So I was sitting here and getting depressed from hearing everyone talk about not getting any sales or depressed because they are not getting the traffic that we all know you deserve and I decided to do my free tips here tonight.
Okay, so now you have to start analyzing your site and figure out what you can do to convert your traffic into sales.
Some questions you need to ask yourself:
Is my landing page relevant to the keyword used to optimize the page? Just assuming that you optimized one of your pages using the most relevant keyword possible for what that page is offering. If you didn't and a consumer clicks on your link just to find out that the "new" baby blanket they thought they were going to be looking at purchasing is actually a page about used baby blankets then you have lost a sale. Make sure your content matches your keywords/meta tags.
Are you collecting your visitors information when they come to your site? Do you have a form to collect your visitors information visible on your website. If you don't then you are missing out on potential customers. I know in the perfect world you want a visitor to buy right then and there but you are going to have some visitors who love your products but say to themselves that they will come back later or when they get paid. Truth be told, they won't! Statistics say that it usually takes anywhere from 7 to 8 follow ups before a customer makes a purchase from you. So in saying that, it takes me back to my original post. Gather your visitors information by collecting their name and email address or whatever you'd like to collect. You can do this by having a signup form on your site for a free product sample, 10% off their next purchase etc.. By doing this, you get to market to those customers who don't buy right away. You get to send them future offers and follow up with them and therefore increasing your sales. Follow up is the key to your success!! Start collecting email addresses today.
Are the descriptions based off exactly what is being sold on the page showing up in the search engines and does the description state the color, type of product, if it's plain or trendy? A small description shows up under each listing in the search engine for the product or service you are offering. Consider adding the size, color, style, manufac. in the description usually within the first 25 words of your description page. This way when a consumer looks at your listing in the search engine results, they know exactly what they will see and get when they click on that link.
Are your prices competitive? Check out your competitors and see what they are selling their products at. Are they lower or higher than yours. If your prices are lower, don't be afraid to state that in your description etc. "We have the lowest price online!" You will definitely lose a customer if your prices are too high.
Do you display your shipping cost on your site and which shipping carriers you use? Most customers want to know up front how much shipping will cost them if they purchase a product from your site.
What payment type do you accept? Place a logo that is visible for your customers to see i.e. in your header graphic. Top right hand side or left hand side.
Do you ship internationally? I don't know how many times I have received emails from international buyers wondering if I ship to other countries besides the US. By the time I get their email in the morning, they are either sleep or it has been 6 hours since they emailed me and have found the product at another online store. Customer lost! So now I have a message/graphic posted on the home page, although now that I think about it, it should be posted in the site message section so it can appear on all pages! Okay, will do that later.
Are you offering enough products? Do you have enough products on your site or do you have just two or five for each category? Think about expanding your inventory to include more products. Consumers like to have options, items in different colors, option to personalize items, a large variety of items to chose from etc.
Do you have a phone number visible on your site? It is important to have a phone number visible on your site. Half of your visitors will not even bother to call but they feel more comfortable seeing it there just in case they want to call. It's a security feature and a must if you want to continue to run an online business. I know this is not something that you want to hear. I know you don't want your phone ringing at 1 am. But there are affordable services out here that you can sign up for to get a 1-800 number on your website.
I personally use Ring Central.com. There is a device that you can download onto your computer. Everytime a call comes in, your Cell Phone icon starts to ring to let you know that there is a call. You can chose to ignor the call and it will go directly to voicemail or you can chose to connect to the call. You can also place an icon on your site that lets your visitors go directly to the link and enter in their number for you to give them a call. Pretty neat feature if I say so myself!
They offer affordable monthly plans and you can try them out for FREE for 30 days. If you don't like it, simply cancel before your 30 days are up.
Try them out at this link below:
Try RingCentral Fax FREE for 30 days
Last but not least!
Have you sat down and made a budget for PPC campaigns. I know a lot of people tend to shy away from this type of marketing because of the cost and YES natural searches are always the best and I encourage them, but they take time and since some of you do have full time jobs you just don't have the time to optimize your site enough to start to see a ROI, the investment being your time spent away from family, friends and even having a life (which I obviously don't have because I am typing this at 12am.).
Sit down and really think about this, PPC ads are really the best way to bring in traffic and convert that traffic to sales if you have the right landing page and products.
Write down a list of keyword terms that you are interested in and check the daily searches. You can use wordtracker to find these out or find a SEM (Search Engine Marketing) expert that you can trust to help you chose the right keywords that will bring you in some much needed traffic but won't break the bank.
Think about it like this, you are more likely to spend thousands of dollars in advertising cost in the Yellowpages, magazines, print ads, radio ads etc and you will most likely never get one sale from it, not only that you most likely won't be able to track if the sales are coming from them unless you have a special phone number you have set up per ad or coupon code ( If the buyer even remembers to enter in the code with their purchase). But if you set aside some money to use for PPC ads on high traffic websites ( that offer you a way to track your clicks/traffic) or Google Adwords you can see where your traffic is coming from and track your ROI. If you get no sales then you know to move on to another marketing venue.
To be perfectly honest everyone. Marketing takes time and although we would all love a really good get rich quick scheme you know that it's just not going to happen.
So be patient and do your research, find a good SEO company or a SEM company if you don't want to over exert yourself with all of the SEO mumbo jumbo.
That's my tip for the day and I approve this message!
Sorry, just miss hearing that every other 10 mins. on the t.v.
Sending you all positive vibes and hoping that your sales increase even through these bad economic times. Hang in there!
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I've always been reluctant to use PPC for my site because I have read website owners stories of losing a lot of money that way. I wonder if my site would benefit from it after reading this post.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greenandchic.com
Hi Carla!
ReplyDeleteYou will definitely benefit from it. The problem is with adwords and PPC is people don't know what type of keywords to choose when they bid or set their budgets. There is a method to the madness believe it or not. You have to know which keywords to go after. If you choose to broad of a keyword like shoes, you are going to get individuals who are going to click on your link who may be looking for a specific color, size , brand name etc. that you don't offer.
You can lose big time if you don't know what you are doing or just blindly bidding on keywords.
If you need any assistance with picking out profitable keywords just let me know.
Managing an online store, mine being CoolStuffForDads.com, can be a real challenge. I generally like to try things 1st hand to see what kind of experience I have with them. So in the case of PPC, if I had not already used it, I'd probably allocate some budget that I am comfortable with (i.e. not break the bank) and see what I can learn from it and what kind of success I have with it (again, I have already done some work with PPC campaigns, and generally like them as part of an overall marketing plan). Of course you want to do your homework first or look for the help from someone who knows, that will give you a better chance of succeeding. Also, I think you need to be realistic with your initial expectations and expect to invest some time and money in it. Good luck!!
ReplyDelete