How to Attract Customers Online | SMB Forum by Web.com

If you want your ecommerce website to compete with Amazon, the first step is getting more customers to visit your website. The good news is, it’s not that hard to do. If you’re not sure how to attract customers online, read on for an ecommerce marketing plan that will help your sales soar.

How to attract customers online with promotions

Mixing up your promotions and discounts will keep your ecommerce website fresh and interesting, attracting more customers. Try these popular online promotional tactics:

• BOGO (Buy one, get one free) or buy one, get one 50% off
• Free gift with purchase or reduced-price purchase with purchase (cosmetics companies do a great job of this)
• Dollar-off discounts, such as $25 off an order of $100 or more. (Dollar-off discounts have been shown to be more effective than percentage-off discounts, since they don’t require customers to do any math.)
• Free shipping for purchases over a certain amount, such as $50
• Short-term “flash sales” (for example, a Happy Hour sale from 4-7 p.m. on Friday. Just be sure you clarify which time zone or offer the sale to customers within their time zones.)
• Discount coupon codes for first-time buyers, social media follower, or people who subscribe to your email marketing list

Keep an eye on what your favorite ecommerce sites offer as promotions and try using some of the same ideas.

How to attract customers online with SEO

Of course, your ecommerce business can’t rely solely on promotions to get new customers, or your profits will suffer. That’s why search engine optimization (SEO) is so important to your success.

SEO tactics will help your online store attract customers whether or not you have a current promotion going on. The following SEO essentials will help your website rank high in search results:

• Make sure your website is mobile-friendly. Whether on tablets or smartphones, more and more online shoppers use mobile devices to browse. Make it easy for them with a mobile-friendly website that uses responsive design. (Find out what not to do to attract mobile users.)
• Speed it up. Kissmetrics reports almost half (47%) of online shoppers expect a webpage to load in 2 seconds or less, while 40% will leave your site if it takes more than three seconds to load. Online shoppers are impatient, so your website needs to load quickly to get and keep their attention.
• Use the right keywords on your site. Find the keywords your target customers use when looking for what you sell. Google’s Keyword Planner is free to use and will even suggest keywords for you. Don’t forget about voice search, especially if you target millennial shoppers. According to the Salesforce Connected Shoppers Report, 40 percent of people aged 18-36 use voice-enabled assistants such as Google Home or Amazon Echo to research products before buying online. Keywords in your website’s tags, product titles and descriptions will help get shoppers to your online store.
• Play it safe. Online shoppers are suspicious of unknown websites. Ease their worries by purchasing an SSL certificate so your site’s URL displays the https:// (instead of just http://) for “secure.” Then shoppers will know they can visit your site safely.

How to attract customers with online marketing and advertising

SEO alone isn’t enough to get customers to your website in today’s competitive environment. Use paid online advertising to boost your traffic even more. Create pay-per-click (PPC) advertising using specific keywords to target online searchers with special offers, promotions and more.

Don’t forget about advertising on social media. (Read our update on the latest consumer social media trends to help you decide where to focus your social media marketing efforts.)

Last but not least, use email marketing to keep previous customers coming back to your website again and again. (Make sure they’ve signed up to receive emails from you before you send anything, and don't forget to provide an unsubscribe option.)

How to attract customers online with reviews

According to Brightlocal, 88% of consumers rely heavily on reviews when purchasing products from a brand they haven't used before. Since your website won’t have the name recognition of big brands, getting reviews of your site from satisfied customers is vital.

A few days after customers receive their orders, send them an email asking them to review the shopping experience (with a link to where they can review your site on Yelp or other online review site). Seeing positive reviews helps persuade new shoppers that buying from you will be a great experience.

How to attract customers with ease

Does this sound like a lot of work? With the right online marketing services, it doesn’t have to be. Lead Stream helps you attract website visitors and grow your business. Lead Stream continually optimizes your e-commerce website for search, makes managing your paid search campaigns simple, and automates email marketing to help you stay in touch with customers. You’ll even get help from online marketing experts to develop an online marketing and advertising campaign targeted to the exact customers you want.

Learn more about how Lead Stream can help your ecommerce business grow.

Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash