The E-commerce industry continues to grow, with more and more businesses and companies setting up websites through which they can sell and offer their products and services. The big challenge remains, though: how do you drive traffic to your site and ultimately generate revenue?
Measuring the success and effectiveness of a website in bringing sales can be done by determining one’s conversion rate, which is the ratio of visitors who convert content views or website visits into desired actions: like making a purchase, subscribing to a newsletter, or downloading some sort of software. Web analytics tools – such as Google Analytics, among many others – can usually measure conversion rates, going beyond tracking pageviews and visitor counts.
So what are the ways in which you – as a business owner, Internet marketer, online retailer, or E-commerce professional – can improve your website’s conversion rate? Read on and find out.
Creative, effective Web design
Take time to review the design of your website. Does it match how you would want your potential clients to see or perceive your business or brand? The design should be creative and attractive; make it user-friendly and professional-looking, too. Otherwise, your visitors may not trust you well enough to engage with or purchase something from you. As much as possible, avoid using bland downloadable themes or templates: make the effort, at least, to customize your website with logos, content, and other design elements that best represent the business. Also make sure that your entire website is easy to navigate, and that your menus and products can be seen and accessed by visitors without trouble.
Awesome landing page content
The landing page of your website is very important, and this can majorly influence whether the client will leave or continue browsing. It’s one thing to have great design; it’s another to deliver fresh, compelling landing page content that provides, at first glance, all the info potential clients are looking for, or need to know. So when writing the copy for your landing page, think of the questions that your visitors are going to ask about your products and services – then proceed in a way that answers these questions.
Visible lines of communication
It’s critical for a business owner to be able to establish a relationship with existing and potential customers. But before they can trust you, you must show them that you are worthy of that trust, can be relied on, and are ready to communicate. So open the lines of communication in your website and show visitors the various means by which they can get in touch with you. Spend some time crafting your Contact Us page, and assign an employee or manager the responsibility of responding to inquiries that may be made through this page.
Innovative strategies for driving traffic
If you’re confident that you have a great website that serves its purpose of attracting potential customers customers, you can begin to devise innovative strategies for driving traffic. After all, how can you convert visitors when there are no visitors? Invest time, effort, and money in the implementation of SEO strategies like link building, content creation, social media marketing, and local search marketing. These will help improve your site’s ranking on search engine results pages and drive more people to your website.
Promos and discounts to clients
In the age of tweets, likes, shares, and pins, the good old-fashioned promos and discounts still work. These value-driven marketing efforts are a great way to convince website visitors to try out your products and services. If you like, you can look for additional services or products that wouldn’t cost your company too much, and which you can offer at a discounted rate – or even for free – to visitors who convert. You can even give out first-time customer discounts. Not only will this help increase your website’s conversion rates; it will also help build some online buzz about your business or brand, encouraging visitors and customers to keep coming back.
The main purpose of an E-commerce site is to generate sales for your company. If you’re suffering from low conversion rates, then something must be done about your website. Otherwise, you’ll have a hard time achieving the targets and goals of your company. Following some of the tips mentioned above should definitely help in giving you that much-needed sales and marketing boost.
About the author: Abie is a freelance blogger and article writer, and one of her current projects is for the site where you can read reviews about the e-book sold out after crisis.