If you already have an e-commerce site and have been refining it with best practices, congratulations! Because having an online business isn't easy, but what would you think if we told you that the task of having an e-commerce site isn't over yet?
Throughout your time online, you've likely visited websites or online stores searching for something specific. Perhaps you've encountered sites that load at an average speed, or even faster. Or, conversely, you've come across sites that take a long time to load, causing you to lose patience and decide to search elsewhere.
As you can see, the speed of an e-commerce site is crucial when making a purchase, as the shopping experience can change in a matter of seconds. But just like loading speed, there are other elements that must be considered and continuously improved through technical analysis.
That's why we invite you to learn about the key points to consider for conducting a successful technical analysis and keeping users happy. Shall we begin?
What is technical analysis?
In short, a technical analysis is like giving your e-commerce site a complete checkup to ensure every element is functioning correctly. This type of analysis helps detect technical problems before they affect more than one user, allowing you to resolve them and prevent any negative impact on the user experience. Performing a technical analysis of your e-commerce site is like keeping your store clean of any kind of clutter, ensuring it always remains visually appealing to customers.
Key points for a technical analysis
1. E-commerce performance
At this point, it's important to consider loading speed , since, as we mentioned earlier, it's one of the first things users will notice when they enter your e-commerce site. On average, a site can be considered fast when its loading time is less than 5 seconds. Remember that if your e-commerce site takes too long to load, users will choose to visit another online store that doesn't take long to provide what they're looking for.
Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix help you measure loading time, so you'll know which elements you need to optimize to ensure your e-commerce site is as effective and efficient as possible.
2. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
Remember that SEO is a very common technique for organically ranking your e-commerce site through the use of keywords and specific content, such as blog posts. Here, we analyze the number of keywords your e-commerce site uses; these keywords must be related to your business. It's also important to consider content that provides unique value to users, as well as metadata such as descriptions and titles that will appear when someone searches for your e-commerce site on Google, for example.
A tip for improving SEO is to use alt text for the images you place on your e-commerce site. When you describe your product photos or images, you help the algorithm better understand the context of those graphics, thus boosting your e-commerce reach.
3. Analysis of metrics and data
Understanding data such as web traffic and conversion rates helps clarify the overall picture and allows for better decision-making . Regarding web traffic, the sources of visits to your e-commerce site are analyzed, whether organic, through paid advertising, or directly. Additionally, user behavior within the e-commerce site is analyzed, from the time spent on the site to the number of clicks made. The conversion rate and funnel are calculated based on the proportion of visitors who complete a purchase or perform a desired action, as well as the user journey from arriving at the e-commerce site to confirming their order. This helps identify abandonment points (if any) and determine strategies to ultimately convince customers to buy from your online store.
4. Security Issues
To guarantee the protection of user data and assure them that your e-commerce site is trustworthy, it's important to verify that your online store uses HTTPS to ensure that every transaction is secure, as is the personal data of your customers. If you have privacy policies, make sure they are as clear as possible for users and that each one specifies that data will be secure.
5. Design, navigation and accessibility
As we've mentioned in previous blog posts, your e-commerce design is how you present your brand. It's important that every element, such as text and images , is clearly visible, and that images are between 100 KB and 500 KB so your e-commerce site doesn't take too long to load. If, during the technical analysis, you find that the images are larger than recommended, you can compress them.
Regarding navigation , conduct thorough testing with real users to ensure a simple and intuitive user experience. Remember to be open to their feedback and implement any changes they deem important.
When performing a technical analysis of your e-commerce site, verify that the store has a responsive design across different screen sizes. This means that the online store should look good on both computers and mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets.
6. Integrations and functionalities
At this point, you should review the integrations with other systems, such as CRM (customer relationship management), ERP (enterprise resource planning), and payment systems. Additionally, you should ensure that the core functions of your e-commerce platform, such as the shopping cart, search bar, and filters, work properly with these integrations.
Why should you do a technical analysis for your e-commerce business?
Every reason why you should do a technical analysis for your e-commerce can be summed up in one thing: the user.
Users are potential customers who are always looking for the best websites or online stores that offer the products or services they need. Therefore, every element of a technical analysis should be designed to improve the shopping experience for hundreds of users, because if customers can navigate your e-commerce site easily and quickly, a sale is almost guaranteed.
Every element counts in the technical analysis, from how the information is organized to the online store's loading speed. If any of these begin to show weaknesses, your potential customers are likely to look for what they need on other, "better-structured" e-commerce sites. That's why you need to pay close attention to every detail, because a flawless e-commerce site is the calling card that demonstrates your business's professionalism and competence, setting it apart from the competition.
When should you perform a technical analysis on your e-commerce site?
There are some times when it is advisable to perform a technical analysis that helps define the success of your e-commerce.
Before the launch
If your e-commerce site is already up and running, you can skip this step. However, if you're about to launch your online store, you should perform this technical analysis to ensure everything works correctly from the start and to begin building a good reputation within the existing e-commerce community.
Continuous maintenance
Establish a timeframe for your technical analysis—it could be monthly, bimonthly, quarterly, or otherwise. Regularly optimizing your e-commerce site will help you identify and correct problems before they seriously impact your online store. The frequency of your analysis will depend on you or your team, your strategy, and your current workload.
After major updates
Every time you add a new feature to your e-commerce site, it's important to verify that it works perfectly. Remember that you can test it with real users to get their feedback on what they like and don't like about your online store. In addition to the features themselves, check that after updating your online store's software, content management system (CMS), plugins , or any other technology, they are functioning correctly.
When performance drops
If you notice a sudden drop in traffic or sales to your e-commerce site, a technical analysis can help you identify the cause so you can take action and get those results back on track for your brand. Also, if you notice that your online store is slow to load, it's time to review it completely and make some adjustments.
In the face of changes in trends or competition
It's impossible to keep track of every competitor starting an e-commerce business, but you can research which ones are currently the most popular. Keep in mind: technical analysis can help you adjust your strategy to stay competitive in the market, but this doesn't mean you should copy everything your competitors do. Remember that originality is more memorable for consumers.
Technical analysis can also help you understand market trends and user preferences, allowing you to make adjustments to your e-commerce site that meet your customers' needs.
Prior to major campaigns or sales seasons
Sales seasons are a great opportunity for new potential customers to discover you, so before major events like Black Friday, or peak sales seasons like Mother's Day or Christmas, it's essential to ensure your site can handle the increased traffic and transactions . If customers start encountering problems when paying, for example, they may lose confidence and abandon their purchases.
When there is a rebranding of your brand
It's normal to want to refresh your brand identity, but when you do, those changes should also be made to your e-commerce site so that all the elements that make up your brand are in harmony. When undertaking a complete or partial redesign of your e-commerce site, it's important to conduct a technical analysis to verify that each new element functions correctly and integrates seamlessly with the existing or new features of your online store.
Conclusion
Running an e-commerce site requires more than just adding product photos and text. For an online business to achieve the desired success, it needs a range of knowledge to constantly optimize it and maintain its competitive edge.
Technical analysis paves the way for implementing improvements that attract more and more potential customers. If every element of your e-commerce platform functions correctly, you're sure to make more than one sale from your users.
It's always a good idea to have an additional team to support your e-commerce business, and that's what we're here for. If you have specific questions about how to perform a technical analysis, or if you'd prefer to have it done by someone you trust , contact us ! We're equipped to work with valuable businesses like yours.
