Jay LeonardWhat are some specific considerations B2B e–commerce companies must take into account when building their websites?
1. Optimize Your Website
As soon as your website is built, it must be optimized. But simple e–commerce sales conversions are probably too simplistic. Many B2Bbuyers have complex needs. Before they purchase, they may need to request samples, speak with a sales representative, customize the product or request financing terms. Consider and rank all possible actions based on their goal value and optimize for the blend of conversions. – Chris Goward, WiderFunnel
2. Include Video
We’ve added video to all of our websites. Videos are the way of the future. People are too lazy to read too much text and a video offers such a better explanation. Videos also keep people on site for much longer! – Brandon Stapper, 858 Graphics
3. Make It Easy to Connect With a Real Person
People do business with people. It’s no different when selling B2B. Make it easy for business professionals to connect with an experienced professional at your company through your website. Make it easy to see that a potential customer can be connected with a real person who can answer their specific questions, whether it’s via live chat, an email or on the phone. – Mark Cenicola, BannerView.com
4. Make It Scalable
Is your business built on the right e–commerce solution from the start? When I owned Organize.com, we were using Yahoo stores. We found out that their system wasn’t scalable after 500-1,000 customers a day were making purchases. This hurt our business significantly. We then switched to Magneto where we were able to scale up infinitely. Make sure you start on the correct platform and plan for the future. – John Rampton, Due
5. Make Sure Your Software Is Up-to-Date
Google has updated its search algorithm over 600 times in 2015. That’s over twice a day. Many of these updates will make or break your SEO if you don’t keep up. If you want a successful e–commerce website in 2016, you need to be 100 percent secured (HTTPS), mobile, user-friendly, markup optimized (Schema), fast, and socially-driven. Above all, pay attention to UX and create winning content. – Matthew Capala, Alphametic
6. Make Sure You Are Growth-Focused
Focus on strong SEO pre-launch. Custom meta descriptions are a must. Significant content per product page is a must. Begin by modeling product pages after your most successful competition, and A/B test when there’s a larger audience. Setup a product feed. Build a three-tiered retargeting system. Use dynamic ads. Capture lead emails and build drip campaigns. – Corey Northcutt, Northcutt Inbound Marketing
7. Focus on Customer Experience
Users today want B2C experiences even on B2B websites. Include easy-to-find information about the products, including a detailed description, specifications, delivery time and reviews. This will greatly increase conversion and sales. Don’t give your potential customers a reason to leave your site and go elsewhere for information. They might not come back. – Andy Kohm, Vendop
8. Use Product Codes, Model Numbers and UPC Numbers
This is probably the most essential element for bringing in leads and sales for B2B e–commerce companies. Thirty to forty percent of searches for industrial and B2B products are model numbers and UPC numbers. You must make sure that these unique identifiers are very prominent on your product pages and indexable by Google. A great example for this would be the model numbers for Amazon and Uline products. – Duran Inci, Optimum7
9. Test, Don’t Guess
Include a robust A/B testing platform like Optimizely, which is free for most cases. Then test your assumptions thoroughly and adjust taglines, colors and placements through the interface. It’s simple enough and can provide insights that increase revenue and decrease bounce rates dramatically. – Jeff Jahn, DynamiX
10. Get to the Point
Unlike B2C marketing, where glamorizing product or service presentations can pay dividends, B2B clients are often pragmatists that know exactly what they do and do not want. We have found a direct correlation between a less-is-more approach and an increase in lead generation. – Nicholas Nadjarian, Industrial Motor Power Corp.
11. Design With Customer’s Buying Process in Mind
Depending on the industry, many B2B companies can’t adhere to a simple “add-to-cart and buy” process. Often there are approval processes, purchase order requirements, etc. that need to be factored into the buying experience. Design and develop your website with these processes in mind by supporting saved carts, repeat orders, subscriptions, invoicing, multi-payment support, etc. – Ross Beyeler, Growth Spark
This article was written for Business 2 Community by Jay Leonard.
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#12 – Personalization: Being able to personalize the shopping experience to each individual can greatly benefit any company. The ability to help shoppers find what they want fast and discover new products is a sure way to increase AOV and conversion.