Thursday, November 27, 2008

Protect your online business

Sound advice for an often forgotten about element of your shop - Proper terms and conditions. Check it out here:

http://www.practicalecommerce.com/articles/882-Legal-Terms-and-Conditions-Protect-Your-Online-Business
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Monday, November 17, 2008

Raise your conversion rates

I've heard a huge variation of figures in online conversion rates, anywhere from 0.5% up to a massive 15-20%. There are also tools to measure conversions, such as Google's conversion tracking - but you must remember, Google's main focus is Google. You need to know how to raise conversions across the board, not just as a result of improving your adwords campaign. The good news is - simple and sensible refinements can go a long way. If you're not already doing the following - you can improve your conversion rate:
  • Make it easy to find things
  • Show all prices up front - including shipping
  • Secure your site
  • Have an easy to use checkout
  • Provide incentives
  • Present your products professionally and enticingly
  • Allow community input
  • Let users research the product
  • Make top sellers and popular products even more accessible
  • Give good and prompt service
  • Comprehensive info Refund policies, guarantees and general customer assurance
  • Introduce loyalty programs or free vouchers for good customers
  • Keep your site fresh - work the seasons (Christmas, Easter, Back to school, special events etc) into site promotions

Getting potential customers to your site is only half of it. Once they're there - you need to convert! You've heard it said that the easiest business you'll find is from returning customers - so give them a reason to come back.

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