Doing business with your company should be easy. Every company has struggled with ways to attract customers. They make it difficult for hard-earned prospects to do business with them which results in losing customers.

Websites have broken links or links to the wrong place.

Websites do not provide contact information, maps or directions

Web forms do not ask for correct information. If you need to provide your zip code, you need to fill in your city and state as well.

Are your products easy to use? If your product requires assembly, provide the tools necessary. Does your product require batteries? Include them.

Where to start:
If you think about it, the golden rule is a pretty good place to start when thinking about customer satisfaction. Ask yourself, would you like your business to do unto you as you do unto your customers?

Shopping carts have become much savvier about SEO in the recent years, but blog SEO is outstanding. In a products page, you cannot have a headline that is the exact wording of a question your customer might have.  You easily can in a blog post headline, however.  Exact match keywords get searches all the time.  One of the best ways to snag traffic is with a blog post headlining the question.

Hook your readers. Products do not sell themselves. If a customer thinks of your product as part of their lifestyle, you have a much better sales pitch. For example, if your customer’s live a “green” lifestyle, your blog can provide tips and highlights of ecologically safe products and how your customer can live an ecologically conscious lifestyle. You will not come across as being pushy.

Valuable feedback means better sales. Blogs provide a two-way window into your customer’s minds. Based on what sites they visit, comment on, ignore, and share, we start to build up a good idea of what they do and do not like and, most importantly, what they will and will not purchase.

Comments are the jack pot. Many businesses are afraid of blog comments because the truth is there for the world to see. Instead of avoiding blog comments, jump on the opportunity to take a customer complaint and show how you handle things. You will impress and win over others. These situations are a blessing in disguise. Take advantage.

There you have it. A few ways a blog can improve ecommerce sales. Are there other approaches you have taken that have worked? Please share your stories in the comments.

One trend which remains at the top of consumer’s purchasing decision choices is product research. Consumers invest a lot of time in online research before making a purchase. The important take away for merchants is knowledge of where consumers start their product search.  Search engines like Google still remain the starting point for research, followed by gathering information from retailer and manufacturer websites. This goes to show, search engine optimization is still a crucial task for online retailers.

Another trend that still remains popular is social shopping and customer reviews. Social shopping has been a huge topic for online retailers for the past year. What mediums of social media do customers use? Facebook Business Pages and Facebook newsfeeds are the top picks. Consumers still favor writing product reviews as an activity which is why Facebook comes out on top.

Last but not least we have mobile phones. Mobile phones give consumers immediate access to research, price shopping, and promotional coupons for immediate redemption. If you are smart, your e-commerce site is mobile friendly. As a merchant you should be interested in the mobile phone and the tablet audience because these are the consumers who are going to shop and consume.

In the end it all comes down to researching your target audience and knowing what they want. Mobile phones and social tools will grow in importance as more consumers use these mediums for product research and shopping. Find what works for you and sell away!

There is no correct answer, it is best to test different combinations of color, button size, wording, and placement to see what is most effective. As a general rule, if your call to action doesn’t stand out distinctly on the page, there is room for improvement. Read on for several tips on designing and displaying calls to action.

Test.

Unless you test your call to action there is no way of knowing whether you have chosen the best option. Simple changes to design, color, wording, and size can produce impressive results.

Color.
The button must stand out from the background, as well as from any other icons or images on the product page. The color should contrast with those being used on the rest of the page, preferably a bright color that catches the eye. Besides choosing a contrasting color it is also important to consider that some colors may create certain associations in shoppers’ minds. Some colors have certain connotations attached to them. Some associate red with danger or debt, while green can signify ‘go’.

Wording of Calls to Action.
Your choice of wording should leave shoppers in no doubt about what will happen when they click the link. Users expect to see phrases like ‘Add to Basket’ and ‘Buy Now’. It is a good idea not to deviate too much from this kind of language.

Size of Calls to Action.
The call to action is the most important link on a product page. Shoppers must see it instantly without having to search around for it. Your call to action button should be the largest link on the page. The bigger it is, the more chance it has of being noticed.

Space is good.
Even the brightest and most clearly worded call to action will struggle to stand out on a cluttered page. You want to make sure there is some clear space around the call to action button. This will avoid the risk of being drowned out by the rest of the elements on the page.

Create Urgency.
Creating a sense of urgency in the customer’s mind can nudge them into a purchase decision right then and there. This may not be applicable for every site, but if you have a sale on, or limited stock, then this can be a powerful technique.

1. Relevant Content

This one is obvious, but there are blogs out there that attempt to cover a wide variety of topics all at once. This makes them seem to have no real focus. This does not mean that all of your posts need to be about the same topic, but you should have a basic overall theme that is directly relevant to your industry.

2. Adding Categories

People expect to be able to locate the information they want quickly, without a lot of extensive searching. By adding categories to your blog, you are allowing visitors to see which types of information you offer and allow them to find what they are looking for quickly and efficiently.

3. Include Media

Adding photos, audio clips, and/or short videos to your blog is a great way to break up text. It gives your blog a polished and professional look and feel.

Take advantage of QR codes to attract shoppers

Adding QR codes to print advertisements will allow shoppers to scan them and be taken directly to your mobile ecommerce website. The first step in increasing product sales via mobile solutions is getting your customers to your website in the first place.

