page.

4) Social Media Sharing.

If you use social media like Facebook then you will be used to the “like button”.  It is a simple button that tells your friends that you think a photo or update is cool.  The same button can be added to your products so that visitors can recommend your merchandise to their friends. It is simple yet ingenious!  You can also add Twitter, Digg, Faves, LinkedIn, Buzz…etc. (The list goes on for a while folks!)  Social media sharing will help spread your products and services across the web and is a real gem for an E-commerce website.

5) Search Functionality.

It is a proven statistic that most visitors to E-commerce websites begin by typing Keywords into a search box. They may be looking for a particular brand or product and will always go the most direct route, which is using a search box. Make sure the box is in a prime position for visitors to notice as it will help their interaction with your website.

6) Featured and Recommended Products.

It is always good to guide visitors through your site by recommending products. You can apply this to products that are on sale also. By showing your visitors what products are on offer you can increase sales of a certain type of product.

7) Related Products.

Having related products means that you display products of a similar type. This encourages your visitors to purchase additional products when on a fly page. It is a subtle sales technique that will help increase the sales on your website.

8) Subscribe to a Newsletter.

This function is great for your business in a number of ways. Firstly, you can keep you customers up to date with all your special offers and new products and services. Secondly, it gives you a list of e-mails that can be used for future marketing campaigns. But remember less is more when it comes to E-mail marketing. You don’t want to annoy your customers with tons of mail but rather send content rich e-mail that gives discounts and are informative.

9) A Blog.

Blogging is a great way to show your customers the personalities behind your business. E-commerce websites can lack personality and blogging is a way to show your humour, personality and engage your potential customers with blogs about your products.

10) Navigation.

This is a very important aspect of every E-commerce website. If your visitors can’t find what they are looking for they will most probably leave your website. Have your categories and calls to action available throughout the website. Your Login and Create Account buttons should be in a prime location. Information such as FAQs, Shipping and T & Cs should be clearly labelled for your visitors. Ease of navigation will enable a user friendly experience for your customers.