What should be written on the homepage of an online store and in the product pages? How to create a clear structure? Why your store needs a branded blog? Having well-defined content for online shopping websites not only enhances user experience but also drives conversions. We gathered all the vital content pages and blocks that can be met on the website to give you a complete list to follow in this article.

Homepage

The rules are equal for any online store Homepage. You have two options: tell about your store, or tell about important events.

The first can be a short text describing the values of your store, it’s main message, or a creative, engaging, beautiful or emotional message, appealing to the visitors’ emotions, hooking them to stay longer and explore the rest of the store.

The second option is about the promotional activities that you run at the moment which can save your customers time or money. Promotional banners can lead to the Sales page or to the category, or brand page, or to any page which you wish to promote and push up in the SERP. The example can be a banner leading to the page with fish food, or to the page with new women jeans collection.

Those two options can be combined. Drop a few lines about your company telling your main value. Use the rest of the space on the Homepage to lead the visitors to the product while they are engaged.

About us

Information about the company can be placed in the submenu, so that not to bother visitors. People come to the online store to buy products, not to read the history of your brand. Well, most of the time. If they want to read about your store, they will find the About us page, if they don’t want – don’t make them to.

The About us page should tell about your brand, but without telling too much about the brand. This paradox means that the visitor should find the information related to them, to their interests and needs. They have to find out how you solve their problems and why you do it. While writing an About us page concentrate on answering the question “Why buy from us” more than on the history of the brand.

Inventory or Catalog

The convention of the online store directly depends on how well the catalog assortment is structured. If the customer gets to the desired product page in two or three clicks – excellent. If there are too many subcategories, the journey to the desired product turns out to be too long – it’s bad.

In order to land the visitors to the product page faster, develop a system of filters: by brand, size, cost, age, etc. Or, embed a fast and relevant search that will take the customers to the product which they are searching for and already are willing to buy.

Bestsellers

It’s a good habit for the online stores to make separate pages to tell about their best sellers. These are the goods that are in a high demand among buyers. Having them all on a dedicated page is more convenient for the buyers to track, navigate, buy and return regularly. Add discounts to your bestsellers and the chances to sell will double.

Newest products

This section is for the regular buyers who visit your store looking for something fresh or waiting for something new. It can be rare or unusual goods, limited collections or hot releases of the season. If you decide to use this section, keep in mind that new arrivals need to be announced in advance to warm up the audience and make them save money for an upcoming good deal. So maybe having a separate page dedicated to the Newest products and a bright banner on the Homepage will win you a game.

Sales and Discounts

The sections, which most users visit searching for a good deal. With the help of Sales and discounts, you can not only attract buyers but also significantly increase sales.

The Sale section should not be limited with only two or three goods. Give the buyer a choice. In the end, you can reduce ridiculous five bucks and boost the excitement of the buyer.

Branded blog

The main feature of the Blog is useful online store content and increasing readers’ loyalty. If you publish really interesting articles written by the interesting authors avoiding stealing the content from the Internet – the credibility to your brand will grow. At the same time, a blog can be an effective marketing weapon.

The Blog of the online store is an open road for creativity. Publish unique recipes, guides, master classes, give pieces of advice and life hacks. Tell the people how your product can be used, how valuable it can be in different situations and why your online store stands out.

The Fashion Blog is a paradise for those who are following the trends. Discuss new items, make up the lookbooks, post pictures from fashion shows. Guide people and become their personal online stylist, promoting your Catalog alongside.

The Blog of the electronics store will be a perfect place for detailed reviews of goods from the Inventory. Compile the tops, compare similar models by characteristics, translate and publish foreign articles to be the first to deliver the freshest information about the upcoming releases – be the leader.

Reviews

When buying an item, we care what others think of it. If most of the reviews are negative – most likely, we will refuse to buy, even if previously we were going to make an order. And vice versa: the good reviews of other people are able to convince us to buy.

Order policy and Return policy

It is clear that everyone knows how to buy online while having a cup of coffee. And yet, the Terms and Conditions section should be on the website as a separate page for the most attentive and thoughtful customers.

In this section, it is not enough to describe how to make a purchase. Terms and Conditions is an agreement between the seller and the buyer. In it you specify the rights and obligations of the parties, prescribing information about the goods, the order of their acquisition, pricing, ways of making payments, delivery methods, guarantees for the goods, return and refund procedures.

FAQ or Help center

Even if other sections provide a detailed explanation of how to purchase and return the goods, it is better to make a block of short questions and answers. As practice shows, very few people read long agreements, but short FAQs come to cheers. FAQ will reduce the time spent by employees to talk with customers. Besides, this section will be a powerful boost for your SEO, covering numerous long tail keywords related to your online store topic.

Contact us

Obviously, the main thing that should be in this section is the ways to contact you: physical address, phone, email, messengers. If your departments have different phones and addresses, specify them. If you have communities in social networks, add clickable icons. The feedback form will also fit perfectly into this block.

Another important item in the Contact us section is the map which displays the company’s office or the addresses of delivery points in different cities. Just imagine how much you will make life easier for your customers with this map.

