E-Commerce Website Checklist – Important Points to Check Before Launch

E-Commerce Website Checklist – Important Points to Check Before Launch

So you’ve finally finished curating & developing your eCommerce website, and the day to its launch is getting closer. But before you reach that stage, there are certain things you need to check to ensure that your buyers experience a stunning website.

Launching a brick and mortar store involves a tremendous amount of efforts during the pre-launch, launch & post-launch stages. If you thought it would be any different while launching your eCommerce website, you need to think again! If your website crashes, has a low load speed or lags on the day it is launched, it’ll leave a negative impact on your buyers. This scenario could be one of the many if you don’t run thorough checks before you launch your website.

Here is a detailed eCommerce checklist of the important things you must look out for before the launch of your eCommerce website.

Make sure technical functions go well

Host

Make sure you have the correct hosting package to match the exact needs of your eCommerce website. Ideally, your hosting package should be confirmed with an SSL certificate for your eCommerce website.  

Server log

Make sure your website is displaying all debug output that has been used during development. This is important for upgrading the website speed and to avoid filling the hard drive of the server with unnecessary data.

Site speed

There are chances of your website going unnoticed if it is not ranked at the top. It is important for eCommerce store owners to test their website’s load time all the time in order to better understand the steps required to ensure their work and products are being noticed. Since loading speed is one of the most important aspects of providing a great user experience, it is important for you to pay special attention to your website’s speed and whether or not it caters to the visitors’ needs. It typically takes just 5 seconds to decide whether a customer will stay with you or not.

Check page performance

An online store’s setup plays a major role in customer experience, so it is important to check how your page appeals to your customers. Therefore, you should check the following:

Search engine

Make sure your search bar is always presented in the most seen place on every page. The highly recommended position is the top right or top middle.

Navigation menu

The navigation menu is a bar presenting the values of the website and your business. Make sure tools in the menu bar are arranged as per the prioritization & are easily accessed. Moreover, the cart in the header bar should have the following order: main product, promotion, customer service, differentiating additional information.

Cart icon

Cart icon functions typically similar to a search engine because the customer is about to check their chosen items when considering to continue shopping with you. Make sure your cart icon is visible on every page.

Contact information

Contact information should be ideally presented on every page, not just for branding but also for customer assurance with your website. It should be easy for shoppers to reach out to you in case of any issue or if they need further information about products.

Contact information on your website should include:

  •       Customer support number
  •       Email address
  •       Address
  •     Social media links

Test the core actions of customers

This is when you should examine what your customers are looking for on your website & what are their habits in shopping.

Choosing products

Make sure your products are shown with full perspectives such as basic information, material, functions, etc. Check for the image quality, video functions, and brief information about the product should be given in the most visible manner for reading. Give shoppers an easy option to check if the product is available in their area.

The most used functions on a product page are:

  •       The “Add to cart” option and other buying options should be highlighted
  •       You should not miss the “Add to wishlist” option
  •       “Suggested items” should be filtered and qualified as per customer’s wish based on their search and buying history

      Include top selling products that are similar to the products that a customer is looking for and offer promotions.

Cart

A shopping cart is a place that purely belongs to the customer. In general, every shopper’s choice should be processed clearly & speedily. You must ensure that:

  •       The product name & image must be clear during checkout. This helps customers overview what they’ve chosen and make the final decision and come to the checkout page.
  •       Products’ price must be accurate at every step as this is the most crucial factor in online shopping. Make sure the price details clearly show the discounted total amount, including the extra logistics fee, and other variables.
  •       Always link to the product page 
  •       Make sure to provide a ‘remove/delete’ product and ‘clear cart’ button at every step.

Shipping

Shipping time plays a significant role in boosting customer’s confidence. Provide as many methods of shipping as your business is able to control. Also, see if you can provide free shipping as customers usually prefer free shipping with high payment value.

Payment method

Ensure you are offering all the basic payment methods such as master or visa card, digital wallet, etc. If possible, offer cash/card/wallet payment on delivery as this gives customers confidence that your services are genuine and you will not take their money without returning services. Also, this increases the chances of them choosing your services in the future as well.

Confirmation

This step should be as precise as possible because your customer would have spent enough time checking their product. Ask for brief & exact information from the customer and make confirmation.

Pay attention to what you want to be seen

Make sure to check the following things for a perfect eCommerce website design:

Logo

A logo is your brand’s identity summarizing what your brand is all about. Placing the logo on the top left of the web page is a common practice. The reason behind this is the topmost section is most visible and first catches the eye. So, ensure that your logo is placed above the text or alongside it. Also, if your brand has a tagline, be sure to include it below the logo.

Font style and size

Font across the website should fit within the same family/design scheme. Ensure the font across the website is implemented carefully, and it should match both the style of your brand and maintain consistency across the entire website.

Colour

It is always better to choose colour following the colour psychology to maximize the advantages. Make sure you are using appropriate colours for your market and products. It is advised to choose one colour to distinguish your website from others in the business, in order to, identify, call for actions and return for shopping. Colours of functions like add to cart, categories, header, etc., should fit well together & send a complimentary message.

Check for additional functions

Policies

Policies are often crucial for maintaining customer’s confidence as they may even bring customers back to your website. In some cases, when your eCommerce website acts as an aggregator in the C2C model, a supplier may not be under your control; but it is important for you to ensure that the products offered on your website are qualified as a promise. Since cyber-security has always been a major concern for online shoppers, so ensure your every page has links to the following pages:

  •       Customer Testimonials
  •       Why Us
  •       Return Policy
  •       Privacy Policy
  •       Delivery Information

Comments & Reviews

A commenting system or giving reviews is a great way of developing unique on-page content as well as enabling buyers to share their insights. Make sure you add a section for each product where your customers can add or view reviews.

Content & SEO considerations

Clear & concise URLs for product & category pages

Your products and category pages must have unique title tags and meta descriptions. Make sure that your URLs are not just short & keyword-driven, but your page titles and meta descriptions are also unique and include your brand’s keywords. Both the title and Meta descriptions play an important role for your website as they surface on Google’s SERP — and it is the first thing that will stand out among you and your competitors.

Ending Note

This eCommerce website launch checklist is certainly not just about the internal functions such as techniques but also about putting yourself in your customer’s shoes and analyzing what their experience will be like to shop from your website.

Launching a website can be daunting; it may even give you sleepless nights. Moreover, if you don’t have these points under check, you’ll face the wrath of an unsuccessful launch. So why fall for it? Invest your time and energy to review every single point & proceed with caution. Undoubtedly, with this website launch checklist, the process will be seamless and you’ll emerge successfully! 

WRITTEN BY:

A team of web enthusiasts who are keen on learning and developing websites, and all things related to the web.

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