Creating a successful e-commerce site is no easy task but the rewards are too great to neglect. Given the economic difficulties we’re facing, now is perhaps the best time to work on expanding your geographic footprint beyond your back door. You don’t have to be an expert nor do you need to exhaust your savings in constructing a great looking site as pre-built back-end systems abound. Likewise, you must not settle on a “homemade website” as this will be immeasurably detrimental. The look of a site is vital to its overall success. The fact of the matter is the internet has grown at such a phenomenal rate that it is difficult to find a niche void of intense competition. However, despite the competition, if you can create clear areas of differentiation, you can indeed achieve success. Whether you are one of 1,000s offering cheap office supplies, or 1 of 1 offering your own abstract paintings, the experience your buyer has with you website must one ease while remaining visually appealing.
Unless you are the creator of a unequaled one of a kind product, you are sure to find yourself in a crowded pool of worthy competitors. So, what do you do? Well, it is not enough to simply build a website and expect the customers to come running through your virtual doors. No, you must build a website that properly conveys a message that your store is worthy of a would be customer’s money. Therefore, the look and feel of the site is crucial. Internet shoppers have so many options of similar or like items that your image must instill confidence if you expect them to part with their credit card number. Your site’s objective is to make you look even bigger than you are. The checkout process must be clear, simple, and safe.
Yet, even if you do build a professional site with all the features that your customer expects, you must be prepared to market your site using every tool at your disposal. Such factors include proper SEO (search engine optimization) and data capture. If a prospective customer visits your site and chooses not to purchase, it is a good idea to encourage them to sign up for a free gift or a newsletter thereby gaining all their contact information for future merchandising opportunities. One easy way to do this is with an inexpensive auto-responder that will anchor your e-mail marketing efforts. Key to the success of your new website is installing and reviewing analytics. Without the knowledge of who is coming to your site, by what manner, and what they doing once they arrive, every tweak you make to your site is simply a guess.
Never discount the importance of old fashioned off line marketing to include post cards, brochures, newspaper and the like. It will take a worthy effort to generate traffic to your site. Still, the majority of your efforts should be placed on making your site more appealing to the search engines so that when a customer searches for a particular item on google…for example, the term presentation binders, your site is deemed relevant. In order to accomplish this feat it is advised that you seek professional help. You must choose the “key words” that are both significant to your offering and searched via search engines enough times to merit your energy.
Your marketing efforts will be lead by the results of your keyword analysis. This will be the corner stone of your social media efforts. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and others may seem intimidating but all will play a significant role in expanding your web presence. All of these aforementioned tools are free and effective.
The work is not difficult, but it is a challenge to properly carve out your own piece of cyberspace real-estate. It will take time as do most things of note. However, with due diligence you can create a demand. You can create your unique twist on a standard offering. You can grow traffic to your site. You can generate the sales you need and the income you desire. despite the intense competition, the internet is also the great equalizer. The internet provides you with a unique opportunity to take on the corporate giants and win!