Reward (or Loyalty) program

An excellent way to attract buyers is to give the Rewards for purchases or activities on the store. For feedback, for comments on the Blog, for attracting other customers, etc. This Rewards can be saved and used at the next purchase. Each store can have its own Loyalty programme, but as a rule, they do not differ from the offline programmes.

Privacy policy

Many sites, including online stores, have a Privacy policy. Does everyone need it? If you work with clients from EU countries, study the new rules processing the personal data of the Europeans. There are also niches in which data protection is simply inevitable. For example, few people will want to know as the regular customer of the adult online stores. The clients of the online stores are the Internet users who care about their confidentiality. The same they expect from the online store.

The confidentiality also includes the packaging. Sometimes putting the screaming panel on the package is the worst idea to win loyalty. If you work with goods that require the protection of the personal data, it is better to have a Privacy policy in your store main menu.

Product page

So we got to the most interesting: the product page and its elements. On this page, the visitors read the description and characteristics, look at the images and watch videos, compare the prices and read the reviews.

Product description

Two-thirds of the online stores neglect high-quality descriptions. They have pictures and features, but there is no engaging description. How to write a good selling text for the product description?

Describing technology, electronics, and other gadgets, don’t focus on the emotions, but on the useful points and characteristics. The text has to be more technical. Write as simple as possible, explain for newbies. Let the description be small – attach all technical information separately, in topical blocks.

Descriptions of the children goods are aimed at parents. Emphasize that you understand moms and dads and also take care of the health and safety of their kids. Speak their language, voice their problems and provide personalized solutions.

Imagery

This is an obligatory part of the product page: the goods need to be seen by the buyer. Whatever you sell, try to make professional photography: both simple photos of goods on a white background, and more lively photos with models reconstructing the cases of use. If accessories are attached to the product – they also need to be pictured. And then the images need to be optimized for the site.

Pictures of the clothes have to show them from all sides: in full growth, from below, from the side, from the back, and on the model.

Sports inventory is better to be shown in action. Invite the professional models – take a photo session. Provide both the quality online shopping content and the real context. Unfortunately, this practice is not common.

Again, pictures of the children goods are for their parents. Show close-ups of the cloth, a toy inside and outside of the package. Include the image of a child with the product or wearing it.

Regarding the electronics, take a picture in the box, without the box, the front view, the back and the side – to estimate the dimensions, the ports, the cameras, the photo of the toolbar and the desktop, and so on. If there are additional accessories, do not forget about them.

Videos

Recently, online stores often publish videos: presentations of new collections, reviews, etc. Throughout the last years more and more people prefer watching the videos instead of reading. Moreover, in the video you can voice the necessary information, clearly, show how to operate the product. Plus, it will give a live impression of the product.

You can order a video in the agency or create it yourself. Place the video on the Homepage, on the Product pages, and in your social communities.

Use Youtube! Duplicate the content from your Blog to the Youtube channel. Add short videos of your products while telling about fashion trends, create guides and master classes. YouTube is another blog, which you watch instead if reading.

Conversion tools

Pay attention to the interesting tools: recommendation services, feedback widgets, calculators, the ability to buy on credit directly on the site and others. This functionality attracts the attention of the customers, improving the customer experience and increasing the conversion or the average check.

Recommendations

Special services analyze the visitors’ behavior on the store: the viewed pages, the time spent on each page, the history of the previous orders, even their pages in the social networks. On the basis of these data, the system offers the goods to the visitors. For example, on the website of women’s clothing, the service can offer earrings to a customer who studies a purse, and a handbag to someone who bought a dress a couple of days before. This way one merchant instead of one hundred dollars can earn five hundred.

Calculator

It’s being used in the online stores, where customers need to make calculations before ordering. For example, estimate how many rolls of wallpaper they will need for one room. You can, of course, count everything on a smartphone or PC – but it’s much more convenient to do this directly on the site. If the customers find a calculator in the store, they won’t have to switch the tabs and leave the website. They will stay with you, and the chances of buying will increase.

Credit purchase

The opportunity to buy goods on credit is relevant for online stores with a large average check. Keeping a few thousand bucks to buy expensive gadgets, large household appliances, or furniture is not for everyone. Many visitors see the high price and leave the store. If your store could offer them to buy on credit it would persuade many of them to make an order.

Communication widgets

Callback buttons, pop-up windows, online chats – these tools were created to establish the communication with the customers fast. The consultants can give an advice, motivate to buy, provide the terms of the delivery. Study your audience, conduct a survey – what way they would feel more comfortable to communicate with you. Depending on the results, provide them with that mean.

Closing

To have an unforgettable and profitable online store, you need to combine on it high-quality content for your ecommerce website like Product descriptions, real Reviews, interesting Blog posts, high-quality Images and Videos, plus integrate it with Conversion tools. Start now, because it’s a pile of work.

Or act smart and save your time. Delegate it to the experts and receive an online store with all necessary features and to start earning without delay.

Must-have content for successful eCommerce Website: a complete list