Maximize Your Online Sales: 10 Things to Improve in Your Online Sales

I think you've already thought about how to maximize your sales from the website. But did you do everything to get maximum? I remember a conversation with one of my first customers. He was sure that he could do all by himself:

1) Buy some advertising.
2) Write a good sales copy.
3) And then go travelling for months and his income will grow by itself.

But in fact it wasn't as easy as he thought because there are lots of things you must know about your website to get maximum sales from it.


1. Traffic Flow. Your website is nothing but a toy without traffic. It's vital to get quality traffic by any means:

Search engines - this is one of the best sources that provides relevant traffic to your website. Increase your positions on search engines for specific keyword phrases with the help of link building, article submissions, general directory submissions, social networks.
Google Ads - this is an expensive type of advertising, but I don't recommend to refuse from it unless it becomes not profitable for your business.
Social Networks and social bookmarking submissions - this is a new way to get plenty of dedicated leads. Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn are good places to share free bonuses and reports, provide a discount and let people know about your special offers.

2. Search Phrases. In order to get quality traffic from search engines, you need to know what drives traffic, use Google Analytics to check your current sources of traffic. Find new keywords in order to get even more traffic. Don't forget that some people may never use those keywords which you think are the best for your site because people have many reasons to buy your product. So there is always a possibility to find even more keywords than it looks at first sight. Let us know if you need any help with choosing the best keywords which will drive traffic to your site.

3. Bounce Rate (in Google Analytics) shows the percentage of visitors who left your site without even reading it. It is highly recommended to keep track on this record as high bounce rate can show you the following problems of your site:

Your advertising doesn't comply with the page where people get redirected after they click on it;
Content is not appealing. Make sure your title (subject) of your posts attracts visitors;
Your graphics are confusing, causing the visitor to exit rapidly. In other words, does your site's appearance represent your business?

4. Average Time Spent on Site and Pages Which Visitors Are Viewing.
Keep track on what information on your website arouse interest and what pages need to be improved.
By the way, you'll be able to see what you can focus on to drive more traffic.

5. Lead Capture (Lead Magnet). Your website must have web forms which capture leads. Otherwise there is a big possibility that your visitors will never come to your site again. Newsletter forms do not work anymore, so use different tactics: free reports, free bonuses, additional discount for people who entered their contact info. You'll be able to get in touch with these people and increase your conversion this way. I recommend you to capture leads with easy to set up webforms provided by Aweber or 1ShoppingCart. I've tried those systems myself, so I know what I'm talking about.

6. Communication. You can do great FAQ document but your leads will still have questions about your product or service, so be ready to answer their inquiries. Make a simple "Contact Us" form with just a few fields (don't ask too much at once), where people can leave their contact information and their question. In order to keep your communication on top level give a shot to email marketing systems like Aweber or 1ShoppingCart. They can help you to send automatical personalized reminders and newsletters to your customers and keep them up to date about your special offers and events.

7. Guarantees. When somebody is interested in a service he wants to feel confident in your product, your company and that he made a right decision choosing you among your competitors. Guarantee is what you need on your website to increase its conversion. Smartly written guarantee will increase the value of your product or service.

8. Testimonials. People got used to believe other people and not the content of the website. That's why it's so important to collect positive reviews from your clients. After your client got your product, don't be lazy and ask him if he liked it. And if he did, send him an email asking about his experience, what he liked about your product and what he would like to improve.

9. Fast Sale. Each additional step in sale decreases the conversion rate that's why it should be very easy to purchase your product. Ideally, the client should be able to make a decision from the very first visit of your website and then make an order within a matter of seconds. Use e-commerce systems built in into Aweber or 1ShoppingCart to help your clients make an order faster.

10. Up-sell and Cross-Sell. It's easier to sell to people who have already ordered from you because they feel confident in you and your company. So don't lose a chance to offer them other products right after they made an order. Our experience shows that about 37% of people make a purchase decision in a favor of the cheapest product in a hurry. Don't forget to let those people know that you have a lot more to offer to them on the Thank You page. Sometimes such people are just too busy to think about bigger order, but this doesn't mean that they do not need it. It's really easy to make an automatic upsell and cross-sell with help of sytems like [URL="http://www.aweber.com/"]Aweber[/URL or 1ShoppingCart.

By keeping track on these things and constantly improving them you will at least double your sales within 3-4 months.