How to Target Online Shoppers to Your Store
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How Do You Attract Online Shoppers to Your Store?
The online version of a window shopper is one who surfs by your home page for a look but doesn't step in to actually
look at everything your store has to offer. How do get them to step in to your store and how do you keep them coming back once they have entered and
looked around a bit?
This past holiday season there was an estimated $12+ billion, with a "B" spent online, about %6 increase year over year according to ComScore Networks reporting.
So the key would be marketing; that was easy, now get out there and get started on marketing!!
If it was that easy to attract shoppers we would all be rich and kicking it in the Bahamas I would guess but it's not.
Marketing an online store is also much different than marketing a brick and mortar store. Properly marketing your online store or general web presence can be
more important now days than traditional methods of local or national marketing in a print media format or on TV. So let's look at some ideas about how you
attract online shoppers and keep those online shoppers engaged while visiting your online store or small business website.
Let's look at some targeting ideas!
» Content is King: Content is going to be a driving force to rank high in most search engines
and keeping that content fresh will keep your visitors happy. If you're selling women's clothing for example, make sure you have plenty of content written
about the trends in women's clothes and styles. By using the names of your products and detailed descriptions you will attract shoppers looking specifically
for that product. You will also want your products have
Proper Meta Tags
built into the code of each product page to further give the search engines a complete view of what your product is and how to best index it.
You should incorporate small content blurbs on your home page about products or categories for your to read more details on a deeper page of your website.
Always fully explain your product on those deeper pages, the detail you leave out may have been the one a particular shopper was looking for and could
mean the difference between a sale and fail.
On your store's home page should have a prominent spot for a "What's New" or "In the News" section about your product. This is an area you can place
upcoming information and signal to the visitor that there is always something new on your website to see. This will entice them to bookmark your website
come back at a later date or better yet share it with friends. Become an expert on what you are selling and write about the latest and greatest on your
website, blogs, and social media or however you can get the word out.
» Varity Makes Your Store Unique: Variety and unique product selection is what the online shopper
today is really looking for while shopping. So, if you sell women's tops and blouses you should think about selling some skirts, jeans or pantsuits to go with
those tops and blouses. This will add depth to your product line, give your shoppers more to choose from and at the same time add more rich content to your
website. Maybe you can find a "niche product" that is hard to find and feature it in your store making your product line unique and sought after.
Adding product variety can also be done by partnering with other local dealers for the product or using affiliate marketing tools like Amazon to offer specific products.
Adding Affiliate Marketing Tools
to your online shopping website can also increase your revenue stream without increasing your inventory on hand; a winning combination.
» Get Your Store Organized: Organizing all your products into well thought out product categories on
your website's main navigation can make or break your online store. Shoppers today are very impatient and know what they are looking for. If you don't make your
products easy to find shoppers will not shop with you. You don't have to list every color of shoe or handbag you sell in your main navigation but be sure to
make your categories clear and logical. Once the proper category is shown then list out the different styles of shoes and all the different colors choices
you offer. Giving shoppers a search box on your website is always a good thing and will be the main method many shoppers use to find products on your website,
so test it and make sure it works as expected in most cases.
» Make the Most of Every Selling Opportunity: The biggest selling opportunity for any type of store
is probably the Holiday shopping season. So get out your calendar and start planning for next year right now! Don't wait! Also take a look at any historical
statistics you might have on your visitors from the last Holiday season. Knowing who your online customer is and what they are looking for means that you can
plan your marketing strategy around them. This could mean teasing these items more on your home page or using a targeted pay per click advertising campaign
during that time.
Look at all the important dates and plan marketing strategies around those dates as much as possible. Maybe you can offer special pricing on your website,
special offers for spending a set amount in the store or send out an email coupon that people can use at checkout in your shopping cart. Whatever it is,
plan it out and don't miss those selling opportunities that will attract more shoppers.
» Know Your Customer: Get to know your customers by having them fill out some very general user
information during their purchase. Offer them an email newsletter with some basic user questions, sex, age, location, etc. Use this as a demographic measure
of your shopper and use it to target their product needs. Then use an email marketing tool to keep in touch with them each month by emailing them a small
promotional newsletter with product updates, coupons, contest entries and whatever else will entice them back into your online store to shop.
» The Satisfied Shopper: Pleasing the online shopper today is a very tall order. Experts also
strongly suggest that online store owners pay special attention to the whole checkout process as well, this is an important shopper experience while in
your store. Your online store should provide complete order status online, an easy to follow shopping cart experience, fulfillment consistency, multiple
well organized categories, wide product selection and an intuitive website design. Testing your systems from time to time is always a good idea. Reducing
customer frustration at checkout is as important as any other part of your store because it's one of their last impressions of their shopping experience
with your company.
For more information check these out:
How to do Online Marketing
Promoting and marketing any product online may ultimately lead you to some type of online shopping mall
where you can get your web site listed for shoppers to find. Are these online malls worth it?
What Are the Facts on Search Engines
With the following we want to try and unravel some of those age-old search engine myths and help re-direct
some of your efforts.
Email Marketing Free 60 Day Trial
try Constant Contact email marketing to drive more return customers back to your online store.
Google Information For Webmasters
If you are responsible for a web site, the following information may help with some of your search engine and
marketing efforts.
E-Commerce Times
Article stats from The E-Business and Technology Super Site.
