בלוג לשיווק באינטרנט, ייעוץ שיווקי, וורדפרס וחיים באינטרנט *

Whether you are planning to sell something online for the first time, or are tuning up and re-launching an existing e-commerce site, drawing visitors to your website is always a huge challenge. Some traditional marketing strategies actually translate well to e-commerce, such as promoting to places where you know your customers congregate. If you have a physical store, review what has worked there and morph those activities into your online efforts.

One of the biggest hurdles in online marketing is keeping visitors on your site long enough to fill up the cart and make a purchase. At a store, they’ve already made a time investment to be there and so they are less likely to walk out. Online, however, there’s no such investment, therefore the quality of your site will make or break your online business. With a single click, potential customers can jet on you. Here are some tips for marketing an online store and some stuff to avoid:

Organization and optimization of keywords and phrases…

These are the exact search terms that people are likely to use in the real world to look for the products or services that you are selling on your website. “Optimizing” means selecting your keywords carefully and placing them strategically into every online and offline piece of marketing material that you have.

Creating awareness…
Potential customers need to know that they can buy from you online. If you have a physical location, leverage that in order to gain awareness among visitors. One effective strategy is to place signs in the windows and inside the location of your store announcing the site. You can also hand out coupon-bearing flyers and place them into every bag or box.

If you don’t have a physical location, the best way to create awareness quickly is to place pay-per-click search ads on Google, the yellow pages site serving your area, specialized sites such as Business.com and elsewhere. Other options include sending announcements via press release, email, direct mail or Twitter.

Driving traffic to your site…
Simply knowing your site exists isn’t enough – "knowing is half the battle" – only half. Try to make every page interesting and easy to navigate. Each page needs to be no more than one click away from your online store. Include something noteworthy on each page – such as a tip that can make their life a little easier.

Making it about the customer…
If your web pages are nothing but self-serving spin, people won’t want to come back. Consider creating separate pages that educate visitors on each product or service category which you cover. These kinds of features encourage visitors to stay or return to your site. Make it quick and easy for visitors to contact you with questions or comments should they need assistance.

Converting visitors to sales…
Don’t worry that visitors will resent your trying to sell them something. That is why they are there, and they know that your business has to make money in order to survive. After prospects have browsed your site, you want them to think:

“I can see that you know what you are doing and I trust you. I appreciate your help and it would feel good to buy something from you right now.”

That means you have to make it easy for them to do so. Here’s how to do it:

Make product selection simple.
Make the checkout process quick and seamless.
Be clear and upfront about the costs and choices of shipping.
Show them ways to save money.