50 Quick and Easy Tips For Converting More Sales This Holiday Season
With Black Friday and Cyber Monday only 7 weeks away, we wanted to give you 50 quick tips that you can start implementing today to increase sales this holiday season.
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Without further ado, I offer to you.... 50 Quick and Easy Tips For Converting More Sales This Holiday Season
1. Coupons
Yes, it's that time of the year and everyone is looking for
coupons! Make
sure you create a special coupon page using keywords your customers are using.
Link up this coupon page to your checkout pages for those customers looking for
a last minute deal instead or have them quickly sign up for your newsletter and
instantly receive a coupon in their mailbox. Selling specifically to men? A
recent article found that
more men are using online coupons.
2. Gifts For – Her, Him, Them,
etc.
Make it easy for your customers to find exactly the right gift for the
person they are shopping for. Create
special categories filled with gifts for
him, her, them, little ones, and teenagers too.
3. Gifts By Price
In this economy, everyone is on a budget. Many shoppers will be looking
for gifts in a certain price range. Make sure they find those items fast! 4. Gift Cards
Not everyone knows exactly what to get their favorite family member but they your store! Sell them a
gift card instead and make it super easy for them
to give the right gift to the right person.
5. Cross Sells
Make sure you have your cross sells set up properly. While showing them
Item A we also want to sell them Item B and C as well. 6. Free Shipping - Titles
Offer free shipping? Make sure to flaunt it in your meta tags and product
descriptions. This way when customers are using keywords to find your products,
your page will stand out from the competitors.
7. Navigation by Revenue
Many store owners ask, "How should I list my categories in the left
navigation bar?" That's easy! By Revenue! Place the categories that sell closer
to the top of the page so customers can find those categories faster.
8. Search Bar
Make sure you search bar is easy to find and easy to use. Customers coming
to your website don't have time to "shop around." Let them find what they are
looking for quick and easy.
9. Answer Questions
Take a look at your product descriptions. Do they answer your customer's
questions? Do you get phone calls about specific products? Add those questions
and answers to those products. Not only will it provide great content for your
website but, it will also help convert those customers who are too lazy to pick
up the phone and call you. Remember to also use keywords your customers are
using to find your products. Great article shows you the
4 biggest keyword research mistakes. 10. Video
Use video to demonstrate your products and show how great they really are.
You don't have to invest a fortune in a good camera. A simple HD Flip Camera for
$150 or less will do the job. Remember, its quality of content that matters
most.
11. Product Availability
Is this item in stock? Make sure your customers know without having to ask
or think about.
12. Rotating Banner on Your Home Page
Use a
rotating banner on your home page to grab your customer's attention,
alert them to special deals and steals, and convert more sales.
13. About Us Information
Don't be afraid to show your customers WHO YOU ARE. Take a picture and put
it on your website. Tell them how you got started and why you love doing what
you do. Remember, people want to purchase from other people that they LIKE,
KNOW, and TRUST! 14. Privacy Policy
When was the last time you updated this page? Do you let your customers
know how you protect their information? What do you do with their credit card
information? How do you make sure they are safe? Give your customers a warm and
fuzzy feeling all over.
15. Return Policy
You would be amazed at the amount of websites that do NOT have a return
policy. Take a look at Zappos and how they handled returns. Buy it all and
return anything at all that you don't want. Now that gives a customer every
reason to purchase from you and makes them feel nice and secure too. 16. Guarantee
If I purchase something from Best Buy or WalMart down the street, I know
that they will guarantee the product will work. Do you do the same? Don't be
afraid of customers who take advantage of your guarantee. Be more afraid of the
customers who leave your website because you don't make them feel comfortable
with their purchase.
