A website is like a shop. You cannot expect to open your shop and have dozens of people flocking in to buy when you have not promoted your shop enough. Many people think they can be easily found online. Sorry, but the bad news is, your website is among the millions of websites in cyberspace. If you do not promote your website, you can’t be found.
So the question I get asked again and again is this: “I don’t get traffic to my site and I haven’t sold a thing since I opened my online shop! What happened?”
My answer: “You did not pay enough attention to your marketing and promotion. You did not attract enough of the right people to visit your website.”
But before that, here are some basics to be noted.
1. Get your metatags in order.
Metatags or the right keywords ensure that your website pops up whenever a search is done. Most websites do not have relevant metatags. They have metatags but that’s just about it. Some are too generic. So finetune your metatags first. While you’re at it, ensure your web text is rich in these keywords. I am not asking you to blatantly insert a keyword in every other paragraph but write the right words.
2. Your photos must entice.
If you are selling products online, get sharp photographs of each product. Nothing is worse than some blurry product photo. Don’t know how to take good product shots? Start with a solid colour background. Nothing is worse than a white/cream/beige background. Try solid black for instance. You don’t need to paint your wall black. Use black paper taped to the wall. Shoot close-up photos. Shoot in good lighting. If all fails, try getting a good photographer for some studio shots.
3. Your website text must sizzle.
Just because you can string together a sentence does not mean you can writing sizzling copy or text for your website. There’s a lot of psychology involved in writing. It must appeal to the emotions of your customers. No emotion, no nothing. If your text reads like the text of the next gazillionth websites online, thrash it out and start again. Learn how to write better. Check out books on web copy. Or look for web copywriters.
So how do you promote and market your website? Here are some ideas which I have used and found to be interesting, relevant and effective.
1. Spread the word about your website. Don’t be shy. Being shy won’t make you money.
2. Give people a reason to visit. Offer them something free, good, useful. Give samples if you must. Start somewhere.
3. Sponsor or give away your products to contests. It’s a small investment with big returns. It helps get the word out there that you’re generous, your stuff is good and you are credible.
4. Find complementary businesses and offer them a win-win proposition. Join and promote together. No one said you have to go at it alone.
5. Get to know some media people. Talk to them first. Don’t be pushy and demand that they interview you. Once you are on a comfortable level with them, you can get featured in the media and use these media articles as your arsenal.
6. Be innovative with your marketing. Try classifieds advertising, try flyers insertion, try using bumper stickers. Try a number of ways. Don’t say you don’t have money to advertise. If you don’t advertise, you won’t get anywhere. Period.
7. Keep your client relationships fresh and exciting. Don’t forget that happy clients are more likely to refer other people to you. Tap these relationships for more. Don’t be afraid to talk to your clients and ask for help. Most people love helping other people out.
8. If something is not going right, analyse all angles. Why aren’t people buying from you yet? Are you hitting the right market? What’s with your product? Too fancy? Could you have a scaled-down version? Too complicated? Could you write an info sheet to help people use it better? Too common? Can you personalise it to make it unique? Is it seasonal? Can you sell it out of the season?
9. Maintain contact with all potential customers. Yes, everyone of them. All of them. You never know if one day they decide to buy and you’re right in front of them.
10. Can you get other people to sell for you? Offer them a big, fat commission. If online, get them as resellers or affiliates (if you need a reseller or affiliate-tracking software, contact me). Whenever customers are referred to you via your banner on some reseller/affiliate’s website, you pay the said referrer. The more generous you are, the more people want to sell for you. Some give up to 50% in commissions.
So there you are, 10 ways you can use immediately to do something about the lack of sales on your website. If you don’t want to miss out on more goodies, sign up for my free ezine to keep updated on these info and tips. Just go to Redbox Studio and look out for the Free Newsletter sign up box on the left.