For online businesses, website traffic is arguably the most important factor. You can’t sell your products or services if people aren’t visiting your site, but it doesn’t end there. While attracting potential customers to your website is one thing but getting them to actually buy is another. It won’t matter if you get high website traffic if the visitors aren’t buying anything.
Here are five ways you can convert your website clicks into sales:
Proper SEO Strategy
When it comes to search engine optimization, the focus is typically on the numbers. But you should be implementing a local SEO strategy, not a broad one. There are two main reasons behind this.
One, it’s extremely competitive. Whether you’re in the business of selling makeup or food, chances are there are already established companies that use the most popular keywords. They’re already at the top of the results and it’ll be hard to pit your business against them. Two, keywords may lead to a lot of search appearances and visits. But these visits won’t necessarily translate into sales. This is because they’re too general. People who use these keywords in their searches are usually looking for information. For example, your business sells museum tickets at the Vatican. The keywords with the highest hits are Vatican and Pope Francis. People who type in these terms are probably looking for the latest news. You want to target transactional search queries.
Transactional searches are used by people who have the intent to buy. They’ve already done their research and have decided to purchase. Instead of the more popular keywords, you should use a specific term like “Vatican Museum tickets”. The key is to put yourself in the position of the customer. Ask yourself how they would search for your products and think about how you can reach them.
Tailored Social Media Plan
At its very core, marketing is all about selling products or services. While technology may have changed the methods, the gist remains the same: the aim is to attract people to buy. In the Internet age, this is possible by using social networking sites. According to the Pew Research Center, more than 70% of Americans use at least one social media site. It’s even more crucial when you consider that most of these users go on social media at least once every day. If news data is any indication, it’s not far-fetched to imagine that social media could surpass TV in consumer consumption someday. If you want to reach people nowadays, you’re going to have to use social networking sites to do it.
It’s not about just random content on any social media site. You have to factor in your target market as well. For example, if you sell skincare products, your primary consumers are likely women aged 18 to 29. Considering young adults’ social media usage, this means you should be using Instagram and Snapchat so your brand will be visible to them. On the other hand, if you sell woodworking materials, your target market are older men. To target them, you should be posting on Facebook and YouTube.
Once you’ve identified your consumer base and social media site, you’re ready to make a plan. It’s one thing to convince people to click on your site from your social accounts. But it’s a different thing to get them to buy. One strategy that has been steadily grown popular is the use of influencers. It’s become such a lucrative industry in itself that estimates show it’s on track to be worth $15 billion by 2022. It works by hiring social media users with big followings to promote products. But the users’ content should match with the brand so the partnership would be more effective.
The Right Blog Content
Blogs are a great way to drive a website’s traffic. They’re informative and topical. Most of all, they can be very beneficial if you use it the right way.
It shouldn’t be always be about the hard sell. It’s important to incorporate some variety into your content. This will build trust and encourage loyalty. For example, if you run a hardware store, publish a blog about home projects that are suitable for beginners. People can learn different techniques while being subtly encouraged to buy your products. It’s crucial that there’s some call to action in the writing so people won’t just gloss over it.
In digital marketing, website visits are only one part of the equation. You also have to convince the customers to buy while they’re in the site. You can do this successfully by employing the right strategies.
