Getting Frustrated

[mdean]

Been working on our site for about 16 months. We get about 500-700 uniques per day, and an average of 5-6 sales per day. Been working hard with a marketing company having the site assessed and making changes. Also have begun working on the copy.

Our traffic is highly targetted,I feel like we should be a lot further by now. The goal is to get around 20 conversions per day. Just not sure what we're missing. Kind of losing hope that we're ever going to get there.

Any advice would be appreciated!

[AWildman]

How visible are you in the search engines for your targetted keyword phrases? Have you tried a ppc program in order to drive more people to your site?

I'm sure its hard not to get discouraged, but please take a look around these forums, especially any topics about search engine optimization and absorb as much of the experience here as you can. My site really took off after reading a TERRIFIC and oft quoted post by Brett about how to make your site successful in Google. It is WELL worth the read!

[mdean]

Yes, we do use PPC. And I have looked around quite a bit. Seems like we're just missing something.

Where can I find this post about Google?

[grandpa]

Successful Site in 12 Months with Google Alone [webmasterworld.com]

Hands down the best read you will ever find.

hth

[Essex_boy]

Just a point but are you using a credit card processor or paypal?

CC will increase your business.

[mdean]

You're right, a very good read.

Yes we accept credit cards.

We're working hardest on increasing conversion rates right now. We're having the copy redone. Just wondering what other peoples thoughts are on how critical copy is in relation to turning conversions.

[sem4u]

It is very important. You need to ensure that people understand enough about your products to want to buy them. Having good quality photos of your products is also important.

[mdean]

We have a lot of factual copy about the products. Maybe a few could use some improvement. I'm wondering more about the "psychological" copy. How effective is that online?

[Essex_boy]

Another thisng I found that works, sound obvious, but having a PROFESSIONAL graphic artist in to make teh site look appealing helps a bundle.

Your product photos, are they clean, sharp and clear?

No chance you could sticky me your URL?

[lgn1]

I would concentrate on getting more traffic, if your site is well designed. We tried everything to increase conversion rate with little effect. Finally figured out that we were getting about the best conversion rate we could get for our niche which is around 1%. Once you have tweeked for conversion, the only thing left is to increase traffic.

Its so easy to plateau in this business. You get to the point where running the business, takes up all your time, and web development comes to a grinding halt. You are making money, but you want to make more, but you don't have the time to put the effort in, and you are not quite making enough to hire a manager to handle day to day operations.

Always set aside a slice of time, for web development, even if its only an hour a day. Make it the priority item, to do first thing in the day, before you get sidetrack with all the other crap.

Pretty soon, your traffic and sales will be heading back up.

[mdean]

That makes alot of sense.

We are having a company create a better USP/branding strategy for us and then work on the copy to better "speak to the customer" Wondering if that will have much effect.

Also planning to concentrate on raising traffic. Until now we have used mostly PPC, optimized our pages (as much as I think possible) for organic listings, & link exchanges. Not sure what else to do!

[quiet_man]

Have a look at some of the threads in the Content, Writing & Copyright forum. There's a wealth of valuable info there on boosting sales and conversions. Hint: Use the Library link at the top of the page (located just under the breadcrumb nav) - the Library collects some of the best threads in each forum.

Increasing Your Conversion Rate [webmasterworld.com]

Copy That Sells [webmasterworld.com]

You might also want to look at the Library in this forum for previous threads on improving conversion rates.

[Added: PS. Welcome to WebmasterWorld mdean!]

[dertyfern]

What's the competition like? Sometimes, if there's a ton of competition it's good to try to find creative ways to lower your cost-of-acquisition first, then concentrate on conversion. also, if you can institute a bounce-back type of program whereby you give prospects an incentive to return to the site, you can reduce your overall cost of marketing fairly significantly.

Business is all about the value proposition and if you're able to offer value you'll inevitably see growth. Just try to offer value at your very lowest cost.

[mdean]

Can you explain "lower the cost of aquisition"? Do you mean to get products from the supplier at a cheaper cost?

We are working on the USP, however I think it will be more intangible than tangible.

[dertyfern]

Cost-of-acquisition refers to the total marketing cost involved in acquiring a sale/customer. For example, say you have a $5 advertising expense to sell a unit, that's your cost-of-acquisition. Often times, businesses fail due to costs and not due to an inability to generate revenue.

Perpetually looking for ways to lowering the cost you expend in order to generate a sale is key. It can come in the form of lowering the cpc for ppc advertising, instituting ways of getting return visits from prospects visiting your site which effectively reduces your cost per visit, etc.

So say your conversion rate is currently 1% and it costs you $5 to get that sale. If you can successfully generate a single return visit from everyone that doesn't convert, you can effectively reduce your cost for conversion to about $2.50 (you basically double your traffic), thus giving you big savings and excellent growth potential. An extreme example of course.

Ideally, you'll figure out an acceptable percentage range for your cost-of-acquisition and keep it as contant as possible--for example marketing costs of 25% of gross revenue.

I don't know if this is your issue, but cost control is vital.