So, you have an e-commerce store and you have marketed it on social media. You are getting a few visitors, but you could definitely use more traffic. You need visitors to turn into paying customers. But how do you go about doing that?
We have outlined 5 strategies for you to turn visitors into buyers.
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Building trust is crucial
Of course you have taken every precaution to ensure that your online business is as safe for shoppers as possible, but unless you can prove it to shoppers, they will be wary to trust your site. Providing clear signs of security measures is absolutely vital.
The simplest way to alleviate your shoppers’ anxiety is to objectively look at your site. Have someone you trust test your site by going through all the channels and pages, all the way through to checkout. They will be able to provide you with objective feedback on each step and page, and let you know where they felt insecure.
Ensure that all broken links and images are fixed and proofread each page properly to clean up spelling and grammar.
Trust and security seals on your page is a great way to reassure shoppers that the information they enter on your site will be kept safe. Always make sure that the trust seals you display are from reputable sources.
Have a personalised “About Us” section. Online shoppers have seen every generic company story out there. Let them know that, when dealing with your company, they are dealing with real people with real stories. This will make them feel comfortable in supporting you and will create a sense of trust for after sales care.
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Learn more about Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search Engine Optimization is a way to make your business easier to find on online searches. Although you don’t have complete control over your position on search engines, you can optimize elements on your site that will assist in moving you up or down in the ranks.
Keywords, proper tags and clear page descriptions are all things that tell search engines what your site is about.
A meta-description is the text that appears directly under title tags in search results. Clear text with strategic keywords will help shoppers understand what you are offering and will most likely get you more clicks.
It is also really important for you site to be mobile friendly. Not only do most people browse the internet on their phones, but search engines will also prioritize mobile friendly sites in their rankings.
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Simplify your checkout
Your checkout section is where you ideally want as many online visitors as possible to end up. What you don’t want, is for those visitors to get frustrated with your checkout process and abandon their cart. Luckily, there are simple ways to ensure that your checkout process is user friendly and convert more visitors into buyers.
Ask friends to buy some products on your site in your presence. This way you will be able to observe where they get stuck, and what frustrates them.
Make your checkout process as quick and simple as possible. Avoid unnecessary steps that will make shoppers abandon their carts. Don’t force your shoppers to create an account with you in order to make a purchase. Allowing buyers to check out as guests will make their checkout process quick and painless and will ensure that they visit your site again. Remember that, while customer data can be helpful, the main purpose of your online store is to make sales, not to gain excess data.
Do, however, provide an option to create accounts with discounts as reward. This way you won’t force them to sign up but will rather reward them for doing so. This is sure to create loyalty in the future.
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Retarget and remarket
Retargeting is used to recapture your past visitor’s attention. This means that, if someone has visited your site, they will start seeing ads for your business on social media and on other sites. This is a proven strategy to bring shoppers back to your site to look and to buy. Major online retailers have been doing this for years, with great success.
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Give shoppers a way to contact you
As pointed out previously, building trust with your shoppers is the most important thing you can do. Providing a way for customers to contact you is a very easy way to add trust and to bring more visitors to your site.
Using a contact form on your site will not only make the process safe and easy, it will also provide you with the shopper’s contact details for future email marketing. For tips on effective email marketing, check out our 8 Newsletter Ideas to Build a Loyal Customer Base.
If you need help with any of the above strategies, give theForge.Agency a call. Our team of experts will be glad to guide you through all your online store requirements and will assist you in growing to your full potential.