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Read 15 useful tips and optimisations for getting started with an OXID eShop system. Based on a current responsive flow template, we highlight some unattractive points of the system and give you advice on setting up content and structures. In doing so, we address common mistakes that we encounter again and again in shops that we are supposed to take over or that have not yet had a partner.

Read the following 15 points to improve your system step by step.

Language dropdown menu

OXID eShop offers visitors to select the language. As soon as several languages are actively maintained in the shop, a language select dropdown menu makes perfect sense. However, if you only run your system in one language, the display of the flag at the top of the template no longer makes sense and should be removed. It is best to check how many languages are active in the shop and only allow the language change to be displayed from two active languages. In the OXID eShop settings in the Performance tab, you can influence the display of the language selection.

Currency dropdown menu

OXID eShop displays prices in foreign currencies on visitor request. For this purpose, OXID eShop does not provide an interface in the standard version that can be used to update currency rates. Third-party software can be used to deal with this situation; currency interfaces update their conversion rates automatically and thus always ensure the correct conversion of item prices based on the base currency. If no interface is used, the currency selection option can be deactivated in the shop. In the OXID eShop settings under the Performance tab, you can determine whether the selector for currencies should be displayed in the frontend of the shop or not.

User login in the shop

The login button in the header of the OXID eShop is located right next to the shopping cart icon. Clicking on the button opens a window for the login. Here I immediately notice that the buttons do not have a consistent style. "Register" is a button, "Register" only a hyperlink. A white button style could have been used here. Furthermore, it is unpleasantly noticeable that if one registers with incorrect data, the login window is not opened on the login error page and the error message is to be found somewhere in the middle of the template instead of above the actual form. There is a need for improvement here: if the login is incorrect, reopen the login form automatically and display the error message directly above the form.

Display trust-building symbols and important advantages in the header

Show your visitors already in the header that your service is exceptional and why shopping in your shop is worthwhile for your visitors. Offer a hotline number and inform visitors about your business hours. Make seals of approval, certificates and other trust-building symbols visible at first glance.

Improve the OXID eShop search

Since fewer and fewer customers have the time to click through long category lists, it makes sense if your products can be found by a good search. The better the results of the search, the more likely it is that a purchase will be made in the shop. By extending the OXID eShop search with third-party software, even synonyms and misspellings can lead to hits. Filtering within the search results list reduces the time and click effort to get to the desired product.

Check Meta Description and Meta Keywords for the start page

It is not uncommon to find live shops where the meta description consists of: "Everything about water sports, sportswear and fashion. Extensive product range with the latest trend products. Lightning-fast shipping", but the shop actually sells car tyres, for example. Please edit meta description and meta keywords under the CMS pages of the shop.

Start page text with H1 heading

If you have installed the OXID eShop demo shop, you will notice on closer inspection that no first-order HTML heading, the so-called H1 heading, is set on the start page. No start page text is displayed on the start page either. It is imperative that you do this so that Google can recognise the most important heading on the page.

Home Page Banner Slideshow

The banner slideshow on the start page should be extended to include a headline, some text and a call-to-action area. This is currently only available when linking directly to articles and even there it is not as detailed as one would like. Simple links to categories or content pages should also be able to be described in more detail. This is realised by means of a module extension. In addition to the actual banner image, Google can thus also read out content for linking and you have aroused the visitor's interest more easily.

Please enter value

Probably the most frequently used error message from OXID eShop is: "Please enter value". Please be a little more precise. Especially with form fields, there are now optimal options for checking values. Even address checks within Germany are possible. If your customer is to trust your infrastructure, then please do so with error messages from this century.

Brands and manufacturers slideshow

The brands and manufacturers slideshow is displayed on the start page if there are more than 6 active manufacturers in the shop. It would be better to show the first 5 and only load the slideshow functionality from the sixth brand on. We also miss the information on how many products are on offer per brand in the shop. Displaying this information adds value to the manufacturer's slider and generates significantly more clicks.

Article media and images

Maintain high-quality and detailed images and video material for your articles. The more visual information you offer about a product, the higher the probability of a purchase. Don't post bad pictures, but make the effort to edit them. Make your images free of backgrounds so that the focus is on the product. The quality of your images can be crucial to the success of your online business.

Product descriptions that deserve their name

Describe your product in detail and structure the description so that it is easy to read. The product description is your sales pitch where you are not personally present. Do everything you can to answer your visitors' questions about your products and increase their confidence in your product and company. Offer further content on the same topic so that you can satisfy your customers' curiosity directly on your site. Ideally, customers will only seek information from you and finally decide to buy.

Filter out product features

Your products have certain characteristics. These can exist within product groups, but can also persist across product groups. Group the most important properties of your products in the attribute lists of OXID eShop. With these lists it is possible to achieve article comparisons, product list filtering or simply a detailed product display. With the free module OXID Attribute Manager you can easily assign attributes to other products once they have been created and save yourself tedious assigning and manual typing.

Using HTML attributes: "title" and "alt

In many OXID eShop templates the hyperlinks and form buttons are displayed without a set title attribute. The title attribute is supposed to describe the link or the form station in more detail when you move the mouse over it. This additional explanation helps many visitors to identify the most relevant navigation target. Two short sentences of explanation are enough to significantly improve the user experience. In the "alt" attribute of your images, describe what can be seen in the image. This increases the likelihood that your image can be found in Google Image Search, which in turn means traffic for your site. Also, users with poor internet connections will see the content of the "alt" attribute while the image is still being requested.

Product groups

Product groups serve both to structure and describe offers of a certain type. They can also be used to illustrate areas of application that may only become apparent to customers when they visit your shop. Get creative and show your experience in different approaches to similar topics, offer further information and guides on the subject. Round off the category page with a list of similar topics and downloads for the product group. When naming categories, make sure you use the language your clientele is familiar with. Always enter category images in the same format and make sure that your product groups only go online when all the information is available.

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