getting the sales

sales

[amythepoet]

Hi,

I hope I am posting this in the right spot. My problem is in getting the sales. I am getting the traffic, but the people are not sticking around.

Can someone tell me what needs to be done to get the sales?

Thanks so much.

-a-

p.s. If this message is in the incorrect spot, can you move it to the right spot, please?

[bakedjake]

Can someone tell me what needs to be done to get the sales?

Do people want to buy what you're selling?

Do people want to pay the prices that you require of them to buy what you're selling?

Can people figure out how to buy your product?

:)

Seriously, this is a question that ever retailer faces every day. Start by looking over your interface. If you can, get some friends that haven't seen the site, and run some usability testing. That's where it all starts.

Try varying copy and content. Try changing the location of the "buy" button. Try lowering/raising your prices by 30%.

[amythepoet]

Hi, thank you for your suggestions. I have asked friends to look at t he site and they do not have a problem with it. I am getting orders, just not a whole lot. Now, just the day before yesterday, I made the navigation easier, so I am hoping that will help.

But really, I feel I need some type of help here.

thanks

-a-

[bakedjake]

Are you reaching the right audience? The traffic that you're reciving right now may be unqualified. Have you done any traffic analysis? Entrance points, paths, etc?

[amythepoet]

Yes, I have done that. The visitors enter through my doorway pages a lot, but then I lose them somehow...

Sometimes though they enter directly through my main page, now as I've said, I just fixed that up, so maybe that will help.

But most times, I get an email from a prospective customer who wants what I offer, but they want to know, what to do next. So that leads me to think that they really haven't even found the site, it;s hard to figure. I think perhaps they have found it, but they don't want to read the inde page.

-a-

[bakedjake]

I get an email from a prospective customer who wants what I offer, but they want to know, what to do next

Do you have a call to action (i.e. a buy button) on every page?

[pleeker]

I have asked friends to look at t he site and they do not have a problem with it.

Are your friends in the same age group as your target customer? Are your friends more or less web-savvy than your target customer?

Make sure you test the site on the people whom you actually expect to use it to buy from you. If your product skews toward a certain population segment, those people should be testing it.

I get an email from a prospective customer who wants what I offer, but they want to know, what to do next.

Sounds like you might need a big, noticeable How to Order page or section on your site. Put it out there front and center so everyone understands how the site works. (I like, for example, how eBay has changed its home page to target newbies... but that's not to suggest you should do the same thing.)

Aside from these issues, how's your copy? Have you written copy for the site that explains the benefits of the product and how it will help the customer? Great copy can increase conversion rates substantially.

Good luck.

[amythepoet]

Thank you for your notes. Well, you make very good points. I am working on rewriting the copy. I do have a "Click here to order now" button on every page. Before, I had a button that said "Order Now" but that was confusing to people. First of all, people didn't think it was a button :( Anyway, I asked the web designer to change it and she did.

As for my target audience, you make a great point. But I asked both web-savy people and the other type of people :) to look at the site and they can find their way around.

So, I also now have a spot that says "Ordering Directions" I thought maybe I should change that to "How to Order"

I appreciate your comments very much. Keep them coming.

[rcjordan]

My hunch is that you have a significant amount of traffic hoping to find for free what you're trying to sell. I know that there are a number of sites putting up lots of example/sample pages that try to lead the prospect into ordering something custom. But, there are plenty of those doing the research willing to take the examples given (and not necessarily from only one or two sites) and just use them.

[deejay]

Hi Amy

rcjordan nailed my first thought regarding your particular market.

The other point I wanted to note was that those letters you are getting asking 'what to do next' are, i would suggest, a very good thing. Much as I hate getting product/market specific, in your area with a highly personalised service, if I were to consider ordering from you I would be writing one of those letters too - regardless of how clear your navigation or instructions are.

Why? Simply so I could ascertain that there was a person at the other end of the site, and one with communication and writing skills that at least looked capable of producing the sample product... as opposed to a script that puts my details into pre-determined gaps in one of five standard poems.

Perhaps the question here is what is your conversion rate? What is your enquiry/visitor rate, and buyer/visitor rate?

[amythepoet]

I understand your point about wanting to ascertain whether there is a live person at the other end who can deliver the goods.

As for my conversion rate, I do not know how to figure that out.

But, here is an example, this past month was a horrible month, I had 17,000 + visitors and only 5 sales!

When that happened , I decided that I must rewrite the content. I am in the process of doing that and I feel it is better, but still needs work.