More Ecommerce Sites Getting Web 2.0 Make-Overs: Is Yours?

When was the last time you updated your ecommerce site? There's a one in two chance that it was in the last year, as recent statistics from the Internet Retailers' monthly survey show that 49.9% of merchants rolled out a new site design within the last twelve months. More specifically:

• 26.6% re-launched their site within the last 6 months
• 13.3% re-launched their site in the last 90 days

As Web 2.0 technologies become increasingly popular, ecommerce site owners have been looking at their websites with a fresh perspective on what it means to engage customers and are now overhauling their sites to deliver increased functionality, personalisation and new media content.

Of particular concern to respondents was search engine optimisation (SEO), looking to improve content and other on-page HTML factors to help their sites appear higher in search engines' natural listings. The aim is to increase the amount of traffic to the site and the volume of on-line sales as a result.

If you are among the reported 72.9% of ecommerce merchants reportedly thinking about SEO, bear in mind that there's plenty of 'off-page' work you can do to improve your site's rankings. Get quality inbound links from relevant sites by providing informative content and exclusive offers to blogs, fan sites, forums and other specialist sites related to what you sell. Get in touch with web masters / blog owners directly with a personal email and request a link in exchange for the content you've provided. And don't forget to request 'link text' that matches the keywords and phrases you want to appear highest in Google for.

For the other 50% of the survey (those who haven't rolled out any changes to their site in the last year) it's not a case of 'keeping up with the Jones'': on-line shoppers now expect easy navigation, site search and checkout services. If your ecommerce site doesn't meet these standards, it's at a serious disadvantage to competiting sites. Review your ecommerce site, test it thoroughly to see if you can unearth any bugs when it comes to navigation or the sales processes and draw up a plan for improvements. That way, when on-line shoppers arrive at your website and want to make a purchase, they're able to do so flawlessly, encouraging repeat visits, word of mouth recommendations, customer loyalty and customer satisfaction.