WordPress used to be a platform for bloggers. It has evolved since then to become one of the most powerful content management systems available online. Not just blogs, but you can find business websites on WordPress.
E-commerce website, in particular, has seen a steady growth while being on WordPress. There are several reasons why it works but one the most important one is that WordPress makes it easy to combine content and e-commerce.
There are several plugins that make it easy to have the right kind of content on an e-commerce website. And with SEO friendly plugins, you can be sure to see your website’s rankings improve in time.
Having said that, there are a few kinds of content you should have on your e-commerce website that make it easy to combine the content with business.
1. Keeping Content Interactive and Dynamic
Firstly, keep your content interactive and dynamic. Simple images aren’t enough these days. There are ways to have a drag and drop feature for images so it makes it more interactive for users.
It also adds to a great user experience. With e-commerce, you want your users to not just visit your page but also buy your product or service.
Call to action buttons are the key in such cases and with interactive content, you will be able to nudge the user into buying your product far more than say, just an image with a generic description.
2. Slider Images for Engagement
Slider images have become very popular over the past few years. It has been in trend for a reason. Anything moving and dynamic on a website catches the attention of users. And one of the easier ways to achieve this is to have slider images.
This will also help reduce your website’s bounce rates and keep users engaged for longer. Most e-commerce websites on WordPress have slider images on their home page itself. It’s a great hook to catch users’ attention and display your products and services.
3. Using Parallax Design
Currently, you might have seen a number of websites that allow a static panel on either the left or right side of a page that contains other information.
This makes the user stay on the page longer when they can find other information on the same page without having to leave the page. This is called parallax design and is very popular today.
Users can scroll through the page while seeing other information. This is what shopping websites are doing these days. Users can look at one item while having other items in the background or on the sides.
4. Mobile Friendly
One of the most important aspects of e-commerce websites today is that it has to be mobile friendly. With the influx of smartphones, people are not just using them for social media but are also using their mobile phones to shop online. With a great mobile friendly UI, you could see a spike in your product sales and users.
Besides content, you need some of the best plugins to make your content functional on an e-commerce website. Plugins will make your life easy and maintaining the website easier.
1. WooCommerce
WooCommerce is one of the most popular and most used plugins by many business websites today. There are a number of benefits of using WooCommerce. It makes it very easy to add new features and extensions on your website.
WooCommerce has all the tools necessary to help in complete inventory management. It also has payment gateways built in so it makes it easy for you as well as your users to shop on your website.
2. iThemes Exchange
iThemes Exchange was created keeping in mind that people shop for multiple kinds of products – digital and physical – from online stores.
It also supports a subscription model and has a great UI that gives users a great shopping experience. It is also very easy and quick to set up, saving you precious time and money.
3. Get Shopped
Another popular plugin for e-commerce sites is Get Shopped. These days, shopping is all about the discount codes and various other offers.
Get Shopped has all the features you need to make it easy for users to apply discount codes. It also has a drag and drop feature that makes shopping a great and interactive experience for users.
4. Shopp
Thanks to developers who worked on Shopp, your e-commerce website will have faster loading pages because they used separate data tables.
Again, even Shopp has the feature of having multiple product types without using an extension. It is also PCI compliant and is extremely safe to use.
5. eShop
eShop is a very popular plugin used by many e-commerce websites today. It offers multiple payment gateways and shipping methods so it is easy for users to shop on your website. You can also have downloadable products on your website with eShop.
You customize the way your products are showcased and you can also have email templates that allow you to send out emails to your users for confirmation and other needs.
6. Jigoshop
Jigoshop is a very useful plugin if you want to track orders and give customers their own account where they can track their orders too. With Jigoshop you have control over discount codes and track your inventory easily.
WordPress has certainly made it easy to combine content with e-commerce. Developers are constantly working on various plugins to ensure business websites run smoothly and effectively with minimum downtime.
And content is a big part of this. Without good and the right kind of content, even e-commerce websites will see a slump in their sales.
Being mindful of the kind of content there is out there and with the right plugins, your content will blend seamlessly into your business and give users a great experience on your website.
User interface and user experience go hand in hand. Besides the speed of your website, content and design are what will keep users engaged and have them come back to your website.