By Jennifer Johnson
[February 13th, 2002]

See Also   Email Marketing Primer   How to Increase Your Online Sales   Take Advantage of Google's AdWords   Using Foreign Search Engines to Boost Your Sales   Getting Sure Profits Through Google, Goto.com and DirectHit   Ten Places You Must Submit Your Site   Clever Profit Growth Software   The Power Of Personalized Email   How To Go Long With Your Web Marketing   How NOT to Promote Your E-business   Winning the Search Engine Wars   Latest Tips on Search Engine Marketing   Are You Wasting Your Money Online?   Should I Hire Another Salesperson or Invest in an Affiliate Program?   The Death of Positioning?   Links: Why You Need Them and How to Get Them   Your #1 Overlooked Business Asset

[This is the second part of a two part article. The first part can be read here].

PROBLEM THREE: Turning Visitors into Customers

In the first part of this article, I discuss two of the three main reasons for lackluster sales at small business web sites - not enough traffic and not getting the right kind of traffic.

This half of the article, I'll cover reason three: visitors aren't being converted to customers.

If you're getting enough targeted traffic but aren't making many sales, it's time to examine your site and try to identify potential trouble spots.

Does your site load slowly?

Very few folks are going to wait around for a bloated site to download. Consider cutting unnecessary graphics and always be sure to optimize the images you do use.

Reduce the number of server connects, especially on the home page. For example, if your affiliate program banners are hosted on another server, you might consider moving them to one of your inner pages.

If you clutter your front page with banner ads, you stand to lose the visitor before he even has a chance to find out what your site is all about - either from him mousing away to check out one of your advertisers, or because he's simply tired of waiting for your page to load.

Do you make it difficult to do business with you?

Get past the knee-jerk reaction of, "Of course not! How stupid!" and take a really hard look at your site.

• Is your navigation consistent and intuitive? Is it easy for visitors to find what they want?

• Do you make them sit through useless intros, splash pages, etc.?

• Do you offer a variety of payment methods?

• Is the order/delivery process explained fully?

• Can the customer access a frequently asked questions page AND CONTACT YOU if he has questions?

Do you maintain contact with your visitors?

Not everyone will buy the first time they visit your site. In fact, the majority WON'T.

Does that mean they don't need or want what you have to sell? No, it simply means they don't need or want it *now*. There's a good chance that sometime in the future, they will want what you have to sell. The question is, how do you keep your product/service on their minds, so that when they're ready to make that purchase, they choose you?

Starting your own email newsletter is a super way to have sustained contact with potential customers; however, to be effective as a sales tool, the newsletter must offer something of value so that folks subscribe and actually read it.

For example, imagine you sell birdhouses. You could start a newsletter with content that birdlovers would find useful. You could publish original articles, review products and services, include links to sites of interest to your subscribers AND in each issue, you could also place a small ad detailing your current specials, informing subscribers of new items, etc.

The key is, the focus of the newsletter can't be shameless self-promotion - what value is that to your subscribers? The FOCUS of the newsletter must be content of interest to them.

Do visitors trust you enough to become customers?

It's not enough to have a great product or a super service. Your visitors must perceive you as trustworthy and credible or they'll never buy.

Lots of factors play a role in how favorably you're perceived by visitors. Here are a few ways to boost your credibility:

• Eliminate spelling errors and errors in grammar.

• Use graphics and colors that convey a professional image.

• Post your contact information!

• Consider posting customer testimonials and/or examples of your work.

The suggestions above are just a few ways you can convert more visitors to customers.

Don't waste time promoting a site that doesn't do its job!! If your site stinks, tons of visitors won't do anything to fix your sad sales.

Concentrate on developing a site that SELLS. The higher your conversion ratio, the easier it is to meet and exceed your sales goals.

Jennifer Johnson is the owner of jBanner.com If you need a great custom-designed banner ad or Web Logo, jBanner offers quality web graphics starting at $29.99 and value packages perfect for launching your affiliate program quickly and affordably. For absolutely free web site design and promotion articles, tips, and resources, visit the jBanner site or subscribe to Jennifer's newsletter by sending a blank email to: jbanner-subscribe@topica.com.