How to dress your online shop window for an international audience

The look and design of your online shop can be an important factor when trying to attract the attention of potential customers. Get it looking great and people are likely to explore further.

Whether your business sells locally or internationally, your website should showcase your company and your products in the best possible light so that people can find what they're looking for as easily as possible.

The experts at Verisign, supporter of Enterprise Nation's Go and Grow Online campaign, share top tips to help you make your website look better.

To start on the best possible footing, your website should be trusted from the moment people see your search result from a search engine.

So, how do you establish trust?

An internationally-renowned domain extension can help. .com, for example, is known all around the world and is seen as trustworthy[1] and reliable[2].

By ensuring your business' online presence is built upon an internationally recognisable domain extension, you can help establish familiarity with customers and get off on the right foot in new markets.

Make it clear with what you sell

Look at a book shop and you know instantly they sell books. A bakery; baked goods. An estate agent; property.

People won't spend too much time trying to figure out what's on offer at a shop. This is not a good shopping experience.

This may sound obvious, but it's important to be clear on what you sell and some companies don't always follow this simple step.

Sometimes businesses can spend a lot of time and effort putting together pieces of information that sound great and contain relevant buzzwords, but can leave the reader wondering what it is the company is actually selling.

Take a step back, try to look at your website content from the perspective of someone who may be new to the market, or your company, and ensure anyone viewing your site is able to clearly see what it is you do and sell without having to click through multiple pages.

Display your products clearly

Once your audience has looked at your digital window display and decided to enter your online shop, it's time to showcase your products

According to Statista, 64.6% of consumers stated 'finding what I want' as one of the most valued factors when shopping online in the UK[3].

Regardless of design, your product pages should contain clear details and give the potential customer everything they need to know.

For instance, if you're selling clothing you should provide easily accessible size and colour options . Not only that, but materials may be important, as will available quantities if you don't keep a large stock.

Clearly labelled products are particularly important when selling overseas, as language barriers need to be considered. Don't overcomplicate your product descriptions. Keep it simple, but concise.

Use high-quality pictures

Another way to help your customers find what they're looking for is through imagery.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

For businesses, it can be a great idea to let a photo do the hard work for you, as an image can catch a person's attention far more than a block of text alone.

Make sure each item on your website to have an image. Some suppliers may provide you with images for use on your website (if you are buying in products), or you can take your own.  You could also consider employing the services of a photographer.

Images shouldn't only be reserved for product pages, but also the homepage. After all, your homepage is your storefront and it should look as inviting as possible.

Have clear and correct pricing on display

Pricing will be hugely important for anybody looking to make a purchase on your .com website.

While you might have the GBP currency set up when selling to people in the UK, shoppers from overseas should have the option to change currencies right on your site without needing to convert themselves.

Ensure that the currencies on your site are clearly shown. If there are additional charges, be sure to show them so that once people reach the checkout they're not hit with unexpected charges, and abandon a full shopping cart.

Having a website that's better equipped for an international audience should improve your chances of success and growth. If you've still not registered a .com domain extension, use Verisign's NameStudio™ to find your perfect domain name.

[1] https://www.icann.org/news/announcement-2-2016-06-23-en, accessed May 14, 2018

[2] For more than 20 years, Verisign has maintained 100% operational accuracy and stability for .com and .net, managing and protecting the DNS infrastructure for over 148.8 million domain names

[3] https://www.statista.com/statistics/320112/most-valued-online-shopping-factors-in-the-united-kingdom-uk/, accessed 14 May 2018