How to build a strong digital presence for your e-commerce business

When it comes to building a brand online, specifically in the e-commerce space, it can feel like an incredibly daunting task. It’s an oversaturated market in the digital realm and to ensure your business succeeds, you really need to ensure you stand out from the competition (and there’s a lot of competition!).

There are a few things you really need to nail to ensure you have a strong digital presence for your e-commerce business. These are some of the best ways to build your brand, get recognised and, most importantly, make sales!

Have a great website

No one wants to shop on an online site that is old, outdated, or just not as attractively pleasing as the competitor sites. Your website is the hub of your business, and it’s the place where you are able to showcase your brand voice, values, and products to potential customers.

You should ensure your website reflects the quality of your products or services, have a cohesive look for your website, and make it easy for customers to use. Whether you choose to build your own website from scratch or you work with an e-commerce advertising agency, you have to make sure your website doesn’t just look great but works well too.

Make sure you have secure payment gateways set up so that your customers can have peace of mind that their card details are always protected when they shop with you. It’s also a good idea to ensure your products have detailed descriptions so that customers really understand what it is they’re buying.  

Making the process simple for your customers from finding your products to checking out is a sure fire way to ensure your customers choose you time and time again.

Get on social media

Another great way to ensure your e-commerce business is reaching your target audience is by ensuring that you have a great social media presence. Setting up your social media accounts allows your brand to get onto the feeds fo customers who are most likely to buy your products.

To have the most success on social media, you will need to have a good gauge as to what your target audience is most likely to engage with. You will also want to tailor the social media platforms you use to your audience. If your audience is younger, TikTok might be the place to go, but if you have an audience that’s made up of millennials you might want to give Instagram a try instead.

There’s no harm in trying multiple social media platforms and strategies before finding what fits. The most effective way e-commerce businesses can use social media is by injecting personality into their posts. Try to post short, engaging, eye-catching content that your customers feel comfortable interacting with.

Having an interactive audience with a community feel can really help you build a strong digital presence for your e-commerce brand.

Build your reputation

When it comes to having a strong online presence, making sure you have a great reputation is key.

Customers rely heavily on online reviews when it comes to making a decision about where to purchase goods or services from. Try to encourage your customers to write you genuine reviews when they’re happy with your product as this can help you get a great reputation, encourage customers to shop with you and also give you real feedback that you can use to make improvements to your products.

Invite customers to leave testimonials, reviews, and ratings of your products on your site and on third-party sites like Google Reviews. You can do this by sending out an email to customers once they have received their order asking if they are happy with their product and encouraging them to review.

You should also ensure you are responding to customers' reviews as much as possible (the good and the not-so-good) to show that you care about your customers and you’re taking feedback on board. 

Gain trust

When it comes to a space that is already oversaturated with products, services, and e-commerce businesses like the online world, gaining trust is one of the key factors that make you stand out. 

One of the best ways to gain trust in the digital age is to utilise influencer marketing. Try to find influencers who are already successfully posting content relevant to your niche and ask them if they’d be happy to promote your products to their audience. This is a surefire way to gain a whole lot of new eyes on your brand as well as build trust with your audience.

Working with an influencer that is known to be trustworthy and genuine is the best way to go as this will help your business be recognised as a high-quality and trusted brand.

Try, try and try again

When it comes to building a strong online presence for your e-commerce brand, you can’t expect something to work for you just because it has worked for another brand in the past. It really is all about trial and error, and you can’t expect to build a digital powerhouse overnight.

Remember when you’re trying to build your e-commerce business to keep at it, keep consistent and follow the advice of experts in the industry for your best chance at success!