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Turning traffic into sales |
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Well, now you have a web site, you have
visitors... it is time to sell.
Think bricks and mortar here. In a conventional store, people
come to look at your stuff. In addition to have good products at
the right price, your store must be clean, attractive, well
organized, and easy to go through. Your staff has to be polite,
well trained, and available to help and answer questions.
Selling on-line is not that different after all.
Here are a few ideas on how to turn those visitors to your
website into customers. |
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Offer good products at the right price |
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This is
the first rule of business, on-line or
not.
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Describe your products and services |
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There is
no clerk in your on-line store to
answer questions. Clarity is the key.
Provide pictures and useful, clear,
easy to understand, and complete
information about the goods and
services you are trying to sell. Do
the same about your shipping options,
tax handling, shipping & handling
fees, return policies, etc... Use a
"FAQ" pages to answer common
questions..
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Build a
clean, simple, easy to use, and
efficient website. In a conventional
store, pet food and toilet tissue are
not located in the same area. Put
yourself in your visitor's shoes and
organize your on-line store in a
logical fashion.
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Establish credibility, build trust, be honest |
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If your
visitors don't trust you, they will
not trust your offers, and will not
buy from you. Be honest. Use an "about
us" page to let your visitors know who
you are. Provide testimonies or
examples of what you have done in the
past with links to actual customers so
your information can easily be
verified.
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Offer no hassle 100% money-back guarantee |
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Guarantees
help to alleviate any anxiety the
customer may be feeling about ordering
from you. If you are offering quality
products or services you should not be
afraid to take them back!
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Offer discounts on certain items |
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People
like to purchase at reduced price.
Ever heard about loss leaders? Get
people in your store, get them to buy
something, get them to go through your
checkout. Who knows, they might also
purchase something that is not on
sale.
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Offer on-line specials or discounts |
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It costs
very little to build an on-line store
and it is very easy to process on-line
sales. Pass some of the savings to
your on-line customers.
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Accept multiple kind of payments |
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Give your
customers as many options as possible
to pay for your products and services
(mail, fax, phone, online, cash,
credit, etc.). We live in an instant
gratification society. By accepting
on-line credit card payments you will
get many more sales than if you just
accept checks.
PayPal is the leading online
credit card processor for small
businesses.
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Make it easy and convenient to buy |
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Optimize
your shopping cart. Make sure your
customers can add and subtract items
effortlessly, and check out quickly,
with as few clicks as possible. Some
people are reluctant to enter personal
or credit card information when
on-line so offer conventional ordering
and payment methods as well.
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Make it easy and convenient to buy |
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Your
visitors won’t spend much time
searching for your email address or
phone number so make sure that this
information is readily available on
your website.
Always show your full textual email
address so people know how to contact
you if automated links are not
functional or if working from a
printout.
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Get better through feedback |
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Encourage
your visitors to ask questions and to
provide feedback. You will be amazed
by the great questions and free tips
to improve your business you get. Keep
your FAQ page updated with this
information.
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We live in
a society of instant gratification.
Rely on your items descriptions and
FAQ pages to immediately provide
answers to common questions. When it
fails and you receive an email,
provide prompt and complete answers.
Rework your item description and FAQ
pages based on the questions you
receive.
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Emails: Spell check and double check |
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Typos and
careless mistakes immediately label
you as sloppy, unprofessional, and
unworthy to do business with. Spell
checkers do wonders...
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Emails: Use plain text editors |
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Some of
your customers may still have plain
text email programs that do not show
up graphics, pictures, and fancy
fonts. Always use
plain text format to ensure
compatibility with all your mail
recipients.
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