To put it simply…your website is a peacock.
With all its pageantry, it may get a lot of admirers, but at the end of the day, all those compliments didn’t do a thing for your sales.
On the other hand, your competitor’s website is a hawk. With stunningly sharp accuracy, it zeroes in on visitors and dives right in to meet their needs and expectations.
And it comes away with the prize – nearly every time.
So what do you do? Here are a few design and marketing tips to make that beautiful website work for you!
1. Get rid of the glamour – It’s hard to say it, but much of what you pay for when you buy an expensive web design is a certain “look” That “look” doesn’t do anything for your sales if your customers can’t find what they’re looking for.
Cut out anything that isn’t relevant to the customer’s experience with you and your website. Make it overwhelmingly simple to view their shopping cart. Don’t require them to register in order to checkout. People want to browse, buy and be on their way – and no amount of glitz and sparkle is going to make them stay any longer.
2. Target your best keywords – Hawks are discriminating about what they hunt. You should do the same when it comes to getting visitors to your website. Don’t just go for the most general keywords just because they’re searched the most often. Get in closer and see what people are really looking for – and how much competition is out there.
For example, one of my clients sells wonderfully-scented handmade candles. She could have easily went the same route as all the other scented candle websites and promoted herself using the same keywords as they used.
But then there would be nothing to differentiate her from everyone else. So she focused on marketing to a select audience of people who were looking for “primitive candles” – the kind of homemade centerpieces and old fashioned designs that bring out the country charm in a home.
Together, we made her site a hawk! To see what keywords people are searching for, and which have less competition, check out Google’s Keyword Suggestion tool. It’s free to use.
3. Streamline Your Shopping Cart – Your customers shouldn’t have to “hunt and peck” to pay for their goods and checkout. Amazon.com got this right early on in their online empire when they released “1-Click Shopping” which takes the customer from cart to checkout in a single click.
Make registration optional. I’ve seen too many well-known companies force customers into registering first in order to checkout. What if I’m buying a gift for someone and I have absolutely no interest in the product itself? Doesn’t matter. I still have to register.
Want an ecommerce shopping cart that lets your customers fly through the checkout? Take a look at my best ecommerce shopping carts.
You don’t have to give up that beautiful website in order to increase your sales. But you do have to trim that peacock’s feathers a little so that your page is more than just eye candy. Once you target the right keywords, make the visitor’s experience worthwhile and make shopping a breeze, you’ll start to see your sales really take off!
Tags: best shopping cart, ecommerce shopping cart, hawk, peacock, web design