How To Turn More Web Site Visitors Into Customers Who Buy

By Author: Lisa Lake
Total Articles: 5
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These days I receive a lot of email from web site owners who say
"I get plenty of visitors to my site, but hardly anybody buys."

Sometimes it is downright embarrassing. These folks are getting
WAY more traffic to their site than I get to mine. I'm tempted
to write back and say hey, I'll fix your conversion problem if
you will show me how to get all that traffic.

Low conversion rates (the number of visitors who become paying
customers) are a common situation caused by a few simple
problems. Fix the problems and you can expect your conversion
rate to jump. There aren't many instant fixes in life, but
better conversion can immediately help pay the bills and put more
money in your pocket.

1. Start off by putting your most popular products or services
on the front page. Don't make people hunt and peck through your
site to find the good stuff. Let them know right from the start
you've got something that will make them drool.

Take a look at Meredith Pond's http://CheapWriting.com She
promises you good, low-cost business writing, ...
... then clobbers you
with a ridiculously big promotion package you can buy for pennies
on the dollar.

Even if you don't go to Meredith's site to buy marketing
packages, she gets your attention. You immediately understand
she knows your situation and has good offers for you. That's
enough to keep most people looking through her site.

2. Can you put up a delicious photo of your product? How about
a picture of you or your staff providing a service? We humans
are very visual beings (that's why we see color and dogs don't.)

Give the average shopper nice photos of what she is looking for
and you can expect a sale. I always come away hungry when I see
the pictures of chocolate at Nancy Davis' CandyGold.com.

3. Nancy's site brings us to conversion strategy number
three...put YOUR photo on your site. Most people don't buy
because they don't quite feel comfortable, they don't quite trust
you yet. It's a natural reaction to the Web filled with so many
sites and no way to sit down and talk with the owners.

Set people at ease by putting your smiling photo on your site.
Nancy has hers right next to the pictures of chocolate and cash
you can earn working with her. You can see that Nancy looks like
a nice person you feel you've met somewhere before. That's not a
bad impression to give customers.

4. Write some exciting, interesting, informative descriptions
for your products and services. The more expensive the product,
the longer your description must be. Rather than just droning on
down the page, make your longer text include deeper details.
Customers love copy that tells them everything they need to know.
AND gets them excited about buying.

5. Describe the problems your product or service solves. Give
real life examples that visitors can identify with. Show how
your customers use what you sell. Then describe what the
visitor's life will be like after he buys from you and uses your
product.

6. If you can, let people search through your products and
services by subject and by price. Some people want to see all
the Compaq computers you sell. Others just want to know what you
have in the under-$1000 range. Let people shop both ways.

7. Make it EASY to order. On longer pages of copy, put a BIG
order link near the top, in the middle, and toward the end of the
page.

Give people a button they can click and have the item put
directly into their shopping cart. Tell customers how long it
will take to receive the product or service they are about to
order.

These simple 7 suggestions can quickly turn your site into a
money-maker. More visitors will discover reasons to come back to
stay on your site longer, come back again and again, and to buy. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Lisa Lake has created a list of top ways to promote your business
or career. See her http://MyAdBlaster.com Lisa also writes ad
copy that sells for DrNunley's http://InternetWriters.com Reach
her at mailto:lisa@myadblaster.com or 801-328-9006.