17. Additional Informational Pages
Don't be afraid of creating additional informational pages that help your
customer find the answers they are looking for. Make your website nice, neat,
and user friendly too. The goal is to give your customers a nice warm and fuzzy
feeling so that they give you their credit card information. 18. Toll Free Number
Invest $10 a month for a toll free number and instantly increase your
creditability (and conversion rates too)
19. Live Chat
Customers are going to have questions as they browse through your website,
the live chat icon allows them a quick and easy way for them to ask for
questions. Think about the last time you were in a store and had a quick
question. If only you could find a salesperson.... 20. Email Address
Do NOT use a Gmail address. Let me repeat. Do NOT use a Gmail address. Use
info@yoururl.com or
sales@yoururl.com You can then use your
Gmail to send and receive email but, it looks more professional on your website.
21. Contact Information – Name, Phone Number,
Address, Email
Sometimes customers just want to know you are a real business. Give them a
real name of someone they can contact, a phone number, address, and email. If
you work out of your house, go to your local UPS store and purchase a mailing
address from them to use on your website.
22. Shipping Page
Make sure you create a specific shipping page that contains all
information about shipping your product. How soon does your product ship out?
How long does shipping take? How do you ship your products? Where do you offer
shipping?
23. Tracking Information
Customers want to know that their item is on the way. Make sure to update
their tracking information ASAP. Let your customers know on your website how
often they will be updated and how they will receive the updates. 24. Offer Free Shipping
Most shoppers online are getting to the point where they refuse to pay for
shipping. Offer free shipping after they purchase a certain amount. Not only
will this help you increase your average order value but, it will also help you
to convert more customers!
25. International Shipping
Yes, fraud happens more with international shipments but, there are many
tools available to help you fight fraud. So, now you have to look and see... Are
your customers international? Are you giving up sales by not offering
international shipping? Do some keyword research on Google and you may be
surprised. For instance, a little bit of keyword research on dog collars and I
learned that the United Kingdom is HOT! Are you marketing to them? Are you
shipping to them?
*Hot Tip* While you are there, click on the region United States and you can
learn what are the hottest states to sell Leather Dog Collars too. Who knew they
were so popular in Texas, New Jersey, and Illinois? Are you marketing these
areas specifically?
26. Military Shipping
With so many family members in the military, does your store offer
shipping to APO/FPO addresses? Not many stores do and this could be one way to
stand out in the crowd.
27. Faster Shipping
Instead of offering only Ground, make sure you also offer Overnight
Shipping as well. Last minute shoppers are out there looking for stores to help
them get the right present to the right person at the right time. 28. Shipping Deadlines
Clearly state all shipping deadlines on your website for your customers.
Make sure they understand that if they want their item to arrive in time for
Christmas, they must purchase by this date and ship Ground. Or they can purchase
on this date and upgrade their shipping.
29. Shopping Cart Trust
Add trust seals to your shopping cart to instill trust. Security badges,
shopping with confidence, guarantee signs, etc are great way to let them know
they can trust you. Just don't overdo it and make them think the opposite.
30. Custom Cart Buttons
Still using a boring grey add to button? SPRUCE IT UP! Match your website,
make it stand out, and for goodness sakes....test test test.
Try out
this download with 200 different add to cart buttons.
31. Custom Checkout Buttons
You have spruced up the add to cart button, now make sure your checkout
matches by creating custom checkout buttons as well. It's a quick, simple, and
easy way to increase conversions. 32. Make buttons bigger
You know the phone call. Your customer calls asking a question even though
the website says RIGHT THERE what the answer is. That is because your customers
aren't reading. They are scanning. So make sure to put all your call to action
buttons nice and big so they do not have to search for them!
33. Registration
Using registration on your website during the checkout process is a
wonderful way to increase sales, especially when you have a lot of repeat
business. However, there are a few simple rules to keep in mind. NEVER require
them to log in. NEVER require them to have an account with you. ALWAYS make it
easy for them to find the quickest and easiest way to check out.
34. Decode CVV
What the heck is a CVV? We know what it is. We work with them every single
day but, your average every single day shopper needs a reminder.
35. Sales Tax
Do you charge sales tax? If so, how much? To whom? Do you tell your
customers that you don't charge sales tax? Test it out and see if it increases
your sales. See how this website gives their customers all the reasons why they
should shop with them? Why should your customers choose you over the
competition?
