How to Improve Your Websites Buying Process
From small businesses to huge corporations, increasing profits is the #1 goal.
As a business owner, its your main purpose and what you focus the bulk of your energy on. However, it can be a challengeespecially when youre so close to your brandto see whats missing and to make the necessary changes.
Fortunately, theres no shortage of ways you can improve your buying process and see results in the near future.
Whether you run a product- or service-based business, here are 7 ways to increase online sales:
1. Have a user-friendly website that looks good.
This might seem obvious, but youd be surprised how many small business owners neglect their online presence, even if they dont have a brick and mortar store.
They get so focused on selling they forget about the user experience. As a result, visitors get frustrated they cant find what theyre looking for, wrestle with glitchy pages and outdated content and go elsewhere.
Remember, many people are also going to be browsing and/or buying from their phones, so optimize accordingly.
2. Tell nothing but the truth.
Dont exaggerate what your product can do or oversell your services. This will only hurt your reputation in the long run and keep you from gaining your customers and followers loyalty.
You might make initial profits, but people wont return, will leave negative reviews and will tell family and friends.
Of course, you want to market effectively, but dont claim your coaching services will absolutely lead to a six-figure income or your skincare products will make anyone look 20 years younger.
Be honest and transparent while sharing the benefits of whatever youre selling.
3. Spend time on SEO.
You want your business to be found in Google, but thats not going to happen unless you research your competitors, choose the right keywords (including longtail keywords) and properly optimize your website.
For example, a wedding planner will face stiff competition when creating campaigns around “wedding planning in Vancouver”.
He or she could create targeted, longtail content around keywords related to wedding planning, such as fall flower arrangements, unique cupcakes, elegant Bohemian wedding décor, his and her cocktails and so onanything to drive traffic to the site while standing out from the competition.
4. Create a sense of urgency.
If users land on your site only to see an offer from a year ago is still front and centre, its disappointing and makes people wonder how much energy you put into your business or if youre still in business at all.
If you want to improve your buying process, its essential to help customers understand the value of what youre providing, whether its a limited-time offer or a seasonal sale.
5. Understand that content is king.
Weve been hearing this for a long time, and its still so relevant! Search engines reward fresh and useful content. Here are some characteristics of a user-friendly website:
Detailed, unique product descriptions
Blog articles about interesting topics related to your product or service
A FAQ page where you answer all your customers questions
6. Monitor and respond to reviews.
Nearly 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase, according to the Spiegel Research Center, 2017. I recently talked about the importance of online reviews in How to Deal with Negative Reviews Without Harming Your Business.
From Google My Business to Yelp, you have the opportunity to share your information and get customer feedback, whether its negative or positive.
7. Be super social.
You NEED a social media presence, and the time has come to focus on content marketing storytelling. Not only do users check out online reviews and how responsive you are, they also look to see what youre promoting and how often youre active.
You should have strategies the major platforms you know your target market is using including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram.
Dont neglect your audience and they wont neglect you! Its worth it to put the energy into strategizing now for great results.
No matter what your brand is, boosting your online sales, brand awareness and loyalty can be a big challenge.
