Help Me Get Sales From A Website Please!
A Website – It should generate traffic and sales once it’s up right? The question has come to me several times over the years on how to make sales online. I will admit – it has gotten harder to make sales online. Yes, you would think the older your website is, the easier it would be, right? Not so anymore. Google has made so many changes over the past 3 years that what once worked well for generating visits no longer works.
Where Does On Get Started On A Website?
Whether a website is new or old there are always things to be done to be found online. A new site is easier in some ways to get visibility but other times you must remember Google favors websites that have been around for some time too. That doesn’t mean all old websites rank well. It’s just one of the 200+ plus factors Google takes into consideration in ranking a website.
Keywords
Use Google Keyword Planner known as Google Keyword Tool – These tools are free from Google. Before you start a website you need to know which keywords to focus on. I had started my first site and didn’t realize you needed different keywords for difference pages. Some of it happened naturally but others not. So get organized first with your keywords. Look for at least a dozen. And long-tail keywords are important too!
Domain Name
A website should have a name that is simple, fairly short and easy to remember. It should make people know what a website is about when the see the name. It should not be a mystery. Be sure to register your domain name for several years. (Minimum 3 years if not 10 years) If you do it for just one year Google will not like it and think you are a fly by night operation.
Website Builder
Which type of website will you use? There are so many website builders to choose from today. It really depends on how technical you want to get and how much time you want to spend on your website. You can choose from websites like:
WordPress – You will need to get a self-hosted site if you are selling online. You will need to pay for hosting, an original theme (for the best SEO and site) and some plugins.
Blogger – Free and owned by Google. You will have to add a shopping cart. Beware, Google does own blogger and your website when you use them. The best shopping blogger site I know is ToothyGrinsStore. Dave has done a wonderful job with that Blogger storefront.
Weebly – Free and paid versions are available. Many items to add to this web builder will cost you. $3.29 to $6.63 per month. You will get a $100 Google credit for an ad campaign too. It appears you can only use Paypal with this builder. I have a Twitter friend that sells cupcakes and cake pops with this type of builder. Do check out her website.
StoresOnline – Expensive to start. But this builder is great for those with little technical skill and great 24/7 tech support via chat. You will still need to pay for monthly hosting. ($30 and it has only gone done once in 3+ years) You will have choices for your theme, shopping cart and pay processors.
Wix – Free to start. There are a number of different premium packages that offer more than the basic FREE version.
Ecwid – Another freebie builder. You can add your store right on Facebook with this site builder. There are pro plans from $12.50 to $82.50/mo.
Hosting
Once you choose your store builder how will a website be hosted? Some store builders provide one for you but if you go with WordPress, you will have to choose one. We all saw last week what happens to hosting when things go wrong – your website may go down. I am still happy with Hostgator but I am hearing others that are not. Check out a new hosting company via Adrienne Smith’s hosting nightmare. Most hosting will cost you anywhere between $5 and $30 per month. Do remember, you get what you pay for!
Links
I once did an article about how to be found online. Many of the sites I recommended were for backlinks. See the following video for places to put your site online to be found. (Be warned: The animal sounds can be loud on your computer 
Images 
Images are now so important with Pinterest generating a lot of traffic for a website. They must be jpeg (png images do not work well on Pinterest) Be sure to optimize your images before using them on your website. They can make a difference for a website’s speed. Speed is another ranking factor with Google.
Products
What will you sell? How will you write about the products? What makes them different? You must have products in mind before you start any website. Do some research on sales and keywords for them before starting a website. It took me months to come up with medical scrubs. Also consider – will you stock inventory or use a dropshipper?
Payments – Shopping Cart
PayPal is widely accepted but many people like to use their Credit Cards. We started without American Express and lost some orders until we got American Express. You can pay anywhere from $5-$30 a month for these services. Remember that you will have a percentage of total sales in fees too.
Blog
A blog will keep your content fresh with a blog for your e-commerce website. Blogging should be fun and informative for your customers and new readers. You should also be passionate about it to update it frequently.
Info
How can buyers reach you? Contact info should be on every page of your website so they can call or email you an anytime. You need call to actions available. You also need to have an about me page. People want to know who they are buying from. They want to be able to trust you.
Social Shares
You will need to have the basics, Twitter and Facebook to start. You can then branch out to Pinterest, YouTube and G+. Be sure to have the profiles filled out completely on each of the social networks you sign up for. Don’t forget to show up regularly on these social networks.
Do you make sales on your website? What other suggestions would you add to the list?
