Turn your website into a Successful Sales Tool
In today’s marketplace, everybody has a Web site. Just having one, however, isn’t enough. Consider these tips and trends for making your Web site a successful one.
Turn Your Web Site into a Successful Sales Tool
Published June 13, 2007
Web Site Tool
In today’s marketplace, everybody has a Web site. Just having one, however, isn’t enough. Consider these tips and trends for making your Web site a successful one.
By: BRANDON BARKER
No longer just a calling card, a Web site is now a crucial tool for making sales and retaining clients in the business world. Consumers expect every business—no matter how small—to have a Web presence, even if it’s strictly bricks-and-mortar. In fact, a new study from WPP’s GroupM claims that all marketers need to have a Web site—whether or not they actually sell their products online.
A Web site is a great tool for any small business to use in reaching a wide audience. It’s also an essential vehicle for marketing effectively to that audience. After all, modern-day consumers are plugged in, and modern-day businesses should be, too. And for businesses that transact exclusively on the Internet—a true low-cost, low-overhead endeavor—the competition for sales is especially fierce.
The old rules of business no longer apply. Small business owners should therefore devote the necessary time, thought and money to ensure that their Web site is not only operational, but effective, too. Here are three key steps for giving your small business Web site a little extra oomph:
Step 1: Understand Your Customer
The best Web sites are created by professionals, not by amateurs. Your business should therefore spend what it takes—within reason—to launch an attractive and functional Internet destination. That means paying Internet experts to code your site, design it and market it via search engines. No matter what your design, though—or who your designer—you must start with your customer in mind.
Begin by asking yourself, “Who is buying my products?” All customers want a reliable site, with clear navigation and specific points of contact. Your individual product, however, will define your site’s unique features. A web site that sells handmade, all-natural children’s clothing, for instance, is going to have a different look and feel than one that sells personal electronics. That’s because one targets young parents and the other tech-savvy professionals.
“You have to understand your customer first,” says Jeff Ignacio. He started selling wholesale items on eBay, then turned those profits into an online vendor for poker supplies called ThePokerStash.com. “Find out who’s interested in your products, then maximize your marketing around them.”
Step 2: Offer Something for Nothing
When it comes to doing business online, experts say, “Content is king.” That’s because those who frequent your Web site are looking for updates and other indications that the site is being maintained, whether or not they want to make a purchase. More than anything, though, they’re looking for information.
Content updates are a great way to build customer loyalty online, says Frank J. Rumbauskas Jr., author of The New York Times bestseller, Never Cold Call Again, and the forthcoming book, Selling Sucks. He’s used low-cost Web sites to market and sell his books and sales techniques, and recommends offering “incentives” for newsletter sign-ups and colleague referrals. “Put up a site that offers something,” he says. “Too many small business sites go out there thinking you can get leads without incentives.”
Rumbauskas offered free tips and chapters from his first book to those who signed up for his e-newsletter. He saw a 40 percent sign-up rate. Then he offered a free gift to subscribers who referred three colleagues. The result: His book became a bestseller thanks to his cutting-edge Web marketing. “The viral aspect, that’s what the Internet enables. Before the Internet, it was called word of mouth. Now we have a tangible tool for that.”
Another way to get returning customers, he says, is to provide a community element. Allow customers to write reviews on your product pages, suggest new lines of service and play a role in the virtual evolution of your business.
Step 3: Follow Up
If a customer has a good transaction on your Web site, he or she will most likely come back again—but not always. People forget, and it’s your job to stay in touch. Send e-mail updates announcing new products and clearance items. Offer discounts to returning customers and provide coupon codes for use at checkout. “Treat them like family,” Ignacio says.
Finally, don’t forget to mix it up. Rumbauskas gets triple the customer response, he says, when he alternates newsletter and homepage content with audio and video segments. “Hit every angle,” he says. “Text, newsletter, video, audio.”