Why Isn’t Your Site Selling?
In order for your business to survive your website has to sell, it’s that simple. So what if your site isn’t selling? Well, don’t quit just yet. It may be a problem that is easily solved. Here are some reasons why your site may be underperforming and what you can do to improve the situation.
The first step in understanding your web site’s strengths and weaknesses is to analyze the traffic on your site. This can help you distinguish if the problem of low sales is with your site design or your advertising. For example, if you have a relatively low number of visits to your site, but your conversion rate (the number of sales divided by the number of visits) is fairly high, you know to focus on marketing your site better. However, if you have a high number of visitors and a low number of sales, there is a problem with your web design.
If the problem is indeed in your design it may be that your message isn’t interesting or clear enough. If it is hard to understand what makes you better than your competitors visitors will simply find a site that makes it easy to understand. Test your message on a friend or colleague that isn’t as familiar with your product as you are. If there is any confusion they’ll be able to help tell you where and why.
Another problem with design may be the way your navigation channels are set up. If visitors aren’t taking the actions you’d like, it may be that the flow of your pages isn’t clear or the information they are looking for isn’t in the place they think it should be. You can set up funnel goals in programs such as Google Analytics to see where people are leaving your site and determine which area is the problem page to solve this.
Finally, look at your color choices and fonts. Make sure they are easy to read and eye-catching. It may be just that your site is too hard to look at that is driving people away.
Another issue may be with your web site copy. Your copy communicates to the visitor how your product can improve their situation. Therefore, it needs to focus on the visitors’ wants and/or needs or they’ll leave to find what they need elsewhere. Try to address how you can help in a particular situation and provide testimonials to build trust.
If the problem is in your marketing message it may be that your message isn’t out there enough. Marketing’s purpose is to either create an immediate desire to purchase something or create a lasting impression in someone’s mind so that when they are ready to make a purchase, you’re company is the one they think of.
To do this second task you need to have people see your message at least 6-8 times and it needs to be a message that speaks directly to your target market.
This means your message needs to identify who you are trying to help, how you can help them and why you are the best person to do so. If you are trying to reach more than one target, you’ll need to diversify your messages, tweaking them for each segment.
Using this simple checklist should get you started on learning about why your site isn’t selling. Chances are it’s one of these easy fixes and your sales will increase as soon as you make the necessary changes.
