It is no longer possible to run any meaningful modern business without setting up a website. Even if your company is a brick-and-mortar one and has no ecommerce component, customers expect you to have a website. While nearly every business today has a website, the majority fail to use their online presence to grow their sales.
Setting up a website takes time and money so it makes sense for you to ensure this investment delivers an optimal return. Fortunately, there are a number of ways you can make your website a real asset for your business. These methods don’t cost much but can make a substantial difference over time. We look at some of these methods below.
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Add Video
People have long preferred audiovisual content to text. The brain processes video tens of thousands of times faster than text. The power of video has taken on even greater prominence today thanks to the proliferation of mobile devices and major growth in internet bandwidth.
According to one study, adding videos to your site’s landing page can grow your conversions by nearly 90 percent. Almost half of customers will spend more on purchases on websites that feature informational videos. Videos make customers linger longer on your site which could incentive impulse buying.
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Go Global
There are more than 250 million internet users in the United States. When you look at the global numbers though, we are talking well over 2 billion. There has been a growing trend of website localization in order to focus on selling to a specific niche. While this is good to do, it should not come at the expense of catering to a much broader audience.
After all, it’s the worldwide web. Once your site goes live, it is global by default. You may as well make the most it. Make the site multilingual and multicultural. You could go as far as thinking about the implied meaning of your site’s colors and symbols in different societies. Go for culturally-neutral elements so you do not inadvertently alienate a certain market.
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Minimize Downtime
Each year on Cyber Monday, dozens of millions of items are sold online in North America and around the world. For some retailers, the value of sales on this one day can have far-reaching repercussions on their overall financial performance in that year. Now think about the implications of just a few minutes or hours of downtime on Cyber Monday.
Not only will you lose sales you’d otherwise have made but you’ll permanently lose some customers thanks to the anticlimactic outcome. Build your site with a spike in sales in mind. Make it quickly scalable to ensure a smooth experience for visitors during both expected and unexpected peak times.
If your online business is still small, learn the basics of server administration (for example, see this cheat sheet) so you can take easy remedial action before more technical assistance arrives.
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Responsive Design
Laptops and desktop computers are no longer the only game in town when it comes to accessing the internet. Following the spectacular growth in smartphones over the last decade, there’s now a higher number of mobile internet users than PCs. You must build a site that is just as responsive on mobile as it is on a desktop computer.
About half of all ecommerce transactions occur on mobile devices. Responsive design places you in the right position to tap into this vast market. Certain CMS platforms such as WordPress have invested more in responsive design so you’ll probably want to give them greater consideration.
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Publish Reviews
People are naturally drawn toward success. It’s a human instinct that underpins the role of reviews in driving sales. Give satisfied customers the opportunity to leave positive comments and ratings on your website. It’s an effective way to sway visitors who are still sitting on the fence not sure of whether your product is worth it.
A Forrester Research survey found that consumers will believe their friend’s recommendations 70 percent of the time but only do so 10 percent of the time for ads.
The above adjustments can yield sizeable results for your sales. While these are valuable, always keep an open mind and be ready to try out new techniques and methods that will increase visitor engagement and grow your turnover.
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