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Around 1000 unique hits a month (80% of them through organic search) but very few sales

by m2kolev
16 replies
Hi, first of all this is my first post here so if I do anything wrong or break any of the rules (even though I read them) please let me know.

I got hired by a company do create an eCommerce site (usamartialartssupplies.com) for various martial arts supplies. I have applied almost everything that I could find on SEO and have attempted to keep the design and layout as simple as possible in order to push the actual products forward and lower the distractions. Search engines have in fact crawled the site pretty fast and almost all pages have been indexed. About 80% of all traffic is thanks to organic search and the other 20% are referrals. Can anybody with eCommerce background please give me any suggestions or criticism that would help me increase sales.

Thank you and I appreciate your time and effort.
#80% #hits #month #organic #sales #search #unique
  • Profile picture of the author Hostpany
    That is an easy question to answer. The site looks really awesome, to increase your sales maybe you could put up a survey somewhere in your homepage for your viewers to fill in. You can try asking your viewers / customers what they would like to see in your store. Maybe ask them why they went to your site in the first place, what were they looking to buy and so on.

    That is what I usually do to help increase my sales.
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    • Profile picture of the author m2kolev
      Thanks for your reply Hostpany, I will look into the survey option for sure.
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      • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
        Banned
        The site is unimaginative and
        boring as hell.

        What is your USP?

        Why should anyone give you
        their business rather than
        going to a competitor?

        What are you doing which
        makes you stand out as
        different to your competitors?

        What is your single biggest
        benefit to consumers something
        which they cannot receive
        elsewhere?

        There's scant information on
        your website, in essence all
        it's achieving is saying,
        "Here are our products,
        buy them at this price."

        There's nothing unique about
        your website or what you're
        offering in the slightest.


        Mark Andrews
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        • Profile picture of the author m2kolev
          Thank you Mr. Andrews, your analysis is totally what I was looking for. I started this project based on my employers static html site and attempted to keep the idea as close as possible but I do agree with you that it can be taken as plain, boring and not stand out from the crowd. I will go back to the drawing board and rethink it over. Thanks again
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          • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
            Banned
            There's thousands upon thousands of these kind of websites online. What you need is an angle, something which makes you stand out as different to all of your competitors, something which makes you unique.

            Something which actually captures the attention of your target audience.

            Something which makes them sit up and go "Wow! This is exciting. This is a different approach. I like it!"

            Something which they can emotionally engage with. Something which they can learn from or interact with others of a similar interest. Not just products slapped up on a page where you hope for the best that by gum, if I chuck enough traffic at this site, perhaps one or two of these visitors will lead to some conversions / sales taking place.

            Check out your main, highly successful competitors. What are they doing which is causing them to corner this segment of the market and ask yourself...

            "What could I do to go 10% one better than them to draw away their customers to my business?"

            What can you do which provides your sector of the market with a better service, faster or cheaper than your competitors?

            This is your USP (Unique selling proposition).

            Best,


            Mark Andrews
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            • Profile picture of the author trendyeverything
              first off, I would like to say that your page isn't bad at all..just need some redesigning. I think if there are more visual content that'll encourage your consumers to engage a little be more.

              Secondly, I would like to say that i'm also in the same boat as you. I get around 1,500 uniques a month (decent relevant traffic). I have sales here and there but not consistent on the daily. I would like to increase my sale volume and conversion rate

              Any idea or suggestions you guys might have? I'm sry if I hijacked this thread..I just feel that there are probably alot of ppl like us out there going through the same situation and don't know what else to do.

              I'm open to all suggestions and recommendations...any veterans/expert want to chime in?

              trendyeverything.com if you guys want to take a look
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              www.trendyeverything.com

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              • Profile picture of the author m2kolev
                Hi, trendyeverything, no problem about the thread I just want to get an idea of what to improve and I understand that people can not solve my problems because that would be them doing my work for me but I was hoping on more specific criticism that will help me figure out specifics that I am doing wrong. I understand that the design/layout may not be exciting but an example of an 'exciting' one will help me tremendously. Anyway, if you figure anything out about your site please share the knowledge
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                • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
                  Banned
                  It's got nothing to do with the design.

