So, you sell online - congratulations (and welcome to the 21st century)! But does your online store sell enough? Chances are you could do with increasing your sales figures. And this article discusses seven simple strategies to help you sell more of your products online.
And they are:
1) Build Trust In You And Your Website
2) Get Listed On Comparison Shopping Sites
3) Sell More Via Affiliate Marketing
4) Get More Visitors Using Pay-Per-Click Search Engines
5) Get Your Products Listed On Froogle
6) Use The Power Of Testimonials
7) Build A Store That Sells
So, let's consider these strategies in a little more detail.
1) BUILD TRUST IN YOU AND YOUR WEBSITE
What do I mean by trust?
1.1) Well, you could simply feature a prominent photograph of your real-world store on the website. (If you can add photos of the staff, or include information about you that is relevant to the products you sell, then even better!)
1.2) You could also provide lots of helpful buying advice, relevant to the products that you sell online.
1.3) You might decide to write a regular online newsletter, to stay in touch with your site visitors.
Trust is important, online; trust will improve your conversion rate, and you *will* sell more products online.
Example: * AGMillers: photo of a real meat butchers store -
http://www.agmillers.co.uk/
2) GET LISTED ON COMPARISON SHOPPING SITES
Dealtime, Kelkoo (and Pricerunner) are known as comparison shopping sites - they allow visitors to compare prices online. Add your products to their databases, and these popular websites could well deliver you lots of ready-to-buy customers.
Costs to get listed on comparison shopping sites vary.
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If your site offers competitively priced products, then getting listed on a comparison shopping site may well drive serious amounts of 'ready-to-buy' visitors to your site. (Kelkoo UK boasts of being a top-10 UK web property!)
Resource: * Pricerunner -
http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/faqbusiness.html
3) SELL MORE VIA AFFILIATE MARKETING
How do you think Amazon sells so much product online?
Yes, it builds trust in itself and operates a highly sales- focussed website, but Amazon also utilises affiliate marketing.
Amazon is not the only online merchant doing this. Affiliate marketing is now a mainstream sales channel for many online vendors. As such, serious money can be made as an affiliate, earning commissions on sales or leads generated from his/her site. And that means that affiliate marketing attracts the brightest and the best, and they may well want to make money by promoting YOUR products.
There are start-up (and running) costs associated with affiliate marketing, and you will also need to put time and effort into this particular sales channel. But as long as you 'work the numbers out' properly, a well-operated affiliate program could really boost your online sales.
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Affiliate marketing works. Find out if it can work for you.
Example: * Digital Cameras (Amazon associate site, ahem!) -
http://www.best-digital-cameras.co.uk/
Aside: N.B. Find a list of the major UK affiliate networks in this online version of the article: -
http://www.shoptour.co.uk/sell-more-products.shtml
4) GET MORE VISITORS USING PAY-PER-CLICK SEARCH ENGINES
Paying per click for visitors to your website - via specific keyword searches on sites like Espotting, Overture and Google (ads appear at top, and in right-hand column) - can generate low-cost, targeted visitors to your site, when you want!
Do watch your spend however, and make sure that your bids are sensible.
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Again, using pay-per-click search engines takes time and a not-inconsiderable amount of expertise, but a well executed pay-per-click search engine campaign can drive highly- targeted visitors to your site, and increase your sales.
Resource: * Bid at pay-per-click search engines (Article) -
http://www.howipromotemywebsite.com/pay-per-click
5) GET YOUR PRODUCTS LISTED ON FROOGLE
What is Froogle? Well, to quote what is says on the website: "froo.gle (fru'gal) n. Smart shopping through Google."
Yes, Google (and now Google UK) actually lists vendor products on its website, via a Froogle search.
Your products could appear on Froogle and even directly on Google (who knows?). And there is no cost, either.
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Froogle is coming to UK, soon. And if you want to get your products listed on Froogle UK (I recommend that you at least consider it), then visit Google today.
Example: * Froogle search for coffee machines -
http://froogle.google.co.uk/froogle?...hine&sampleq=1
6) USE THE POWER OF TESTIMONIALS
Are your customers happy? How do you know - they tell you, yes? So do you put these positive comments on your website, and if not, why not?
If you are lucky enough to have happy customers then tell the world about it, or at least inform site visitors who are considering purchasing from you. Use the power of testimonials to encourage others to buy from you.
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You know using testimonials on your site makes sense, so I'll say no more! (Just check out the example below, to get some ideas! ;-) )
Example: * Concept 2 (testimonials on home page!) -
http://www.concept2.co.uk
7) BUILD A STORE THAT SELLS
Does your online store sell?
Frankly, there is little point in generating thousands of visitors to your site if your store does not sell.
So, where to begin. Well, you won't go wrong if you do these things right:
- Provide clear and consistent site navigation
- Put good quality product photos on your site
- Get your site designed by a professional
- Place as few barriers to purchasing as possible I could go on; I won't.
Resource:
* Don't Make Me Think (by Steve Krug, all about sensible site design. Highly recommended.) -
http://www.sensible.com/ --
So, there you have it.
7 simple strategies to help you sell more online - just implement one method as soon as you can.
Good luck, and remember you can review more examples and resources by visiting this online version of the article -
http://www.shoptour.co.uk/sell-more-products.shtml View All Articles by Steve Nash
