Making your website stand out against your competition is all about how you present your business on your digital storefront.
Isn’t a digital storefront just a website? Well, kind of. Except a digital storefront is far more powerful than your average site. As long as your website is functional, it doesn’t necessarily need to be picture-perfect – but you might have an easier time earning new customers and keeping your existing ones interested if you spend a bit more time on your site’s digital interface.
Let’s talk it out in real-life terms. For example, there’s a bakery you love to go to, but the windows are dirty, the decor is dated, and it’s hard to tell what and where to order. If you’re a diehard customer, these details won't bother you, and you’ll buy a treat because you already know the quality. However, potential new customers looking for a great bakery might walk on by because it’s too hard to see the positives. They’ll likely prefer going to a different bakery that makes it easy to find and buy what they need.
So, when you think of a digital storefront for your business, remember: this is where your customers can browse, shop, and interact with your brand just like they would in a physical store. So, it isn't just a website; it's an experience. You want to make that experience aesthetically pleasing, functional, and engaging to attract and retain customers. You need to clean the windows, make the shop look great inside and, most importantly, make it easy for consumers to get what they want when they want it.
How to Undo Website Missteps Using Digital Storefront Basics
Whether you’re starting from scratch or looking to overhaul your existing website, certain must-have elements will help you create a successful digital storefront. When you know these three things, you’ll be able to beat your competition in lead attraction, user activity, and sales numbers.
Here are three things to consider when you’re trying to develop a website that will earn you customers:
1. First impressions matter, so make a good one. At this stage of your business journey, you’ve probably got a good idea of your ideal clientele (if not, do a quick read about buyer personas; it’s worth the time to understand the importance of knowing who buys from you).
Keeping these buyer persona traits in mind, aim to create a visually appealing digital storefront that not only reflects your brand's personality but also highlights the elements your customers are attracted to.
2. Ease of use leads to positive user activity. Have you ever browsed a brick-and-mortar shop, and when you couldn’t find what you wanted or see how to pay for it, you were tempted to leave? Abandoning a cart, physically or online, happens.
Make your digital storefront a navigational dream for users, where items are easy to find and payment options are obvious and not bogged down by too many barriers like screen after screen of pop-ups and sign-ups (you’ve been to websites like these, and even the most avid fan can get fed up with seemingly endless questions before a purchase can be completed).
3. No safe transaction guarantee means no sale. Every customer wants to know that their transactions with you are secure, so offer secure payment options, such as implementing trusted payment gateways and SSL certificates. You can also publish customer reviews and testimonials to build trust and credibility.
Most website development software can provide these services. Using a platform like HubSpot makes adding transaction security an easy part of the development process.
Make Your Digital Storefront a Reality with Less Work
You now know what you need to have on your digital storefront to attract and successfully sell to your customers – and put you ahead of your competition. Do you know where to go from here?
Let’s talk content. The right content defines whether your digital storefront is effective or not.
You might have heard the term “compelling content.” Content that’s appealing to the eye compels your unique audience to act. Types of compelling content can be high-quality images, engaging product descriptions, and informative blog posts that help establish your brand's voice. All of these attract new leads and the highest-potential customers.
To be this attractive, compelling content needs to include the right messaging. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of using relevant keywords that resonate with your audience and show up in how they search and browse online. Effective SEO improves your search engine rankings – and higher rankings mean your customers will find you faster when searching for the types of products or services you offer. Even better, higher visibility means more traffic, increased sales, higher quality leads, and consistent brand recognition (we’ll talk a bit more about the importance of brand in a sec).
What else is important for compelling content? Interactive elements such as live chat, personalized product recommendations, and user-generated content create a more immersive and engaging experience for your visitors. These features not only keep customers on your site longer but also encourage them to explore your offerings more meaningfully.
And here’s the added bit about the importance of brand recognition. By prioritizing engagement using compelling content, you use your digital storefront to build deeper relationships with your audience. When you build trust and loyalty with your online presence, customers know your business is credible and reliable (it improves your ranking and fosters long-term customer relationships that lead to continuous revenue with less effort than trying to sell to new leads all the time).
Using a Digital Marketing Agency to Make the Best Impression
Digital marketing agencies are experts in SEO, content marketing, web design, campaign management, and customer relationship nurturing. Well, in any case, a digital marketing agency like Tangible Words is all of those things – guaranteed.
When building your digital storefront, it is a whole lot easier to start the process with people who know exactly what to do. Experts can save you a lot of time and make it easier to avoid problems other businesses have encountered. Digital marketing agencies have seen what works and what doesn’t. Plus, they’ve kept up to date on consumer search and buying trends, so you’re not trying to figure these things out on the fly.
When you use professional digital marketing services, it’s your expertise in your business, your sales experience, and your marketing input that allows them to help you build a digital storefront that converts. This way, everyone contributes their unique skills to the creation of a final product that not only shows your business brand – and shows it exactly how you intend to show it – but also meets all the latest criteria for content, technical regulations, and usability.
Another digital marketing skill that helps ease your mind as you create your digital storefront is seamlessly integrating e-commerce features, such as secure payment gateways, product pages, and smooth checkout processes. You need to be confident that your customers know they’re purchasing in a secure environment. No amount of beautiful imagery and well-thought-out language can compensate for a security glitch in your payment process.
And, if that isn’t enough to show you how digital marketing agencies help you make a good impression, they don't stop at the live website stage. Agencies like these implement advanced analytics tools to track user behaviour, helping you identify areas of improvement to enhance your digital storefront over time, so you can keep getting better. How cool is that?!
Now that you know how important your digital storefront is for improving your customer base and increasing your sales numbers, find the people who can help you create one that’s tailored to your business and keeps you ahead of your competition.
Go on, get started!
Let Experts Make Your Website a Profitable Digital Storefront
