3 ways to boost your sales using your website
*Links in this blog post marked with an asterisk are affiliate links and if you go through them to make a purchase I may earn a commission. That being said, I only share about companies that I love and have helped me to grow my own business.
Have you launched your website and found that the sales aren’t flying in as well as hoped? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered with 3 tips that will help you to sell more on your website.
Tip 1. Showcase those great reviews
Did you know that 90% of online shoppers read online reviews before deciding to purchase a product? Or that 93.7% of online shoppers agreed that positive reviews increased their trust in a brand? What’s more, this study also found that most participants were ready to pay 31% more for the same products based on those positive reviews!
* sources (Kaemingk, 2020) and (eMarketer, 2019)
These studies show exactly why you should make the most of positive reviews on your website. We’re social creatures, and reading legitimate, positive reviews tells potential customers that your product is trustworthy and shows how others experienced the product.
So how can you gather social proof for your website?
If you’re a product based business, install a review app and an email automation to automatically collect reviews from past customers. (Psst. this can all be done inside Shopify really easily).
Or if you're a service based business, highlight your client transformations and positive reviews to build the trust with those potential dream customers so that they’re more likely to get in touch with you. Better yet, link to your past clients websites so that you can prove that those are real clients and real results.
Tip 2. Use a mixture of high quality images
It sounds obvious, but to get the most out of your website, you’re going to need great images that showcase the best of your product.
Asides from just showing the quality of the product, Professional Product photography can tell a story about your product. A mixture of desirable images that clearly show your product from different angles and settings will help you to build trust with potential buyers, reduce the amount of returns and capture their attention.
With that all being said, these are the shots that I recommend getting for your website:
Simple product shots on a plain background - these are the no fuss product photos that allow the customer to see the true colours and quality of your product, without any distractions
Show the product from different angles. Online shoppers can’t physically hold your product, so the next best thing is to provide a variety of shots from different angles and even closeups. This means that customers can get a better view of the product and make sure it’s right for them before buying (a.k.a. Meaning less returns due to unclear product photos). You can even go one step further to show a 360 degree angle of your product if you’re feeling fancy.
Beautiful lifestyle shots that show the product in use. These are the showstoppers that you’ll use throughout your website, social media and campaigns that will visually tell your brand's story and grab your customers attention. Think flatlays, atmospheric shots and models using the products.
Tip 3. Recover abandoned sales
How often have you browsed an online store that you found on Instagram, started to checkout, then closed the tab and never returned to complete the purchase?
You’re not the only one. The average cart abandonment rate across 48 different studies was nearly 70%. Eek, that’s a lot of potential lost sales! But some of the reasons provided by customers for not completing the purchase are things that we influence. For example, too high shipping costs, customers not wanting to open an account, too slow delivery and a poor returns policy.
*Source the Baymard Institute
What can we do to increase sales on your website?
Shipping costs - Can you build shipping into the price of your products so that customers aren’t hit with an unexpected shipping cost at the point of checkout?
Delivery times - for customers that value speed over price, can you provide options for your customers to choose from? 38% of UK customers will spend up to £10 for a next day delivery.
Having a clear but fair returns policy that’s easy for your customer to review.
Create an automatic abandoned cart email for customers that started the checkout process to prompt them to go back to their order.
Give customers the option to open an account after they’ve purchased a product, rather than before.
Make it as easy as possible for customers to checkout. That means clear navigation, obvious add-to cart buttons and simple checkout forms that don’t have dozens of form fields to fill out.
Want to launch your ecommerce store for less?
As a Shopify designer and developer, I always recommend Shopify to my ecommerce clients. It’s built with e-commerce business in mind, unlike most other website platforms, so it does everything you’d expect it to do straight out of the box. At the time of posting this blog post, Shopify* are running a free trial where you can get 3 months of Shopify for £1/month on select plans, which you can take advantage of using my affiliate link below.
Hi I’m Danielle
I help entrepreneurs & creatives to bring their brand online through beautiful, strategic web design. Click below to learn more about how I can help you to launch your dream website.
