3. The first area to review is the product or service that you
are offering. Does a market exist for it? To answer this
question you need to find out whether similar products
are being sold on the Internet successfully. If not, you may
need to rethink your Internet strategy. If others are selling
a similar product successfully, then this would tend to
confirm that there is a market for your product.
4. Next, look at the strategy and pricing being adopted by
your competitors. How do you compare? Why should your
visitors buy from you rather than one of your competitors?
Answering these questions will provide you with valuable
information you can use to improve your situation and
generate more sales.
5. Also, take a critical look at your product quality. Does it
live up to the claims you are making on your web pages? If
not, improve your product so that it does or modify your
web page to be more truthful about it.
7. Once you understand the problem your visitors want
solved, revise your web pages to show that your product
will provide the solution they need.
8. One way to better understand your visitors is to monitor
where your visitors are coming from. If they are coming
from the search engines, knowing what search terms they
are using can provide some clues. You may find some
surprises when you review this information about your
site.
10. Your site needs to look like it is a commercial web site
rather than an amateur home page. The design needs to
be consistent from page to page and it needs to be easy to
navigate. Contact details including physical address, phone
numbers and email address need to be shown.
11. Graphics need to be minimized to ensure that your page
downloads quickly. Also, ensure that your web host
provides a fast connection to the Internet. Most people
will not wait for a page that takes a long time to
download. They will just move on to your competitor.
12. Make it easy to order. I recall seeing statistics recently that
suggested that a large number of people abandon a web
site in the middle of the order process. A common reason
for this is that the order process is too time consuming
and complicated. Make yours simple and quick and you
will lose fewer sales.
13. Ensure that your web page has a strong headline that
grabs your visitors and makes them want to read more.
Your headline should in effect say "You have this problem,
here is the solution". Your web site should then
demonstrate that you understand the problem and that
you can in fact provide the solution.
15. Testimonials and guarantees can have a huge impact on
your level of sales. On the web, a key priority is to build
credibility. The common methods used are having a
privacy statement, publishing a newsletter, publishing
testimonials from satisfied customers and providing a
strong guarantee.
16. Take every opportunity to gather comments from your
customers about how your product has helped them. Get
their permission to publish these comments as
testimonials. If need be, provide them with a gift for giving
you their permission to publish their comments. A way of
getting comments is a customer feedback survey. This can
be used for the purpose of gaining testimonials as well as
seeking ways to improve your product or develop
additional products your customers may need.
17. A strong guarantee will provide your visitor with greater
confidence to purchase your product. Try to make your
guarantee simple and without too many conditions.
Always honour your guarantee without question or delay.
19. Getting plenty of hits to your web site is a very positive
situation to be in. By implementing some of the hints
provided in this article, you can convert these visitors into
being your customers.