                  Read again my comments above. And apply what I'm trying to teach you.


                  Mark Andrews
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  • Profile picture of the author TolyZ
    Redesign the web site. Make the design reflect your product. Right now it's really boring. Add some videos may be?
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  • Profile picture of the author tampaprogrammer
    Redesign is definitely a good idea and then possibly throw in a "social network" element?

    When I first saw the site, I immediately thought about a nice graphic where a person is only partially seen but they are doing that typical jump karate kick partially coming into the screen view on the left.

    Also, a grundge look came to mind as well (something very edgy anyway).

    With the social aspect, does it have a facebook fan page? Have it "drip" some content into the page maybe? Maybe even have some feedback dripping for one (or all?) products?

    Possibly allocate a large top spot somewhere with a FEATURE PRODUCT area, complete with a video review, maybe some jquery element near top fading rotations of several key elements?

    Just some ideas for you. Definitely try and give it a modern look and most things I posted above can produce that.

    Good luck!
    Rod
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    • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
      Banned
      Originally Posted by tampaprogrammer View Post

      Redesign is definitely a good idea and then possibly throw in a "social network" element?

      When I first saw the site, I immediately thought about a nice graphic where a person is only partially seen but they are doing that typical jump karate kick partially coming into the screen view on the left.

      Also, a grundge look came to mind as well (something very edgy anyway).

      With the social aspect, does it have a facebook fan page? Have it "drip" some content into the page maybe? Maybe even have some feedback dripping for one (or all?) products?

      Possibly allocate a large top spot somewhere with a FEATURE PRODUCT area, complete with a video review, maybe some jquery element near top fading rotations of several key elements?

      Just some ideas for you. Definitely try and give it a modern look and most things I posted above can produce that.

      Good luck!
      Rod
      He can throw as many design elements at the thing as he likes Rod but it still won't help his conversion rate.

      That is not the problem, his lack of a USP is.

      If he cannot identify his USP or what makes this site different to his main competitors, there's not a hope in hells chance of this website making any serious cash. Period.


      Mark Andrews
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  • Profile picture of the author tampaprogrammer
    Mark, I was just throwing out suggestions to try and help. You don't have to dismiss my suggestions simply because they weren't inline with yours.

    Even if he does define his USP, the site still doesn't catch the eye to retain eyeballs or engage the user.

    Therefore, I believe both of our suggestions deserve some attention?
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    • Profile picture of the author Mark Andrews
      Banned
      It's not catching the eye that matters as much as capturing peoples minds and finding out why they buy in the first place.

      You can throw every gimmick you like at this piece but without a USP it ain't going nowhere.

      Without any competitive advantage, again, it ain't going nowhere mate.

      Dress it up, whack this in there, that in there, something else in there, none of this matters if the site itself has no clearly defined purpose or unique angle upon which to direct said visitors into a direct course of action.


      Mark Andrews
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  • Profile picture of the author m2kolev
    I think both of you have great points. Mr. Andrews is right about having USP in order to separate myself from the rest and Rod is right that I have to have a catchy way of presenting the USP to the customer (maybe through some catchy banner or social media). I will definitely rethink the whole project from the USP all the way to the design. Thank you both for your input it has been very helpful.
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  • Profile picture of the author Cfomodz
    For one, get more traffic, I own a few eCommerce stores as well, and I am always trying to increase my conversion rate (number of visitors : number of sales), but sometimes traffic is more important.

    I currently have a conversion rate of 5% (honestly I am not sure if that is bad or good), would it be better if I spent my time and money to get my convertion rate up to 7% (still getting the same amount of traffic), or to work on getting twice as much traffic and keep my conversion rate?
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  • Profile picture of the author Andrew S
    Attractive design has little relevancy to conversions.

    Set up a funnel and find out where your customers are bailing.

    Set up split tests and figure out what elements you can change to increase conversions.

    Lastly, most important, you need a lot more traffic. 30-40 visits a day isn't going to cut it no matter how pretty your site is.
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