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A few weeks ago, I received a question
from a reader who saw one of my articles in WebProNews.
Howard wrote to tell me that his site receives over 30,000 visitors
per month, but he's not making sales. His question is pretty basic:
Why?
Howard's problem is very common. Many
people have their sites up and running and are getting plenty of
traffic, but no one is buying. Assuming the site is decent overall and
isn't in obvious need of a complete redesign, what's a site owner to
do?
Unfortunately, there usually isn't a
quick way to define exactly why there are no sales. There are hundreds
of variables in every site that could be causing the lack of sales. It
takes time to analyze the situation and figure out which variables are
actually causing the problem.
However, the situation isn't hopeless.
If you're willing to take the time to analyze your site, you can
identify the problem area and begin working to fix it.
If Howard's scenario describes your
site, there are three basic steps to take:
1. Check to see if your traffic
is targeted.
If you're getting traffic, but it's not
targeted, that's where you should focus your attention first.
Untargeted traffic isn't beneficial, because the visitors who come to
your site aren't interested in what you're selling. You must ensure
that you are seeking to attract visitors who actually need what you
provide.
In case you're wondering, it's
impossible to target "everybody." Even if you can reach a
global audience on the web, most people simply will not need your
product. You must identify a narrow niche of people whose needs match
the solutions you provide.
2. If you have ensured that
your traffic is targeted, figure out exactly where you are losing
visitors on your site.
In order to identify what needs to be
fixed on your site, you first have to establish where the problem is.
Looking at the site as a whole generally won't help, because you need
to know specifically where the breakdown is occurring.
Examine your traffic logs and figure out
where your traffic is dropping off (if you don't have a good tool to
analyze your traffic, invest in one). This will tell you at what point
visitors are abandoning your site.
Are visitors coming to the main page but
not clicking through to any other pages? Are you losing them on the
product pages? Or are they making it all the way to the checkout process
and abandoning their carts once they reach that point?
If you try to improve your site without
knowing exactly where the problem is, you'll be wasting your time trying
to fix an element that might not necessarily need improvement. Concentrate
first on figuring out exactly what pages need to be fixed. Then you can
work toward fixing them.
3. Once you've identified the
problem pages, it's time to start tweaking-one element at a time.
Put yourself in the shoes of the visitor
and ask yourself a few questions:
- What information might be lacking on
this page that would help a visitor find what he or she needs?
- What information on this page might be
confusing?
- What about this page might cause
visitors to feel insecure?
- What about this page might be
unappealing?
- What might be preventing visitors from
being able to perform the tasks they are supposed to perform on this
page?
Remember, don't try to overhaul everything
at once. This is not to say that some sites don't need a complete overhaul
(many do!), but often, it's an issue of details. In that case, you should
focus on the specific problem page you've identified. Then start adjusting
individual variables on that page.
If you set out with this systematic
approach, you'll be well on your way to turning those visitors into
buyers.
There are 605.6 million people online. Can
they find your business? Jamie Kiley creates powerful and engaging
websites that make sure YOUR company gets noticed. Visit http://www.kianta.com
for a free quote.
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