36. Gift Options
Do you offer gift wrapping? Make sure to let your customers know if you
will include a gift message, gift wrapping, and how much you charge for it.
37. Shopping Search Engines
Make sure your feeds are ready to go and your products are in the shopping
search engines, including Google Shopping. This way when customers are looking
for a deal, they find your website. When customers are searching for keyword
phrases, they find your website. When customers need your products, they find
you! 38. One Day Only Sales
Offer one day only sales to increase traffic to your website and sales.
39. Thank you letters
A small hand written letter saying, "Thank you for your order John!" can
go a long way and give you more repeat business. 40. Newsletter -
Email Marketing
Not everyone coming to your website is going to purchase from you. The
average conversion rate is somewhere between 1.5% - 3%, depending on who you ask.
This means that for every 100 people who visit your website, only 1 - 3 are
going to purchase. That means that 97-99 are not. That means that 97 - 99 people
out of 100 are gone forever....UNLESS you can get them to sign up for your email
marketing list. Offer coupons, offer gifts, offer contest, or whatever else to
get them on your list so that you can market to them over and over again.
41. Blog
Your blog is the home base for all of your social networking. When you
Tweet and send a link to a video, you don't send them to YouTube. You put them
video on your blog and send them to your blog. When you tell your friends about
a great picture on Facebook, you put it on your blog and send them there. Use
your blog as the home base of all you do and let your customers get to know, like,
and trust you. Excellent article explains the
signs that blogging is not only alive but, more critical than ever. 42. Facebook
There are over 500 million active users on Facebook. If your business
isn't on there, why not? Facebook is a great way to connect with your customers,
let them know about new products coming out, give them the inside scoop on
sales, and allow you to grab those sales before your competition!
43. Twitter
As of February of 2010, there are more than 50 million tweets sent out per
day. Use Twitter to connect with your customers. The rule of thumb is to follow
your customers to where they hang out. If they start hanging out at
joeschmoe.com, then you need to as well. 44. YouTube
YouTube is the second largest search engine. Post videos on YouTube
showing product demonstrations, giving product reviews, answering questions, and
allowing your customers to find the information they need from you instead of
your competition. As an extra bonus, your videos may get picked up in the
universal search rankings as well.
45. Copyright
When was the last time you updated your copyright date? I was just on a
site about to order last week and noticed the copyright date. I left the site
immediately and they lost the sale. Check this NOW. Would you order from these
websites?
46. Dated products
This website sold me in a magazine. I went to the website to purchase but,
got scared off after seeing several products "outdated" like the one below.
47. Top 10 Landing Pages
One quick trip to Google Analytics and you can learn what your Top 10
Landing Pages are. Now take a look at your pages and see how you can make those
pages absolutely perfect converting pages as well! 48. Top 10 Exit Pages
Same place just one down, what are your Top 10 Exit Pages and why? Fix
those first.
49. Boost your website download speed
Website performance affects everything. Most of your shoppers will give
you two seconds before they are OUT OF THERE. Optimize the design, programming,
and flow of your website so that everything downloads nice and smoothly. Work
with a developer that knows and understands RTML, CSS, and importance of
bringing it all together to bring you higher conversions and rankings. Read this
article explaining how
Google is Really Taking Speed Seriously. 50. Updated Design
When was the last time you gave your website an updated look? Sometimes
small changes can have a big effect. Don't let your customers think you have
long forgotten about your website. Give it a fresh new look for holidays.
Need some help? Contact us today by calling 1-888-312-7839 because we have
a holiday special that starts TODAY and will not last long. Get 15% of any
design package or Level Up For Free (You could save up to 33% off a new
design!!). We want to help you get ready for the holidays and we have hired two
brand new designers with lots of experience that will blow you away (check out
some of our new designs on our portfolio!!)! Their
designs focus on usability, conversions, and optimization for the search
engines.
What are you waiting for? Let's get started right now!! Call
1-888-312-7839
Sincerely,
Shawna Seigel
(Formally Shawna Fennell but, I got married on the Fourth of
July!)
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P.S.
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