Why am I not getting any sales??

Laura — Thu, 14 May 2009 13:09:03 +0000

Your getting plenty of traffic onto your website but very little sales…. so what’s going on?

Various factors can influence a users commitment to purchasing, a report published by Econsultancy revealed that one in three online users do not shop online, 30% cited a lack of trust being the main reason, 20% cited concerns over personal security and 15% said they did not trust the company selling online.

Safety First

Gaining the trust of the customer and ensuring complete security of their personal details are two main factor which can lead to higher conversion rates.

Some best practise methods to employ that can help gain the trust of the consumer are as follows:

Clearly display your terms and conditions, 55% of shoppers now refer to the T&C’s before making a purchase. (Econsultancy)

Provide accurate and up to date information on the company returns policy.

Always provide adequate contact details including a customer service hot line.

Having some form of customer feedback facility adds credibility to your company and its products or services.

Always use a reliable and secure Payment Gateway service and ensure that this means of payment is clearly communicated to the customer.

The design and layout of the website can also have an influential impact on how trustworthy a company is perceived.

Usability Factors

As usability guru Jakob Nielsen says; “On the Web, usability is a necessary condition for survival. If a website is difficult to use, people leave.”

So what potential usability issues could deter a customer from making a purchase?

Bad site navigation, very easily a customer will get irritated and leave a website due to their inability to move easily through a website and find the product they are looking for. If a site is difficult to use people will leave and find another that is easy to use, simple as.

50% of searchers land on the homepage of an ecommerce website (DoubleClick), make sure that the homepage does not take an eternity to load and avoid splash landing pages.

Poor search facilities can not only irritate users but could potentially direct users to the wrong products. Ensure your search facility is in tip top condition, it is a vital tool for many customers and if the search process is lengthened by a lousy search form or bad results then the customer will go elsewhere.

Content

Content can be another tricky area which again requires a level of simplicity. Keep it simple and include only information the user needs.

When it comes to selling your product if you are retail then remember that ordinarily a person would be in the high street buying this product- they can pick the product up, touch it, feel its texture and see its dimensions, selling on the internet has the disadvantage of not being able to offer this. The best way to overcome this is to offer as much information about the product as possible, provide various images at a variety of angles and provide sizing.

This principle applies to business ecommerce websites even more so, in general business transaction tend to be higher in value therefore the risk for the customer is greater and the purchase process will be longer and more calculated. Providing as much detail and support information as possible will help the decision making process, in your favour preferably!

Avoid using too much jargon! Obviously if your business nature requires the use of technical terminology and the customer will be accustomed to such language then it is a different story. However, at all costs it is best to avoid using complex language and if you cannot avoid it try to include some form of glossary to help shoppers to understand what you are talking about.

Access for all

Accessible web design is a must for any website, by not making your website accessible to all you could be excluding many customers from using and buying from your website.

See our blog post Access All Areas for more detail on web accessibility.

The main transaction

During the actual shopping transaction it is not only security concerns that deter many shoppers, 67% of web shoppers click out of shopping carts before completing purchase (Net Effect) and one of the main reasons is often due to the filling out of forms.

Having to constantly fill in details forms each time a user returns to a website can be very off putting, to encourage loyal and returning customer use a log in functionality that remembers customers details.

A form error is one of the main reasons a person will exit a transaction without finishing it, not only does it lack credibility, it is time consuming and it can be very annoying for users; if any problems occur with a form on your website contact your web administrator immediately and have it rectified asap.

Further to this transactions are being abandoned left, right and centre because of the type of checkout process being used on site, using a traditional checkout process where access to all the other website pages are still available makes it very easy for the customer to stray back to product searching within the website. Having an enclosed checkout has proven to increase transactions, it takes customers to a separate checkout facility where all distractions (menu bar, search facilities etc) have been removed, reducing the likelihood of the customer changing their mind. Having such a checkout facility also reinforces the security aspect of the transactions and makes it easier to communicate the payment methods and terms and conditions to the customer.

Finally, you and your product!

Lastly, and most importantly, your company, the product/service and customer experience being offered must be worthy of purchase. No matter how much you improve your website if your product quality and customer service isn’t up to scratch then its unlikely any customers will return, and loyal customers are the most profitable kind. They will return to your company time after time, refer others to you, and spread good words about you, and word of mouth is the best kind of marketing a company could ever get.

Make your company recession proof with SEO

Laura — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 14:11:14 +0000

Prepare your business for a recession by improving their online presence
With businesses facing the constant threat of recession the pressure to demonstrate return on investment is even greater; budgets are getting tightened and now is the time to target your marketing on a campaign that will deliver returns.
Internet and Search Engine marketing is a cost effective means of getting your website found in the top rankings of the major search engines; ensuring that your brand, product or service is competing on a nationwide scale.

Why should you choose SEO now? As previously stated, many businesses are cutting budgets and relocating marketing funds elsewhere. So as competition thickens would you not want to stand out, and if you knew your competitors were cutting back on advertising would you not want to take advantage? In the last economic recession it was reported that an increase in advertising lead to an improvement in market share and ROI.

Yet, you may ask why choose internet marketing as opposed to offline? The online market is growing rapidly, consumers are turning to the internet to research their purchases, and with websites offering a sophisticated user experience the online retail industry is booming. Last year 32 million consumers went online (67% of the UK population) to research products and find relevant services; by having your site optimised you can drive this traffic to your business.

The biggest measurable with SEO is the ability to see your website climb the search engine rankings, and once people are clicking onto your site the conversion of traffic to customers can be measured. Thus providing you with greater measurables than if you were to conduct an offline campaign.

Blog site Search Engine Land has produced this model to demonstrate the ROI of SEO.

Graphic by Elliance , an eMarketing firm specializing in results-driven search engine marketing, web site design, and outbound eMarketing campaigns. The firm is the creator of the ennect online marketing toolkit.

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Why am I not getting any sales??

Make your company recession proof with SEO