5 Tips On How To Get Online Shoppers To Your Online Store
Your e-commerce/online store is a very important asset in your online sales strategy. It reflects your brand, your existing customers buy from you for certain reasons such as great customer experience or unique products to name a few. With 69% of US adults shopping online at least monthly, you want these customers to find your online store and buy from you. You want them to have a great experience so that they come back and buy more. While your online store is one channel in your multi or omni channel strategy you may also have one on eBay and Amazon because of their search volume. Whether you have an existing eBay or Amazon selling account, there are a number of online shoppers who prefer to buy directly from your online store, especially if you have lower prices. In fact, according to a PWC report, 56% of shoppers will buy products online if there are lower prices/better deals than in store. Therefore how these shoppers come about finding you is key in driving your online sales.
5 tips on how to have customers find your online store:
- SEO: An important strategy for search engine optimization of your e-commerce/online store is to use search keywords. To find out what these keywords could be, you can enter them into the google search bar and you’ll see suggested popular searches show up or you can even use google keyword planner which will show you the monthly search volume associated with it too. One thing that can be tricky for e-commerce is trying to create unique product descriptions, so that shoppers can find you. While it may seem quick and easy to copy the description from another site that you think is doing well, this will actually harm you. Refer to tip 3 for more details on this. For your SEO, create a unique product description and add details in a long text section. Use keywords or search strings your customers would be searching to find you.
- Content: There are different types of content you should consider on your site. They range from blogs/vlogs, infographics, memes, podcasts, how to guides, interviews, case studies, videos and even lists. When starting out it can be overwhelming knowing where to begin, so pick content that you can create and relates to your store, your products or your brand. Try to write unique content and post it as often as you can. The pieces you create should include search keywords, to help drive traffic.
- Look out for duplicate content: Avoid duplicate content because search engines punish you for this. It’s especially hard in e-commerce because product descriptions for many online sellers are the same and tend to come from the manufacturer. There’s only so much you can use to describe a product at times. Try to be creative and add additional words to clearly describe the product. And if you find a piece of content you really like, it’s ok to link to it or share it versus trying to re-write something yourself.
- Store Sales: Who doesn’t love a deal? Offering discounts makes customers feel like they are getting a great deal. They tend to convert higher and can build long lasting relationships when they know you do have sales.
- Newsletters: Once at your store, it’s a good idea to have visitors sign up to a newsletter. This way you can communicate and engage with them about upcoming sales, discounts, information they may find useful, refer them to blogs, offer tips and lists. It’s an effective way to stay in touch as part of their experience with your store and your brand.
Setting yourself up with some of these basic tools are a great way to get your online store up and running. It doesn’t happen instantly, so you need to be consistent at reviewing performance, using SEO keywords and posting content regularly. You’ll see an increase in traffic happen over time. It will be worth the investment of your time and creativity to get shoppers to your site and convert to a sale.