Content Editor Dives Into the Challenging Sea of Coding

Is there anyone today who isn't learning to code? With websites like Code.org aimed at teaching children the fundamentals of computer science and even the president advocating for coding lessons in the classroom, we just might be on the way to a nation full of nerds. Of course, while plenty of people will dabble in the basics, not everyone will have the desire to continue learning. And let's not forget that the tech boom bubblewill most likely burst—some predicting that it will be worse than the tech burst of the dot.com era in the early 2000s. But despite the complete influx of wannabe-programmers and the fact that I am happy in the content marketing field, I still wanted to jump on the code bandwagon. I can't deny how awesome it feels looking at a page of commands that looks like gibberish to everyone else. And it's incredibly satisfying knowing that you built something, even if it's a basic one-page website.

My coding journey began with Codecademy, a free tutorial site where you can learn HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Ruby, and more. It's a wonderful place to start, and there are dozens of websites just like it aimed to simplify code and allow users to create fun projects. As an online writer and editor working on various CMS, it was only natural to learn a little bit of HTML—fixing random formatting errors and embedding videos, before everything became one-click solutions.

What began as just a general interest became a necessity when I was looking to find a new job. So many online editorial positions wanted candidates who knew more than just the basics of HTML. They were looking for advanced CSS and JavaScript—some even asking for back-end programming skills. With more companies having less money to spend on a large team of employees, many positions are being combined; there's no room left for niche jobs.

While I'm lucky enough to be in a position where I'm not expected to be a copy editor and a full-stack developer, I don't want to ever feel under-qualified for future opportunities. Plus, learning a new skill is fun. I'm now a student of Treehouse, an online school with hundreds of courses (feel free to contact me about a  referral for 50% off your first month), where I'm learning website design and front-end development. Coding is challenging, sometimes stressful, and annoying when a misplaced bracket screws up everything. But I didn't dive into code because I thought it would be easy.

<script>document.write("Cool!");</script>

Reduce E-Commerce Shopping Cart Abandonment

Many online shoppers have found themselves guilty of shopping cart abandonment. Although not a serious crime, the blame often lies with the online retailer and not the customer. We’ve all experienced the poorly created checkout, and for many it’s easier to abandon and find the product elsewhere than to fill out 10 pages of information just to purchase a product you can probably find elsewhere. How can your business avoid the loss of a sale?

All Fees, Shipping Charges, and Costs Upfront

Let us first discuss why customers leave their full shopping carts to indefinitely sit on a website for all of time, or until you delete your browsing history, cache, and cookies. The top reasons are that customers didn’t want to pay the shipping costs and the total cost of the purchase was more than they expected. These two points go hand in hand. Studies have shown that 44% of shoppers abandon because of high shipping costs. The solution? Offer free or flat shipping. If you offer free shipping for spending a specific amount, customers will be encouraged to purchase more just to save on shipping. Additionally, show the shipping cost before the customer even begins the checkout process. Bonus points if you also put in a sales tax calculator too, so there will literally be no hidden or unexpected costs once the customer begins to check out.

Keep Checkout Steps to a Minimum

Next to costs, lengthy checkout processes are just as frustrating to customers. The fewer the pages, the better. And if you can pull it off, a one-page checkout is ideal. If you do need more than one page, include a progress bar to reduce page-click-through anxiety. Regardless, a checkout page really doesn’t need to be longer than three pages.

Do not force customers to register or log in to make a purchase. Guest checkouts keep one-time buyers happy, as well as those who are wary about giving out personal information or just do not wish to “belong” to another website. Forcing a customer to create an account could be a deal breaker. Are you willing to lose those sales?

Remind Customers of Abandoned Carts and Use Wishlists

Not all abandoned carts are abandoned for eternity. Nearly 41% of shoppers who leave their carts do so because they are simply not ready to make the purchase yet. Perhaps their credit card information is not readily available, or they’re hoping to do some more perusing on your site tomorrow. Besides sending out reminder emails to logged-in customers, you can easily create a wishlist or “save for later” option. Powerhouse online retailer Amazon reigns supreme in their wishlist features. Shoppers can not only create multiple lists, they can also be viewed by others who may need gift ideas for friends and family. A wishlist also allows you to send customized emails with similar products that customers might enjoy.

Make Shopping Carts Readily Visible and Easy To Update

Customers can easily become frustrated by websites that are hard to navigate, and this includes finding and updating their shopping carts. Continually backtracking to the shopping cart can be a nuisance. Although it requires a little more coding effort, create a drop-down menu on the shopping cart so customers can view what’s in there. Another helpful feature is to create a popup whenever an item is added. It will diminish the “I’ve added this item five times because there was no confirmation” problem. Buttons to quickly add, remove, and update items are an absolute.

The amount of effort you put into your shopping cart is inversely proportional to the rate of e-commerce shopping cart abandonment. In a fast-paced, visual-heavily world, online shoppers just want to make purchases with ease. Cut out the frivolous steps and make purchasing on your website a breeze!