Most of us know that building a website or online store is something that many people are capable of doing. It can be fairly easy in this day and age; however, trying to attract traffic and entice customers into making purchases can be the bigger obstacle. Online presence is a key factor in any web sales strategy. Therefore, the look of the website, the products that are sold, and the simplicity of purchasing the products have to be in balance. For smaller businesses owners or other entrepreneurs who rely on a website for their sales, there are five simple steps they can use to attract more customers.
Here are the five tips that can help turn a business’ website into a giant sales machine:
1. Build an effective shopping cart.
Building up a full-featured shopping cart directly into the website instead of using services for taking orders may be a better option. Additionally, shopping carts are leading to more customisation and the potential to provide more product information, which will be very useful for those specific buyers.
2. Recommend related products.
Providing a “recommendation engine” that offers buyers upsell products, upgrades, and additional services can be a better way to demonstrate salesmanship even when we are not able to interact face-to-face with the web customers. For instance, if a customer puts a shirt in his/her online shopping cart, he/she can be prompted to add a complementary pair of pants or skirt.
3. Optimize your site for search engine.
Consider trying some free tools that are offered by Google to help your site to show up more prominently in online searches. Of course, you will need some time to learn how to use them properly. Another option is to use an online search engine optimization service. These two services can help shorten the learning curve for identifying proper keywords and building links that can help pull the website out of the search engine cellar.
4. Start a contest or promotion.
An online contest or promotion can help to attract customers’ attention in social media channels. Therefore, giving away a high-value item enables online sellers to stir up the most attention. Simple and frequent contests with smaller perks can also be an effective way to get the attention of potential customers.
5. Develop a shipping strategy.
Shipping strategy is necessary when competing with larger online retailers. Instead of opting for either costly or completely free shipping, consider something in between. Offer only ground shipping for free and set a minimum purchase amount to qualify for it.
Give these simple tips a try and let us know the increase you see in your sales!
