OpenCart positioning. How to optimize your store for maximum profitability?

Understanding OpenCart

E-commerce is the buying and selling of goods or services over digital networks, such as the internet, rather than in physical retail stores. Sellers typically use dedicated platforms and online shopping websites to display their products and services and then sell them directly to consumers, while consumers can access marketplaces via a computer, mobile device or in some cases through a kiosk at physical locations like shopping malls.

In that case, in the world of e-commerce, there are many platforms you can use in order to sell your products online. One of the most popular is Opencart which is an open-source and free shopping cart software that has been around since 2004. The script architecture is based on a well-known programming model called MVC (Model-View-Controller).

Advantages and disadvantages

This script has many advantages. The first is an impressive number of plugins (although the Magento and PrestShop platforms have a much better combination). Secondly, the community – you get technical support here in the form of forums. The MVC model in which OpenCart is written will make it much easier for programmers to “find themselves” in the code and modify the script. Additionally, it has a nice, clear and easy-to-use administration panel, which is one of the biggest advantages of this script.

However, it is not completely rosy. It often happens that when buying some additions to the currently used version of OpenCart, it may turn out that when you want to update the script to a newer version, some functionalities stop working or show errors. The basic version of the script, not optimized, forces the client to download about 500 KB of CSS and JavaScript code alone. The script of the platform will not be satisfactory for advanced webmasters, because it has little functionality, incl. no reporting possibility.

So how do you deal with SEO optimization for OpenCart?

In the world of optimization and positioning, and in the digital world in general, nothing is impossible. They are difficult, time-consuming or require many resources (including financial ones), but they are possible to implement. Today we will show you a few simple steps on how to optimize an e-commerce website based on OpenCart – and at a low cost.

Choosing the right keywords

It involves searching for, evaluating, and selecting keywords. You must first determine who your target audience is before you proceed with keyword research. Once you have this basic information, you can begin your analysis, comparing key phrases with your competitors, investigating trends in the industry or seasonality, and ultimately creating your content strategy.

Allowing visitors to browse freely

Visitors can browse freely through products without having any added pressure of making a decision. This is beneficial because you are not trying to push the customer into a purchase, but rather give them all the information that they need before deciding if they want to buy or not. The downside is that it is easy for customers to leave the website and find something cheaper elsewhere, so make sure you have a good return policy in place as well.

Locking down pages with essential information

It is important that you do not lose any potential customers by making it difficult for them to find the information they need, or by providing them with too much information. A typical customer will quickly lose interest if they cannot find the page that interests them on the first few pages of your website, and will move on to another site instead of spending time searching through all of the pages on your site.

Enhancing search functionality. Creating categories and sub-categories

It is important that the search functionality on your website is easy to use and intuitive, with the ability to filter by price and category. The goal is that a potential customer can easily find what they are looking for, so they are less likely to abandon their shopping cart before purchase. In this way, you will be able to keep them interested in your products long enough for them to click through and buy something. Achieving this is going to take time, but it will make all the difference in terms of increasing sales.

Segmentation and personalization

Segmentation is a key factor that can increase the profitability of your e-commerce business. By using this method, you’ll know exactly who will be visiting your site and what they’re looking for, so you can offer them the best price points and deliver products that are relevant to their needs. It’s important to understand the value of good customer data in order to stay ahead of competition, improve customer service and get more sales. When segmenting shoppers based on interest, age or purchase history, it’s possible to provide specific content and promotions tailored to individual needs.

Use of product tabs on category page is helpful for buyers

Product tabs are a great way to organize and display products on a category page, especially if you have a lot of products in one category. This approach is helpful because buyers can browse through the different products without having to search through multiple pages of product listings or scrolling down the product list on the category page.

In conclusion

If you want to increase your revenue as an OpenCart merchant, it is necessary to understand how the different positions can help you get more customers and more sales. There are two fundamental ways of determining a successful position: maximizing traffic to your website or generating more profit per visitor. Both are equally important and one doesn’t need to be sacrificed for the other. The importance of each depends on what business model you operate under, so try experimenting with both methods in order to find out what works best for your needs.