Here are a few things to consider to be successful selling products on the Web.
First have a great product or service, good marketing strategy, strong brand and a fair budget or plenty of time for Web marketing, including development, design and driving traffic.
1. Start by getting inside the head of the Web Visitor
- Why do users buy your product?
- How do they use the product?
- What do they tell their friends and family about your product?
- Look at what they do, more than what they say.
- Help the Web visitor meet their needs on your eCommerce site.
2. Navigation and Search
- Starts with the user connection with and branding on the home page.
- Communicate that the site is easy to use.
- Use a clear tagline and product photos on the home page.
- Develop consistent navigation menus and overall search capabilities.
3. Product Presentation
- Simple and clear product presentations.
- Great photos with bullet point details and lots of back-up copy.
- Clear pricing, including shipping options.
- Easy to see “Buy Now” buttons.
- Multiple contact methods.
What about the actual buying experience?
This is where conversion rates and sales can really be improved.
- One click to BUY and send shopper to the shopping cart.
- Give the option of registration or purchase without registration.
- Don’t force the pre-selection of menu items prior to purchase.
- Keep shipping fair and free as much as possible.
- Follow the expected standards for Web eCommerce.
- Drive repeat visits to your Website and use email to spark a purchase.
- Many people research thoroughly and consider more options.
Key action items
- Set a thorough process for tracking stats and usability on your eCommerce site.
- Don’t copy another site because you like it, do what helps users and drives conversions
- Realize that an eCommerce Web store is always under construction and being improved upon and set-up systems to do that.
- When in doubt, make things more simple.
This has been the Intuitive Websites Internet Marketing Podcast. For more information and to see all the available podcasts and much more, visit IntuitiveWebsites.com. This podcast is available on iTunes.
