Online stores on promotion, in our experience, are both more promising and more problematic projects than regular websites. And if you see a contradiction here, then welcome under the cat, where I will tell you what is at stake. And at the same time I will tell you what can be foreseen in advance in order not to pay later.
 
 

What we like in online stores

 
Oh, there is something to tell:
 
 
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Firstly, we are talking about direct trade, so the customer will feel the very “effect of promotion” on the sales growth. And this is a huge plus when you talk about the feasibility of investments and the possibility of expansion.
 
Secondly, online stores work with a “hotter” audience, so you can count on a higher conversion than from a regular site. Here, of course, there are a lot of components of success, but all other things being equal it is just that.
 
Thirdly, other measurable indicators that the customer is focused on are formal and understandable. This is not a group in VK, where likes and repost may not mean anything.
 
Fourthly, besides SEO, other tools are relevant for online stores, if you have them, of course. Aggregators, context, but at least arbitration traffic. Everything that creates leads, is sold or donated as a nice bonus, and from the first month of work. And it gives effect.
 
Fifthly, the owners of online stores usually already have some trading experience and better understand the logic of advertising investments, because they are more open to your offers.
 
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The cool thing about this is that it is possible to discuss the service in the language of business and in terms of its economy. So, communication theoretically should take less time, and its effectiveness should be higher.
 
 

What we do not like in online stores

 
Unfortunately, in reality, online shopping has to be developed together with the owners, because the first thing we face is a huge amount of ill-considered aspects and trivial flaws. And this automatically increases the budget for the work that is needed to correct them.
 
 
I will try to list those problems that are best inexpensively solved at the design stage, so that you do not have to order them from us separately.
 
 
3r3196. Failure to load
 

 
The owner does not see that the loading time of the pages exceeds the norm, since it will not be noticed by an inexperienced eye. But the numbers show: as soon as 300 users simultaneously land on the site, it will immediately fall down, and you can stop talking about sales.
 
“Yes, we do not have such loads, what are you talking about! Attendance will begin to grow, then we will resolve the issues: as they become available. "
 
No, we will not bring this up before, if only because a badly rebuilt server prevents normal indexing. And believe me, you do not want to know from your own experience what a fallen website is at the height of the next “Black Friday” when literally everything is bought, including your car oil with a 10% discount.
 
 
3r3196. Complete or almost complete lack of metrics
 

 
The owner may even realize that it is important to count visitors and goods in the basket, but
 
“What is there to count if there are 100 of them per month, of which 80 are permanent? Yes, we know them all by sight and recognize them by voice. ”
 
We all love customer focus. The only pity is that the owner is not bothered by those who pass through the site and do not buy anything. But they also have something to offer. We ask passwords from analytics systems, we go in, and usually, apart from basic reports, there is nothing there. And this is very sad, because this knowledge, accumulated over a couple of years of not very successful work, would be useful to us now. Well, you have to customize them just now.
 
 
3r3196. Free CMS
 

 
I will not argue that they are not of high quality, but I did not come across these. Especially among those that imply online commerce. And the matter is not even in acquiring or modules for displaying headers (although in them too). It's a shame when a store arrives, which for two years has been gaining a customer base, and it cannot even be properly unloaded by segments.
 
“We have set this up for overclocking, this one is free. The volumes are small, everything can be done in Excel, why spend money on a boxed expensive CMS? ”
 
 
Then, when the site starts to generate 30–40 orders per day, it will become obvious how far the chosen tool does not match the needs. And so that this does not happen, we will offer you a better option to save on development in the future: to invent endless “crutches” every time your CMS is not capable of something, it will cost much more.
 
 
3r3196. Lack of scripts to work with segments
 
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Almost no one builds a system of catch-up and trigger mailings (with the exception of basic ones serving the order), advertising by segments, retargeting. The banal lack of knowledge about their existence, and the previous paragraph, also have an effect.
 
“If we’re a stock, then we’ll be sending out a newsletter, but in order to send each one our offer, we simply don’t have such data for our customers!” 3r3210.
 
The reason is the same free CMS and inability to work with metrics. What is bad for SEO? For example, the fact that the obvious leads will simply not be brought to the funnel properly. And such questions will interest us if you want to pay for leads.
 
 
3r3196. Design conservatism
 
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To a greater extent this applies to old sites and sites made "on the knee." Owners tend to literally fall in love with the look, even if it is endlessly outdated. This is especially pronounced if the online store has a scanty regular audience. On the one hand, this tells the owner that the current look of the site is “working”, and on the other, that this very audience will be upset after seeing the changes.
 
“Customers like, why change? We conducted a survey: they say that everything is fine. "
 
This is a typical case of a “survivor’s mistake”: an audience that did not like the site will never tell what exactly was wrong. For this you need A /B tests. But when we hold them, then be prepared that some buttons may “move” to the other edge of the screen, and you will have to get used to the new structure.
 
 
3r3196. Careless attitude to your own product
 
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There are goods that you want to love, and goods that you do not want to love. In areas where products are harder to describe, they are usually not described.
 
“I understand if I would sell teddy bears: I would write what they are cute, kind and cool. But I sell wrenches! What about them in general, you can write, except that they are 12 or 9? ”
 
In fact, it is possible, although it will not be easy with wrenches. Photo descriptions, specifications - all this will need to be created from scratch, if it is now empty in the catalog.
 
 
3r3196. Lack of connection with the warehouse
 
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This happens rarely, but it happens. It is typical for online storefronts, where you can not pay, but you can create an application.
 
“If we run out of steel sheet in the warehouse, then we just call the customer and say that he does not have it. Every time something on the site to change the information? Yes, we'd rather offer him something else than he just won't leave a request. ”
 
 
Yes, every time, but not manually, of course. It is done very simply: we need integration with 1C. Do you like to know that you were hoping for something? No one likes it. Do not force potential buyers to experience such emotions. And it is better to offer “something else” by means specially developed for this purpose.
 
 
3r3196. Lack of communication with people
 
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I know that there are disputes about the influence of online consultants on behavioral factors, but I have not seen any real negative consequences of their use. But I met real cases of leaving the “Question - Answer” page, 3r-3223.  
when there was no answer.
 
“We simply have no one to answer, better let them call by phone. And so they will write, they will not answer, and it will be even worse. ”
 
If they don't answer, yes. But today this is not a problem at all, and it is even not always necessary to hire an individual employee. Modern CRM already includes the ability to integrate all possible forms, including appeals from social networks. Incoming calls are processed as leads instantly, and then the script selected for each type is connected. Although, if we are sincere, then working without an operator is somehow disreputable for a company focused on results.
 
 
3r3196. Non-adaptive execution
 

 
On smartphones, the site turns into some kind of unbelievable mess, and working with it is
 
Extremely impossible.
 
“For now, we are only counting on those who log in from the computer. All the same, it is inconvenient to fill in the form in the basket from the phone, even from the home of
 
rmlyat ".
 
Too bad it is inconvenient to fill out a form! From a mobile phone it should be possible to do everything in one click and with SMS confirmation. Now there is a lot of mobile traffic, and you not only cut off a huge part of the potential client audience, but also increase the percentage of failures on the site. In general, again behavioral, plus the exclusion of social signals from mobile phones - very bad for both SEO and sales.
 
 

What should I do with this information?

 
I have listed only those factors that you should consider, even if you are not going to order promotion right now. SEO doesn’t even start on them, it’s rather a reduction to a basic level at which it makes sense to start work in order not to do it in vain.
 
 
If you can relate to any of the above, then we recommend correcting the shortcomings and improving your online store today. 3r33232.
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