Despite what Field of Dreams will tell you, it takes more than building a good product to make people come and buy it. With so many competing products and retailers online, business owners need to make sure they have their products positioned in the most effective way to increase their sales. While there are certainly a lot of high-level techniques that business owners can employ, there are also simple tricks that can boost the bottom line. Here are five easy-to-implement ways to increase online sales.
Make Product Description Relevant To Visitor
A simple change that business owners can make is to change product descriptions so they are written about what is most important to the shopper. Make sure that the first paragraph describes the problem the product will solve for the customer or explains the benefit the customer will receiving. Instead of writing about the company or brand, write about the customer. For example, write “You will save 30 minutes every morning” instead of “Company X has made a time-saving product”.Format Copy So Most Important Features Stand Out
Much to the chagrin of the people who work hard to write the content for websites, most web surfers rarely read the entire copy for a website or product description. To make sure that people can quickly see the main points, there are some simple things that business owners can do to make the message stand out to target audiences.Break up the monotony of the page by having paragraphs of different sizes. This makes the page look less like a huge block of text that many would find too daunting to read all of.
Use headlines and sub-headlines that emphasize your key messages and compel your visitors to read the paragraphs that follow
When aligning the text, make some short, important sections centered so they stand out, and in general, avoid using justified alignment as it’s harder for some people to read justified paragraphs on computer screens.
Using bullet points to emphasize key points. Use unique images for the bullet points to make them stand out even more.
Using bold, italics and highlights to emphasize the most important benefits of a product or service. Don’t overdo it. Using these elements too much on a page greatly decreases their value. If there is so much bold and italics that essentially everything is important, then the reader may assume that nothing in the text is truly important.
Avoid Overwhelming Visitors with Choices
Businesses are wise to offer multiple options for the products they sell. People are so used to finding exactly what they want online, that offer a limited selection may send them searching elsewhere for the exact color or style they want. However, offering too many options can have a paralyzing effect on consumers, when there are so many choices they can’t make a decision. There’s a risk that a consumer, faced with so many options, may decide to return to the site later because they don’t feel like navigating the options at that time. And some of the people who leave, won’t ever make it back, which means too many options can lead to lost opportunities.Business owners can address these somewhat conflicting issues by allowing consumers to pick from a few options at a time and using smart groupings so that customers can easily find what they want. To illustrate, a clothing manufacturer can have a product’s options broken down into size, color (with groupings for reds, blues, greens, etc.), and style (long sleeve, short sleeve, collared, etc.).
Add Testimonials and Reviews to Product Pages
Adding testimonials and reviews to a product page will inspire shoppers to click on the buy button. According to a 2013 survey by Dimensional Research, “90 percent of respondents who recalled reading online reviews claimed that positive online reviews influenced buying decisions, while 86 percent said buying decisions were influenced by negative online reviews”. This shows two important reasons to have customer reviews available. Besides the positive that good reviews encourage sales, the flip side that making it easier for customers to find good reviews on a brand’s site than bad reviews on a different site can significantly affect the overall conversion rate or a site.Have Products Listed on Comparison Shopping Sites
Every month, comparison shopping sites attract more than 70 million visitors. By having products listed on sites like Google Shopper, Amazon.com, and Shopzilla, business owners can have their product seen by millions of people who are searching for items and that are in to make a purchase. It’s important to try and reach comparison site shoppers on their preferred site. Because they got to look at a lot of products and prices at once, comparison site shoppers are less likely to visit the website of brand that wasn’t listed on the comparison shopping site. Increasing the number of ways that people can find and buy a product is good for a business. The more sites that list a brand’s products, the more chances there are to sell to people people who have heard of a brand, but have yet to try it for themselves.
In the highly competitive world of online retail, business owners need to ensure that every piece of a website and product page works toward the goal of selling a product. These five simple tips can increase a brand’s exposure, make sure every word compels people to buy, and that keeps customers on the site until the process is complete.