When the traffic to your website is more of a trickle than a roar, it can be frustrating enough to make you want to pack your bags.
The truth is that attracting customers to your store website takes more than simply building it and hoping they will come — you have to get the word out to an audience who wants exactly what you have to offer. Finding those people isn’t as difficult as it sounds, though.
Here are three great tips to get you started:
Go where your customers are. If you know your customer base well, you know where they hang out online. If you sell handcrafted goods, go check out Etsy and Pinterest, a specialty retailer might do well on Facebook or Twitter. Find your people, or your niche, and market directly to them. Chances are good that they simply weren’t able to pick up your signal before, but by targeting a specific audience, you’ll get a boost to both eyes on the screen and order fulfillment.
Be the best at what you do. Providing the absolute best experience an online customer can get really goes far. In fact, according to American Express’s 2014 Global Customer Service Barometer, happy customers tell an average of eight people about their experience. Since 42 percent of those people will take advice from a friend or family member to try a new company, it’s worth going out of your way to please everyone who happens by your digital doorway.
In addition to offering the ultimate customer service experience, you should also offer expert advice from your sector. For example, if you have a virtual shop that sells golf clubs, you can use your blog to answer common questions about choosing golf clubs and explore the latest offerings. You might also be able to generate a little more buzz by becoming a guest blogger for publications or popular blogs related to your business. Establishing your expertise can improve your Google ranking if your website is well thought out and put together.
Ask for shares and reviews. Once your store website is up and running, your social media is established and the bugs are worked out of your eCommerce order management software, it’s time to start asking your customers for their help. Ask them to share your new products, ask them to review your store, ask them to pour out their hearts online. Getting the word out is a team effort, enlist your loyal shoppers to help by providing them with easy to access social sharing buttons and telling them exactly what to do by clicking here or posting there. Think of it like a call to action that ends in an honest description of what it’s like to do business with your company.
Attracting more customers to your website is a long term proposition — you’ll need to be patient as interest grows. Do spend some time doing testing, but don’t change everything around weekly or you’ll risk alienating the customers you already have. Paid advertising can speed up your timetable, too, but only if you’re already doing the things mentioned above.
