10 Secrets of Sales-Driven Websites
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10 Secrets of Sales-Driven Websites
Author: Jason OConnor
Copyright: 2005
What makes a website successful' It depends on what the explicit goal of the website is. If the goal is to make money, then a successful site is one that makes you more money than it costs you to maintain, manage, market and update.
So what should you do to ensure your website generates substantial sales'
1. State Your Goals
In order for a website to make you money, you have to know what its specific goals are first. Just like any good small business consultant will advise you to create a business plan before you start your business, a good Web consultant will suggest that you create a website plan, with specific, written goals. 'I want it to make me money' is not enough. "I would like my site to generate 1000 unique visits a month, produce 100 new leads a month, and create 25 new sales a month' would be much more useful, even if you don't hit your targets.
2. Identify your Audience
You must know who is currently and will be coming to your website. It is very important to have a clear picture of your typical visitor. The more specific demographic information you have, the better. That way you can tailor your website's look & feel, writing and calls-to-action properly.
3. Write Sales-Driven Copy
Once you know who your visitors are, you can craft your writing accordingly. Clear, concise, grammatically correct verbiage is necessary to make sales, regardless of your audience. Furthermore, the less big blocks of text the better. Bullets, headlines and very short paragraphs are much more likely to be read online than large amounts of uninterrupted text.
Your writing should only talk about what you can do for your visitor. It ought to explain to each reader why buying your product or service will make their life easier, richer, more comfortable, or make them more attractive, intelligent, or successful. In other words, your website copy should very clearly explain how you will somehow improve each reader's life. Therefore, the use of the word 'you' is vital in any sales-driven website copy. And your writing should be descriptive, action-oriented and use active verbs instead of passive verbs. 'You will learn more by . . .', 'Buy Now' and 'Get your Free download' are examples.
So one secret of a website that generates sales is that the writing on the site describes specific benefits the site visitor will enjoy if they buy the product or service. It is action-oriented, uses the words 'you' and 'yours', and stays away from simply describing features.
4. Include Calls to Action
Asking your visitor to do something specific is a call to action. At the end of every site section or page, you need to include a call to action. It can be as simple as, 'Click here to register', 'Contact Us Now' or 'Go here to download your free Guide'. A sales-driven Web page will describe specific benefits to the visitor in its headlines, bullet points and short paragraphs, and then ask the visitor to take an action at the end. Don't leave your potential customers hanging. Instead, compel them to do something that will bring them closer to buying.
5. Learn from Brick & Mortar Retailers ' Show Visitors Where To Go
If you walk into any successful retail store and pay close attention, you'll notice that there are actually paths already mapped out for you to follow. This is done on purpose by the store designers to maximize sales. They lead you down paths that they know will increase your chances of buying. They put things in your way that tempt you to buy.
You too should create specific paths in your website that will take full advantage of your sales and marketing efforts. If you have a particular page in your site that acts as your sales page, be sure to make the link to it prominent on your homepage, and every page for that matter. This sales page ought to have a call to action at the end of it that points to your shopping cart or sign-up page. Don't let your site visitors wander your site. Set up the navigation in a deliberate way to generate more sales.
A good example of retail stores coaxing more sales out if its customers is all the small-ticket items they sell at the checkout counter. These impulse items are specifically there to attempt to get a couple of extra dollars out of each customer who is waiting in line. How can this translate into your website' At the virtual checkout in your site, add other, less expensive, ......
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