While we worry about adding stock, customer service, delivery times, picking, packing and generally ensuring that everything is running like clockwork on an ecommerce website, there is a fundamental element that is frequently missed when it comes to that website.

In fact, it happens so often that I thought I’d turn it in to a bit of a game in this blog.

If I showed you two checklists which one would you say is correct?

Checklist One

• Stock levels are maintained
• Phone number / email in view on all the pages
• Succinct copy with good key wording on products
• Images of products available
• Overall good standards of SEO and Search Engine Marketing
• Sign-up form / log-in working?
• Delivery charges up-to-date?
• Terms and Conditions present?
• Discounted products correctly displaying in checkout?

Checklist Two

• Stock levels are maintained
• Phone number / email in view on all the pages
• Succinct copy with good key wording on products
• Images of products available
• Overall good standards of SEO and Search Engine Marketing
• Sign-up form / log-in working?
• Delivery charges up-to-date?
• Terms and Conditions present?
• Discounted products correctly displaying in checkout?
• You can take credit card, debit card and Paypal?
• No out of date product pages?
• Clear instructions for the end user to get to the checkout?
• Customer service links all working?
• Information buyers need easily found?

Now based on these two lists, which one do you think is the one that ecommerce companies should follow?

If you’re thinking it’s Checklist Two then you’re almost there, but I’ve probably been a bit sneaky as actually both lists do not include the one thing you need to do regularly to ensure you are optimising on potential sales.

Check your credit card payments / checkout payments regularly!  That means you need to be going through and buying so that you can ensure your customers can actually buy!

Now this may seem really obvious but there are a surprising number of people who never check their websites and checkout facilities.

Imagine how silly this really is?

Recently I discovered a company that had not done this and who were wondering why their sales had dropped off.  They thought it was the economy when in fact, it was simply the fact that people couldn’t buy – even though they wanted to.

So the best advice for any ecommerce seller is that you really should check your website regularly for any errors.  They do happen and just because something appears to be working does not necessarily mean that it is.

So it’s your duty to ensure you check things like this regularly by behaving like your customers.

How often should you check your website?

Realistically, you should probably check it weekly or at the very least twice monthly if you’re a relatively busy business.  If you’re smaller, then once a month should suffice, but never miss checking it completely as it could have a serious affect on your business.

Think of it this way – if you don’t check it and without your knowledge your site won’t accept Visa cards suddenly, how much business are you potentially losing?

Don’t rely on contact forms either.  Recently I tried to order something from a website and then had to amend the order.  However, to my absolute frustration I discovered that their website’s contact form didn’t even work!

This is not great customer service and if you can imagine this coupled with a problem at payment, a potential customer will soon leave your site and go elsewhere.

If you need any advice on websites and how you can improve your presence online, it’s worth looking around my blogs.  I cover a massive amount of digital information and advice, which has served to help many online businesses over time.

If in doubt, check your website out!

Paul