Avoid drop down menus
Dropdown menus are easy to use on a laptop or desktop computer, when it comes to mobile devices that is not the case. Mobile users do not have the option of hovering over a link, which makes drop-down menus an extra step for shoppers. This added step is an inconvenience which could result in a loss of a potential customer.

Allow users to stay logged in
Your mobile device is your private device. You should feel comfortable remaining logged into websites. By allowing users to stay logged in also eliminates the inconvenience of the extra step and the hassle of typing in a user name and password.

Display product photos effectively
Mobile screens are significantly smaller than laptop or desktop computer screens. Shoppers will not put an item into their shopping cart if they cannot get a look at it. You want to offer photos that show different angled views of the products.

Today people are on the move, which means they reach for their mobile devices to complete everyday tasks. The convenience of providing ecommerce solutions via mobile devices is vital to your business. Make sure to update your mobile site frequently to stay on top of competition!

If your content is boring or does not provide information that is beneficial to your readers people will not return to your website. Enough said.

You want to incorporate content into everyday communications. Do not rely solely on social media to promote your content. Email is an effective way to promote your website’s content. For more tips check out our recent post on how email is a secret marketing tool that you should be using.

Creating relationships with others is always a plus. Relationships take time to develop. To get started you want to find influential blogs and start commenting on their blog posts.  Send them emails commending their work; you can also promote their content on your blog or twitter. Once an influencer recognizes and appreciates you, they’ll return the favor of promoting your content. Building these relationships is important because it helps your content spread like “Wild Fire”. Before you know it, you will become available to a new found community of followers. Do not be afraid to ask others to share your content. At the bottom of your blog say something like, “What did you think of this post? Leave a comment below and share!” See? It is that easy.

Today, many people prefer to receive content via their favorite social bookmarking site such as Digg or StumbleUpon. Each time you publish new content you want to submit your content to sites like these. By doing so, you increase your content’s exposure.

The main takeaway from this post is to actively promote your content. Here are a few additional ways you can promote your content across multiple channels.

Add social icons to the signature of your emails

Place your social icons in the header or footer of your site

Link to various channels within your content – blog, YouTube, Twitter, etc.

First thing is first. Think about a problem your product solves or the desire it satisfies. In order for your blog to effectively reach your audience it must show immediate value. Before you begin to write your article, the following questions should be answered clearly.

What did your reader learn or take away from the article?
What was the unique insight you provide to them?

Not all products are self-explanatory or are supplied with clear instructions. Most products can be used in multiple ways. Open up your customer’s eyes to all your product can accomplish. Describe features you believe not everyone is taking advantage of. You want to give your audience insight and knowledge they didn’t have prior to reading your article. In order to sell your products you need to gain your potential customer’s respect and trust.

As you begin to blog regularly you should use analytics to figure out which articles are generating the most traffic, comments, and inbound links to your website. This will help you determine what your audience is interested in. This insight is critical to making the most of your blogging efforts.

What other subjects can ecommerce sites write about to generate traffic to their blogs? If you have any suggestions please share! We would love to hear from you.

Going above and beyond
Offer something extra with every order. This doesn’t have to be a free product or something that is expensive. It could be as simple as an email that is personal and thanks your customer for ordering from you.  Doing something small and personalized can really help your customers think about you when they need the same product again.

Evaluate your call to action
Your call to action should be precise and help your customer understand what they should do next.  “Lose 30 pounds in three weeks” is an example of a call to action headline that pushes the customer to want to find out more about how they can achieve what the headline says. The most important thing to remember is your call to action is all about your customer. How is your product going to help them? How can you make the order process personal and meaningful?

Upgrade your shopping cart
The shopping cart helps keep tally and keep track of everything the customer is buying.  Making the shopping cart bigger and easier to see can remind the customer that they have something in it and possibly help increase conversions on your site. An example of a good shopping cart is Foxy Press – Shopping cart dynamically updates too!

Improve your return policy
This is a topic that most small businesses do not like to focus on. If you take steps to improve your return processes, you can make a huge difference with your customers. You want to process a refund as quickly as you filled the order.  Nothing builds trust between a buyer and a seller better than the confidence that both sides will follow through with their promise.

How do you keep your customers coming back? We would love to hear your thoughts!

You need content
This one is kind of obvious. Your content MUST be written to interest both users and search robots. When in doubt, always favor us humans. Write your content so it makes sense to a potential buyer/client, and make sure the content has a personality and coincides with your brand.

Use Flash in moderation
Search engines cannot read any content contained in Flash movies. Using Flash in moderation will add nice visual elements to your website, BUT your entire website should never be built completely out of Flash.

Inbound Links missing?
Getting ranked higher in the search engines is a popularity contest. You want outside sites linking to you. In the search engine’s eyes popularity equals authority. Authority means that others are citing your information and linking to your site as a resource, therefore you must know what you’re talking about.

You need a blog.
Don’t be intimidated, blogs are easy AND fun! Blogs are great for updating Twitter and Facebook. New content also attracts search engines. Be sure your headlines and content have keywords and you will start improving your rankings.