Seven steps for attracting visitors to your small business e-Commerce website -- and selling products.
There is a proven sequence of steps you can follow to guarantee your success when you're starting a new e-commerce business for manufacturing. We all want to earn a profit in the global marketplace. There are thousands of people starting and growing e-commerce businesses by doing the following:
Finding a need and filling it. Just like a traditional brick and mortar store. Write technical content that sells your brand and products. Design and build an easy-to-use e-commerce website. Use SEO for search engines to drive traffic to your site. Establish an expert reputation for yourself through listings. Follow up with your customers and subscribers with email.
Anyone, can benefit from this process in learning how to start an e-commerce business online.
Step 1: Finding a need and filling it.
Most people who are just starting out make the mistake of looking for an e-commerce product first, and a marketing strategy second.
To boost your chances of success, start with a marketing strategy for your e-commerce store. The trick is to find a group of people who are searching for a solution to a problem, but not finding many results. The internet makes this kind of market research easier:
Visit online forums to see what questions people ask and what problems they're trying to solve.
Do keyword research to find keywords that a lot of people are searching or online retailers or manufacturers, but for which, not many sites are competing. Look at b2b sales forums and business to business b2b networking events.
Check out your potential competitors by visiting their e-commerce website and taking note of what they're doing to fill the demand of their ecommerce store. Then you can use what you've learned and created a product for a market that already exists -- and do it better than the competition.
Get an SEO analysis for your site and content if you are already established as an ecommerce website and want your electronic commerce business to grow and lead the right audience to your online store.
Step 2: Write content that sells.
There's a proven sales formula that takes visitors through the buying and selling process from the moment they arrive through the moment they make a purchase:
Your goods and services are your Prize.
Arouse interest with a compelling online shopping product headline. Describe the problem your product solves. Establish your credibility as a solver of this problem. Add testimonials from people who have used your product. Talk about the product and how it benefits the user. Make an offer. Make a strong guarantee. Create urgency. Ask for the sale.
Throughout your content, you need to focus on how your e-commerce product or service is uniquely able to solve people's problems or make their lives better. Think like a customer and ask "What's in it for me?"
Step 3: Design and build your manufacturing e-commerce website.
Once you've got the marketing strategy for your ecommerce business and e-commerce product, and you've nailed down your selling process, now you're ready for your e-commerce web design. Remember to keep it simple. You have fewer than five seconds to grab someone's attention -- otherwise, they're gone, never to be seen again. Some important tips to keep in mind:
Choose one or two plain fonts on a white background. Make your navigation clear and simple, and the same on every page. Only use scalable graphics, audio or video if they enhance your message. Include an opt-in offer so you can collect e-mail addresses. Make it easy to buy -- no more than two clicks between potential customer and checkout. Your website is your online storefront, so make it customer-friendly.
Integrate erp systems to maximize the workflow of your ecommerce store and your backend client.
Step 4: Use SEO for search engines to drive targeted buyers to your site.
Pay-per-click advertising is the easiest way to get traffic to a brand-new site. It has two advantages over waiting for the traffic to come to you organically. First, PPC ads show up on the search pages immediately, and second, PPC ads allow you to test different keywords, as well as headlines, prices and selling approaches.
Not only do you get immediate traffic, but you can also use PPC ads to discover your best, highest-converting keywords. Then you can distribute the keywords throughout your site in your copy and code, which will help your rankings in the organic search results.
SEO Marketing can provide you with a more enriched site leading to more authentic and directed clicks. Without paying for clicks. this is an important factor for any b2b ecommerce website. Find out more about how technical content writing can assist you with growing your brand for life. Learn more about what search engine optimization can do for your business.
Step 5: Establish an expert reputation for your online business.
People use the internet to find information. Provide that information for free to other sites, and you'll see more traffic and better search engine rankings. The secret is to always include a link to your site with each tidbit of information. Create a great customer experience whether on desktop or mobile device.
Give away free, expert content. Create articles, videos or any other content that people will find useful. Distribute that content through online article directories or social media sites. Include "send to a friend" links on valuable content on your website. Become an active expert in industry forums and social networking sites where your target market hangs out. You'll reach new readers. But even better, every site that posts your content will link back to yours. Search engines love links from relevant sites and will reward you in the rankings.
Step 6: Use the power of email marketing to turn visitors into buyers.
When you build an opt-in list, you're creating one of the most valuable assets of your online business. Your customers and subscribers have given you permission to send them an email. In the B2B world that means:
You're giving them something they've asked for. You're developing lifetime relationships with them. The response is 100 percent measurable. Email marketing is cheaper and more effective than print, TV or radio because it's highly targeted. Anyone who visits your site and opts into your list is a very hot lead. And there's no better tool than email for following up with those leads.
Step 7: Increase your income through back-end sales and up-selling.
One of the most important internet marketing strategies is to develop every customer's lifetime value. At least 36 percent of people who have purchased from you once will buy from you again if you follow up with them. Closing that first sale is by far the most difficult part -- not to mention the most expensive. So use back-end selling and up-selling to get them to buy again:
Offer products that complement their original purchase. Send out electronic loyalty coupons they can redeem on their next visit. Offer related products on your "Thank You" page after they purchase. Reward your customers for their loyalty and they'll become even more loyal. The internet changes so fast that one year online equals about five years in the real world.
But the principles of how to start and grow a successful online business haven't changed at all. If you're just starting a small business online, stick to this sequence. If you've been online awhile, do a quick review and see if there's a step you're neglecting, or never got around to doing in the first place. You can't go wrong with the basics.
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