Optimizing Your E-Commerce Store for Educational Products

With the education industry moving online, it is becoming important for businesses and institutions to adapt trends and technologies into learning modules. But apart from packaging the right set of content to enable ease of learning, selling online also includes being able to present your educational products in a way that enhances their visibility, engages the right audience and drives sales.

If you have a store on WooCommerce that specializes in educational and interactive products, here are some strategies to optimize for higher conversions.

How to Optimize Your E-commerce Store for Educational Products

While there are several ways to optimize your store for conversions, here are some tactics we have seen working well for the educational industry:

1. Optimize for the Search Engine

About 69% of internet users start their shopping journey by exploring products on the search engine. The same holds true for educators, facilitators and learners - but optimizing to show up for the right queries is easier said than done. Here’s how you can fix that:

• Keyword Research: Start by identifying the key terms and phrases your target audience potentially uses to search for educational products with tools like the Google Keyword planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs. Find keywords that best describe your product - for example, ‘interactive learning tools’, ‘team building challenge kits’, etc. It’s also a good idea to take into account their problems, challenges and jobs to be done in your keyword list.
• On-Page SEO: Ensure you optimize each of your product pages with the keywords finalized. This includes the product title, description, benefits, features, learning outcomes and the high-quality images you add.

• Content Marketing: Write blog posts, how-tos, guides and other formats of content that address common queries, challenges and goals of the educators. For example, write a blog on ‘how to use interactive learning tools for team building’ and subtly promote and link back to your product.
• Off-Page SEO: Once you’ve optimized your own website, build high-quality backlinks from reputable sources to your content or the product page. It’s also a good idea to participate in online communities and forums, or collaborate with content creators and industry leaders to promote your product.

2. Enhance User Experience and Browsing

Educators and facilitators are often looking for specific tools to enable the strategies they want to implement. The easier it is for them to find the products, the higher are your conversions; that’s why we recommend focusing on making the navigation easier:

• Clear Categories and Filters: Categorize your educational products into clear and relevant categories. For example, if you have products for different age groups and purposes, create categories like ‘5-12 years’, ‘12-18 years’ and so on, followed up with sub-categories like ‘STEM Activities’, ‘Classroom Supplies’, ‘Learning Games’, etc. You can further create filters that help them narrow down their options and find products that suit their needs faster.

• Intuitive Search Functionality: About 69% of shoppers go to the search bar on an e-commerce site but 80% leave due to a bad experience. Implement features like autocomplete suggestions, synonyms, typo-tolerance and related product suggestions to navigate this issue.
• Mobile Optimization: Ensure your online store is responsive and provides a seamless browsing experience across all devices. Focus on the design, navigation and the checkout process to reduce drop-offs during mobile sessions.

3. Leverage Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Product reviews, ratings and testimonials have proven to improve conversions by almost 190%. If you’re selling innovative educational products like Marshmallow Challenge, getting positive feedback from educators can influence purchase decisions for many others. Here’s how to get your social proof in place:

• Encourage Reviews: Reach out to your existing customers with automated follow-ups using WooCommerce email marketing plugins to seek feedback. Make it easy for them to leave reviews, ratings or share their inputs.
• Showcase Testimonials: Feature testimonials from educators that highlight successes or how your products made a difference in the classroom. Short videos as testimonials work best!
• Respond to Reviews: Ensure you also engage with the reviews received. Thanking customers for the feedback - good or bad, can help show you’re continually taking inputs to improve your educational products.

4. Implement Interactive Features

From consumers seeking a simple interface to shop online to them wanting to interact with the brand before making a purchase decision, online shopping has evolved. And when it comes to educational products, this need to interact can help increase conversions. Here are some ways to implement this tactic:

• Product Demonstrations: Use videos, interactive demos, virtual try-outs and similar tactics to show how your educational products work. For example, include a short video that demonstrates how the Marshmallow Challenge works to help educators visualize how it can be fit into their teaching methods.
• Live Chat Support: Set up a live chat feature that offers proactive assistance to visitors. Ensure you have a set of FAQs already set up to address common queries about the different products, and a product recommendation engine that can guide them to the right solution based on their inputs.

Conclusion

Optimizing your e-commerce store for educational products is a continual process. Apart from the strategies listed above, we recommend keeping a close eye on your performance metrics around engagement and conversions.

It’s important to take inputs from your audience and use those to lead the strategies you implement to help them understand your products better.