Top Ten Ways to Increase Web Sales
Your Web site visitors don't care about you. They care what you can do for them. Give them a reason to buy. If you haven't reaped the sales you deserve apply these ten tips:
1. Write dazzling home-page copy that gives your potential customers a reason to click to your product or service sales letter.
Use hyper-linked benefit driven headlines that lead visitors straight through to a sales letter that includes bulleted benefits of your service or product. "Before I learned this ultimate power technique, my Web sales were flat."
2. Preplan and know your Web site's purpose and audience before you contact a Web Master.
Without knowing your site's clear purpose, your headlines and copy for each product or service will lack clicking power. If your visitors don't get a chance to know why they should use you or your product, they will be confused and leave your Web site.
Before you write much copy, make a list of your benefits and features. Your visitors want to know what their outcomes are for reading your book. Benefits sell. Use this list to create an order-pulling sales letter and headlines.
You must also know your audience before you write a word of Web copy. To preplan your Web site, write out an audience profile. Think of income, age, sex, Internet savvy, how they spend discretionary money.
Make another list of your audience's resistances. Later apply to your sales letter where you put them up, then answer them. If you offer a book, make sure you compel your visitor to go to your sales and order page. Always make it easy for them to buy.
Maybe you are like me, when you visit other professional sites; you often leave wondering what are they selling? What do they want the visitor to do?
3. Sell your products and services through brave, bold, headings.
Headings can ask a pertinent question about you visitors challenges, such as "Are your web sales puny?" Or, "Are you frustrated not being in the career you love? Headings can use a benefit statement such as Quadruple your Success (you name what it is) with one feature it works with, such as the Online Promotion Tool Kit (name your product or service).
4. Use sparkling testimonials from the rich and famous on your home page and all other pages about each product or service you offer.
Place your best testimonial with at least three benefits in it near the top of your home page. Rather than put all testimonials on just one page, sprinkle them generously throughout your site.
An excellent testimonial can become the hyperlink that sends your visitor to your sales message. Even on your order page, include a testimonial at the top of your listing.
One link from a famous coach said, "Save yourself from headaches, disappointments and money down the drain. Read this short eBook on book writing and publishing before you write another word!"
You may already have testimonials on your Web site for your product and service, but do you have them for your ezine, fre.e articles, and teleclasses?
5. Support your home page "Passion Approach" copy with proper links to product sales letters, stories, and service.
Let's say you have a bold heading "Quadruple your Web sales in Four Months with Opt-In Ezine Articles." You can make the whole phrase a hyperlink that with one touch, will lead your visitors where you want them to go--To your sales letter, of course!
6. Make your layout clear, clean, and consistent.
An unorganized, unclear site tells people you didn't do your homework by writing excellent copy to convince visitors to buy. If you don't know how to do this, contact a copywriting coach or web writing coach. Take advantage of the smaller priced teleclasses. These professionals can show you how to write the best copy, and help you put in your personality rather than a "one size fits all" kind.
Organize each page in the same layout-such as left centered, right centered, or centered. Go to other Web sites and choose a design that resonates with you. Keep every page in the same format.
7. Use color on your Web pages that doesn't jar your visitor.
Make the background light with black, blue and red lettering in the copy. Use simple font changes such as Times Roman for headings and sales letter headlines, and Arial for the copy beneath. This format is the opposite for formatting a book, since Arial 12 is easier to read online than Times Roman 12.
Don't be tempted to use large graphics or pictures. Use small graphics to spice up your site that can be a hyperlink to the larger picture if your visitor chooses to use. Always remember each page must load under 10 seconds. Always use a lot of white space to make it easy on the eyes.
Easy-to-read and clear navigation helps keep your visitors on your site longer. If you are like me, and have a content-dense site, full of articles and tips, you can include long copy so long as you present it in short chunks. Potential buyers need enough pertinent information to make the decision to buy.
It's a good idea to check your site often to see if you have any glitches. Another good idea is to visit your site with a visitor mind set. What turns you off? What do you like? Ask friends or associates to give you feedback. Give them a fre.ebie for their trouble.
8. Put your Web site information into short paragraphs.
When a visitor sees a long line of print, he gets discouraged because he want his information fast, clear, and concise. Make each paragraph only 4-6 lines. Online readers want easy-to- read material they can get the main points from and they want it faster than light rays. Remember clear, compelling copy is always the rule.
9. Be consistent with your heading and body fonts.
Do not use all capital letters in your articles or headings. They are hard to read. Use only a few for emphasis; for the rest, make them upper/lower case such as "Sell More Books with a Powerful Back Cover".
Do not use the same font for headlines and titles as you do for the body of information beneath. This mistake makes it hard to distinguish the two.
10. Use dividers such as ==== or ------- when you change topics.
These add variety and help your visitors to see your message more clearly. These are often used on business ezines for different categories of information presented. Each publisher's personal choice makes their ezine unique.
