Building a good looking site is one thing. Profiting from it is a completely different story. I’ve heard many people complain about having a unique website offering great products or services and not profiting from it. They spend money on advertising every month and get nothing from the site.
There is a widespread myth that only people making money on the internet are the ones selling products on how to make money online. That’s not true. There are many profitable websites that sell various products. Why is eBay the most frequented and profitable site on the internet? People sell variety of things there and make loads of profits. A lot of people make money selling things like Jewelry, cosmetics, shoes, shirts, trousers, watches etc. and earn big profits. There are a few simple low or no cost strategies that any small business entrepreneur can do immediately to increase their web exposure, drive traffic to their site and make a lot of sales everyday.
Understand your Market
The most important thing for an online business is to know your market. Many new entrepreneurs and website owners tend to neglect the fact that if you don’t do a market research you will never know your target market. It is a misconception that a product is for everyone. You must know your target market before starting a website. Even if you have a website already, you should do extensive research to know your target market.
It is same as in the offline world. If you open a brick and mortar store in the real world you would definitely research your target market to strategize your advertising campaign. First, you should understand your target market and then the purpose of your website. For example, if you sell dog beds, you should first research on the number of people who have a dog. There are millions of people in U.S who keep dogs as a pet. Now research on how many people buy dog beds for their dogs. And how many of them prefer to buy dog beds on internet.
You might be thinking on how to research your target market? Well, you should use surveys and visit related forums. So if you are selling dog beds you might find a forum where dog enthusiasts frequent. Ask them what problems do they face buying dog beds online? You will know your target market. Now tweak your site in such a way that it hosts a number of articles on buying dog beds along with the product itself.
Conversion element on your website
To convert the visitors on your site, you need to have a strong sales message on the front page of your site plus a strong call to action. Consider tweaking your front page content to convert the visitors on your site. Urge them to buy and tell about the benefits of buying and using your product. Deliver a strong call to action and create a sense of urgency.
Remember, if your site doesn’t convert the visitors, there is no use in generating traffic to your website through expensive advertising budgets. You site should convert at least 1% of the visitors so you can be sure that if you bring 10000 people to your site through various online advertising mediums, you will get 100 sales.
Grabbing visitors email addresses and phone numbers
It is very important to ask your visitors to leave their email addresses in exchange for something valuable. You can gather visitors email addresses and send them offer and discounts on your product.
To encourage visitors to give their email addresses, you need to give something valuable. For example, if you have a business of selling fish equipment, you should offer insider tips and tricks on catching big fish. Give away these tips and tricks in a report in exchange for email addresses. This strategy alone can increase your sales and profits.
And remember always, always, always, track everything. Track where your traffic is coming from, track your conversion rate, track your email opt-in — with free tools like Google Analytics you can’t afford not to.
