How to Increase Your Website’s Selling Ability

Having a website that looks great is important, but you also need that site to convert sales for you. This requires careful planning. When you overwhelm a user with options or make it hard to complete a purchase, you’re leaving money on the table with each visit. When you’re looking to turn your site into a powerful sales tool, consider these points:

Trim the offerings on your homepage

Some business owners think that it’s best to display all of the products and services they offer right on their homepage, giving visitors plenty of options to choose from. In reality, this strategy can backfire when users get overwhelmed and fail to select any items. It’s best to highlight only one or two products or services on the homepage, and display the rest in another section of the website. Choose your most popular products, or perhaps new offerings that customers might not know about.

Focus on building your e-mail base

Many people undervalue the importance of an e-mail list. Your website should focus on building up this database of customer and potential customer e-mail addresses. These e-mail addresses allow you to reach out directly to those who are interested in what you have to offer. In order to do this, the “opt in” where people can sign up for e-mail newsletters should be placed in a prominent spot on the site. Typically the top left of the page is where the visitor’s eye goes first, but the box should certainly lie in the top fold of the home page, meaning that a visitor doesn’t have to scroll down to find it.

Use a “hover ad”

The phrase “pop up” has become a dirty word in web design, but when done tastefully these ads can be a powerful way to encourage users to subscribe to your newsletter, make a purchase, download e-books, or take other desirable action. A “hover ad” has been shown to quickly catch a visitor’s attention. You can make this ad show up as the user is about to leave the site, when they first arrive, or when they click onto a new page. Limit it to one hover ad per experience (or even one for each new user and none for returning users) and you’ll find that people aren’t irritated by these visuals.

Make your headlines work for you

Don’t overlook the headlines when it comes to writing the content for your site. The body paragraphs are important, but the headlines can immediately grab someone’s attention. Let visitors know what they’ll get by continuing to read.

Address problems and offer solutions

Many people hop on the Internet to find a solution to a problem they’re having. Make sure your site addresses these problems and then discusses how you’ll solve them. You want users to know that you understand what they’re going through, and that you can provide feasible answers to these concerns.

While your site should always be aesthetically pleasing, you always want to make sure you’re maximizing its potential as a sales tool in order to continue to boost your business.