If you are new to the world of digital sales, it’s easy to assume that if you build a website, the customers will come. While for well-established corporations, that might be true, it’s usually not the case for smaller businesses. In fact, you may need to do some of the following things to increase sales.
Keep it simple
The home page is the first part of your website that your customers will see. It can be tempting to fill it with as much information as possible so that your customers have plenty of options from which to choose.
However, too many options, too much clutter, and too much information can cause your potential customers to become overwhelmed. As a result, they may leave without having purchased anything. Instead, focus on one or two premium products and services with information about them. Everything else can be organized into easily accessible tabs that feature in your website’s site map.
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Help your customers see the value
As unique as your business might be, there are likely to be several thousand others offering the same products or services as you. Therefore, it’s crucial to help your customers see value in your products rather than those of your competitors. You can do this by providing a short statement with each product or service. This can include an explanation for how your product solves a problem, the benefits it has, and why the customer should shop with you.
Use videos
It’s a well-known fact that our brains can process visual information thousands of times faster than text. With this in mind, it makes sense that you may see an increase in conversions if you included more videos on your website. Video marketing is something that most web marketing and design teams can assist with. The fast and easy inclusion of a video to your most prominent conversion pages may make more of a difference than you might think.
Build trust
With millions of scam websites hitting the internet every year, legitimate ones have to put in a lot of extra effort to make sure customers know they are authentic. If your website doesn’t look trustworthy, you may be missing out on sales. A marketing team can add several features to your website to make it look more trustworthy than it possibly does now. These features include staff information, testimonials, and reviews.
Staff information
A team photo, or individual staff photos with a blurb, can go a long way to building trust with your customers. When they see the faces behind the products and services you offer, they may be more inclined to purchase from you. A nameless, faceless business may not be able to build the same connection with its customers.
Testimonials
Think about your own shopping habits and how you come to decide what you buy online. You likely read the features of a product or service, then immediately start looking for information from people who have shopped before you. Testimonials from real customers can give many people the confidence they need to make a purchase.
Reviews
Before purchasing from a particular business, many online shoppers do their homework. Often, their first port of call is Google. The more Google reviews you have, the more trustworthy your business may seem. Often this can be because Google is a third-party review platform that the business owner has no control over. People can leave good or bad reviews based on their actual experience.
Install live chat
Even after displaying as much helpful information about a product as possible, your customers may still have a burning question. If they can’t find contact information, they may decide to look elsewhere for what they need.
However, even if you provide phone numbers and email addresses, having a live chat function may be a more convenient option for your customers. They can quickly open the live chat tab, enter their question, and wait for a representative from your customer service team to provide the answer they need.
Even though a live chat website feature is convenient for customers, it can be responsible for incrediblelead generation. You can collect customer information from those who provide their email address and phone number and even offer an option for the customer to hear more about your business’s products and services via email.
Live chat also offers the benefit of allowing you to determine areas of your website you need to work on. For example, if several customers are inquiring about the same product or range of products, you may realize that you need to include more information. If you notice that customers are starting live conversations to inquire about shipping times, you may realize you need to include a tab on expected shipping timeframes.
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Gather customer email addresses
One of the best ways to market your business is through email advertising. It’s affordable, easy to track, and offers endless potential for driving customers to your website. However, without email addresses from current and future customers, there may not be a way for you to take full advantage of it. Talk to your web marketing team about adding something for email capturing.
This might include a free e-book that customers have to provide their email address to receive or another free service. You can then start building an email marketing list to direct your products and services to a broader audience.
Install upsell features
Driving customers to your website is half the battle. You’ve then got to make sure your website sets the foundation for a successful sale. One way to improve your chances of a sale and increase the sale amount is by adopting upsell techniques.
There are many features a web team can help you install so that customers can make these upselling decisions for themselves. Some of these include warranty extensions, service extensions, customization options, and product upgrades. While you have to give something in return for this additional income, it’s still increasing your profit potential with minimal effort.
Use social media
If you’ve relied on social media to interact with your customers and make sales in the past, then creating a new website is the next step to boosting your sales. Many people believe that you need to somehow shift your customer base from your social media platforms to your website.
Instead, your social media platforms and website can work in harmony. You can use targeted ads on your social media to link back to your website. By doing so, you can track the click rate and notice a difference in the number of sales you achieve. The best part about using social media to benefit your site sales is that it’s affordable. You only need to spend as much as you’re able to, and you can adjust that expenditure as time goes on.
Create a sense of urgency
No one wants to miss out on a bargain. It’s human nature to want to spend as little as possible to get value for money. You may be able to increase web sales by creating promotions and deals that create a sense of urgency. For example, you may notice a boost in your bottom line with promotions such as ‘Quick, Sale Ends Monday!’ Even if the discount is only minimal, it can be the push some customers need to hit the ‘BUY NOW’ button when they have been sitting on the fence about a purchase for several days.
Offer payment flexibility
Most online stores offer the most popular payment methods. However, just because they are the most popular doesn’t mean every customer wants to pay with just those select ones. The more payment methods you offer, the wider the group of people you may be able to target. Some of the best payment methods for e-commerce sites include:
If you offer a part payment option, some customers may be lured in by the prospect of being able to make their entire purchase now but only having to pay a certain amount of money each week.
Hire a web design and marketing company
In a recent interview with Chris Manley, the CEO of Engenius, we have discussed why any business needs a web design and marketing agency on its side. As he elaborated, “Many business owners rely on walk-in customers to provide a steady income for their business. However, in recent years, those same walk-in customers are looking for a more straightforward solution.”
If you are not sure how to build a website to handle sales or improve the site you already have, it can be worth hiring a marketing team that can help. Not only can they build websites from the ground up and put them in the best position to succeed, but they can also recommend and carry out some of these techniques and tips mentioned above.
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Final words
There is no single way for your website to benefit from the increased traffic that leads to sales. Instead, there are several that work in harmony. If you’re not sure where to begin, start with the basics. Work on a clean homepage, use social media to your advantage, and start gathering email addresses for email marketing. You may then be on your way to increased web sales in no time.
Web developer and SEO specialist with 20+ years of experience in open-source web development, digital marketing, and search engine optimization. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions (RSWEBSOLS)".
