Running an online store or an online business that sells services is supposed to be a much easier way to make money online than face-to-face. People come to your website, see what they have been looking for all of their lives and buy, buy, buy!
So why aren’t you making money on your website, then?
If your website simply isn’t converting visitors to cash, there are a number of potential reasons for this. Every day, we get requests from PR agencies who want us to feature their client’s business on motherswhowork.co.uk, and when we look at the website in question, we can see that it would be a wasted effort – no matter how great the product or service is.
And there are some savvy mumpreneurs out there, too, who write fantastic press releases, but they clearly haven’t had someone tell them that their website is probably losing them a lot of money.
Here are 10 reasons why people aren’t buying from your website:
1. You don’t make people feel safe enough to order
These days everyone has experienced or knows someone who has experienced some kind of online fraud, so while we re all embracing the digital age, we are still cautious about the websites that ask us for our financial details.
So, it’s in your interest to remind people that they are ordering through a secure server when they buy from your website. Tell them you won’t sell their email address to other companies (or spam them)and let them know that all their information will be kept confidential.
2. You don’t make your words attractive enough to hook them in
Do you fall into any of these traps?
• Your website content lists features instead of benefits
• Your headline does not attract at your target audience
• You don’t list any testimonials
• You don’t provide any guarantees – e.g. refunds for damaged goods, or a replacement.
3. You don’t remind people to come back and visit
Most online buyers don’t usually buy the first time they visit a website. The more they visit your site, the greater the chance they will buy, so to keep the coming back, you need to give them a reason to come back, or find a way to stay in touch with them, a newsletter for example if a great way to do this.
4. You don’t let people know anything about your business
Unless you’re a big household brand, many of your website visitors are unlikely to have heard about your product before. So, they’ll feel more comfortable if they know who they are buying from. Publish a section called “About Us” on your website, and talk about your business history, give a profile of your employees, contact information etc so they can see there are genuine people behind the business.
5. You don’t give people as many ordering options as possible
Accept credit cards, Paypal and other forms of electronic payments. Take orders by phone, email, fax, by post, et to make it easier for people to buy from you.
6. Your website doesn’t look professional
Do you host your website on a free website that has a strange URL, or do you own your own domain name? Your website should be easy to navigate and not be a wild goose chase just to get to the store…unless you don’t want people to buy from you. The images and graphics should be related to the theme of your website and be of a decent quality.
7. You don’t let people read your sales copy before they get your freebie
When you use free stuff to lure people to your website, be sure to include it below your sales copy or on another web page. If you list the freebie above your sales copy they may never look to see what you’re selling.
8. You don’t attract the target audience that would buy your product or or pay for your service
If you get lots of traffic but minimal or no sales, then you’re not attracting the right people to your website (or something else is putting them off). A simple way to test this is to survey your existing customers to see what attracted them to buy from your website in the first place. This information will help you improve your marketing and advertising.
9. You don’t test and improve your sales copy
There are many people who write sales copy and never change it. You have to continually test and improve your website sales copy to get the highest possible response rate.
10. You don’t give people any urgency to buy now
Many people are interested in your product but they put off buying it until later and eventually forget about it because you dot make them feel like they should buy it right there and then. Entice them to buy now with a freebie or discount and include a deadline when the offer ends.
