1/ Work works
If there is a single secret to selling online, it is to work hard. Hard work is the secret to succeeding in almost anything, but it is especially important on the Web.
You can't just build an online store and walk away from it. You have to work hard to draw visitors to your site, work hard to create a site that those visitors want to buy from, and work hard to give those buyers such good service that they and their friends will buy again in the future.
2/ Choose the right Niche
More important than the type of products you sell is the size of the niche you choose.
In the physical world, niches are based on geography so proximity is king. But on the Internet, geography is almost irrelevant. Niches on the Internet are based on what you sell, not where you are. And whatever you sell, you have to be the place to buy it, because your customers can just as easily visit any other online store.
So you have to choose a niche small enough that you can dominate it. For example, if you are a tiny company, it would probably be a mistake to try selling top-40 CDs online. You would have a hard time competing with CDNOW - a big site specialized in selling CDs. But you would probably have a chance at becoming the site for European folk music.
One certain way to dominate a niche is to be the manufacturer. Manufacturers may be the biggest winners on the Internet, especially small manufacturers who have till now been at the mercy of the channel.
3/ High production values
In a print catalog, "production values" refers to the quality of the paper and printing processes used, the number and quality of images, and the care taken with graphic design. High production values are critically important in catalogs, which have to convince consumers to buy based on a few sheets of paper.
production values are even more important on the Web. Consumers will not buy from an amateurish Web site.
Most of the people who visit your site will still find the idea of ordering online unusual. So your site needs to inspire visitors with confidence. It should say that yours is the kind of company that does things right, and that if I order something from you, it will be a good experience.
Of course there is no direct connection between the quality of your site and the quality of your company. A company could have a brilliant graphic designer and lousy products. But usually there is a connection, and that is what visitors to your site will assume. If your company is unable to put up a good Web site, then it seems natural to assume that your company cannot deliver good products or services.
4/Make your site easy
- If you want people to visit and order from your site, don't put any obstacles in their way. Whatever you do, don't force visitors to register. You have to create yourself an account, with a user id and password, before you can even order from Wal-Mart. Do they expect online shoppers to remember a userid and password for every online store they visit?
- Most major sites have learned not to require registration. They have also learned not to use frames. Frames are a lot more gratifying to the site designer than the visitor. To visitors, frames are merely confusing. Another big disadvantage of frames: many search engines don't index sites that use frames. So using frames will decrease the amount of traffic you get from search engines.
- Make sure you put important links at the top of the page. You don't want new arrivals to have to scroll down to the bottom of the page just to find out where they've landed.
- etc
When you put yourself in the consumer's place, you'll find it is not hackers you worry about, but the merchant. Almost anyone can set up a Web site. So visitors need to be reassured that they are ordering from a real company, and not just a teenager running the site out of his bedroom.
6/ Emphasize service
- The most powerful confidence builder is a top-quality site: high production values go to work directly on the visitor's subconscious. But it's also important to reassure visitors explicitly.
- Your site should offer secure online ordering, and you should say so to visitors.
- Make sure that you ship orders quickly. Web users want fast results. They don't want to hear that they should expect to wait 4-6 weeks for delivery.
- Treat your Web customers as if each one were as important as ten customers. Because if you treat them well, each one will turn into ten customers.
- Tell them that you want to hear from them, and put a prominent email link and/or phone number in your site. Try including a link that will let visitors send email directly to the president of your company. Few will bother to send mail, but everyone who sees it will be impressed by your attention to customer service.
- When a customer does send you mail, respond promptly! Customers who have taken the trouble to send you email are like gold. Talk about qualified prospects. So treat them like gold. If you can, make it a corporate policy to respond to email within an hour or two at most.
You should try to make your site be among the top links that search engines provide.
But how?
The best approach is to use key words frequently in your site, titles are great but not in a way that appears unnatural.
Most online stores can also profit by getting links from related sites. The best way to get other sites to link to you is to give them a percentage of the sales generated by that link.
Another way to get traffic is to buy banner ads that lead to your site. For example, you can buy banner ads on search engines that are tied to particular keywords. But be careful when you buy banner ads. Sometimes, people visit your site just because they think your site is related to that banner. Worst of all, the banner's content is not wholesome
Good tracking tools can tell you where all your visitors come from, and how much visitors from each source spend. Yahoo! Store's tracking tools can even tell you which search keywords your visitors used in search engines, and how much money people searching for each phrase spent.
Finally, if you have a catalog business or retail stores, don't forget to promote your site to your existing customers.
8/ Lower your prices
Lowering prices is not just a good trick to jump-start sales. It also makes economic sense in the long run. It's much cheaper to sell on the Web. If you split the savings with the consumer, you both win.
9/ Change your site
You should be constantly improving your site. And even if you think your site is perfect, you should still change it regularly. A Web site that has not changed for months is boring. It feels abandoned. Have you ever visited a store in a remote area where the turnover is obviously very low? Where the items on the shelves are faded, or have dust on them? Do you want to buy from a store like that?
10/ Patience
A few lucky merchants get a flood of orders the day they open. But for most online stores, growth is slow and steady. In the first couple weeks, you see a trickle of visitors, and, if you're lucky, one or two sales. If you work hard, six months later that trickle may have turned into a small but consistent stream.
So don't be discouraged if you only get a couple orders in your first month or two. If you work hard to satisfy those customers, they'll order from you again, plus (and this is the important part) they'll tell their friends. When all your customers are telling their friends about you, your overall customer base grows exponentially, like money at compound interest.
So it's not easy to run a shop online. As a matter of fact, the market is like a battlefield. The survivals are the ones who stick to their clear strategies and maybe these 10 secrets will help. Anyway, working is glory. To online retailers: I appreciate a lot your temptation, you are doing great jobs!
Source:shop.store.yahoo.com/vw/secrets.html
1 comments:
thank you for writing!after I read this writing,i think I have more knowledge about S.O.If I have enough money I will S.O,hope you will help me.thank you so much,NHIM
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