Congratulations on getting your ecommerce website launched! That’s quite an accomplishment and one that should be celebrated. It takes a lot of work and effort to reach this point! But you can’t stop now. You’ve only really started!
We’re sorry to burst your bubble, but it’s true. Getting your ecommerce website up and running is only the beginning. There’s still more to do!
In this article, we’ll review the free things you need to do once your ecommerce website has been launched. Let’s get started!
1) Prepare and Submit Product Feeds
Now your site’s all set up and launched, it’s time to prepare and submit your product feeds. You can submit your product data feed to shopping platforms such as Amazon and Google Shopping. This provides the shopping platforms with information on what you’re selling.
The product data feed provides comprehensive, specific information about your products. The reason for this is that searches will become more relevant. This can lead to higher conversion rates when site visitors find specific products they are searching for.
This isn’t the most exciting work in the world; however, it is work that helps customers find you. Your site will have better, targeted traffic if you put in the work to create the product data feed and submit it.
2) Install a Backup Plugin
Your ecommerce site is up and running; however, what happens if the server goes down or another problem causes an outage and loss of data for your site? Think of the repercussions this could have on your business. For this very reason, it’s essential to protect your investment and hard work by using a backup plugin.
The backup plugin works to create regular backups of your site. Then if the worst should happen, such as a security breach or a server crash, getting your site back up and running will be faster and easier. That’s because the data will be backed up, ready to restore when something goes wrong.
Notice we said, “when something goes wrong.” Expect that you will at some point experience a major outage and be prepared with the backup plugin!
3) Set up Your XML Sitemap File
This is another task that’s not very exciting; however, it can mean the difference between having your site found and indexed or not. That’s because Google and other search engines use the XML sitemap to index your entire site.
The sitemap helps the search engines have a complete understanding of your site, which helps your site to rank higher in the search.
If you use WordPress, then it’s easy to create a sitemap. All you need to do is install the Google XML Sitemaps plugin. Then the plugin will create the sitemap for you!
4) Get Active on Social Media
After launching a website, you want to gain traffic and visitors! One of the easiest ways to do this is by promoting your website across social media platforms.
Consider the fact the most popular social media platforms have millions of users each. Why not take advantage of these built-in audiences by promoting your website?
Some of the most popular social media platforms today include Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Work to build up followers on these or other platforms that are best for your business. You’ll find that over time, traffic to your website grows.
5) Create Social Media Accounts for Your Website
Rather than using your personal social media accounts, it’s best to create social media accounts specifically for your ecommerce website. Not only can these be used to get the word out about your business and website, but social media accounts can also make your business look more credible and add more authority to your site.
The reason is that people have a tendency to trust websites that are visible and active on social media. Think about that for a second. If you find a business that’s not active or visible on social media, do you trust them? That’s our point!
The more subscribers you have and the more interactions you have with followers, the more credibility your business will gain.
So, be sure to create social media accounts for your website as soon as possible to reap the benefits of being seen and credible.
6) Create Consistent, Relevant Content
This is another area that many ecommerce website owners tend to forget. Once your site is up and running, why worry about creating consistent content? For one thing, consistent content keeps your business and website current and relevant. Site visitors will quickly leave if they find the site is old and stale.
So, work hard to create consistent content, which is relevant for your target audience. You’ll have more traffic and site users by adding fresh content on a regular basis.
7) Configure Google Analytics
Remember to configure Google Analytics for your new ecommerce website. Google Analytics is a free service that makes it easy to gather and analyse data from your website. You can gain valuable insights and data by using Google Analytics, including:
- Where site traffic originates
- Who your traffic is
- Which keywords are working (or not)
- Number of site visitors
- And more
This data can help you fine-tune the website to meet the needs of the target audience. You can also use the data to make important business decisions that can scale your business.
8) Send Out a Press Release
Another free, effective way to get the word out about your new website is to send out a press release. Think of the press release as a type of short introduction. It doesn’t have to be long and just lets people know who you are and what your site is all about.
9) Make Your Site SEO Optimised
Your site’s SEO must be optimised in order to reach and draw your target audience. So, getting the SEO right is imperative to your site’s success. The result will be more traffic and higher conversion rates.
If you’re not an SEO expert, don’t despair. You can try a free plugin called Yoast SEO. This is a plugin that’s extremely popular with businesses that use WordPress. They’ve found the plugin helped them rank better in the search engines, resulting in an increase in targeted traffic.
There you have it! These are some free methods and tools you can use to increase your site’s traffic and search engine rankings.
Follow these tips and watch your website traffic and conversion rates take off!