The future of most all businesses is eCommerce. As technology continues to advance so will internet sales. Look at the effects that the new mobile devices are having on internet sales and you better believe that technology will only continue to advance. Now I am not saying that brick and mortar stores will ever go away but there will be a shift in the percentage of sales your brick and mortar store receives compared to your internet sales. That is why it is important to start planning for this shift immediately. You may be wondering how can I increase my internet sales? Well there is actually alot of things you can do and they are quite simple. Our Phoenix web design team came up with some simple tips that you can use to increase your internet sales and begin growing your business.
- Know what you are paying for – There are many tools such as Google analytics, Word Press plugins, etc for free but there are things you need to pay for and set the appropriate budget for. For example a Phoenix web design company. A web design company that understands your end goal and how to grow an online business can be a huge asset to helping you reach your business goals. Make sure not to skimp on the things that are important.
- The Faster the Better – Always be checking your website to make sure that it is pulling up fast. This is one of the things that will cost you alot of business without you even noticing. We are past the days of dial up and in today's world we have became more impatient as a society as a whole. If your website is taking a long time to load then their is a fairly high chance that the visitor will leave your website and go to one of your competitors.
- Lead Your Customers – When a visitors comes to your website it should be easy for them to find what it is that they are looking for. Once they locate the item or items that they are looking for your website should lead them through the sales process quickly and easily. Make sure that you don't over promote on the checkout pages because you don't want them to get distracted and abort at the check out page simply because they got distracted. Even though many of them will go back to checkout there will be a lot of people that forget to go back and end up on a different website where they will make the purchase.
- Mobile – Like I was stating above technology will continue to help your online sales. This is if you take advantage of it. For example mobile devices are opening up marketing to an entirely new audience and yet many small businesses don't either have a mobile website or responsive website. This will make it very difficult for users who are visiting your site from a mobile device to navigate your site.
- Offer Free Shipping – One of the biggest reasons a visitor may choose to drive down to their local store rather than purchase something online from your website is because of the additional cost for shipping. This is why it is a good strategy to offer Free Shipping.
- Internet Marketing – There are numerous ways to grow your business through online marketing. Some of which include social media marketing, search engine optimization, pay per click, etc. These are great ways to advertise online that will help you take your business to the next level.
These are 6 tips that will show you a great return on investment if you do them properly. I would suggest spending some time reviewing your website and online marketing strategy to see if you can find ways to improve your customers experience. Many times the little things are the difference between the visitor buying something from your website or leaving and going to one of your competitors.