7 Tips for Boosting Your Online Business
Making money online can seem so lucrative, it’s hard to believe that it’s absolutely legal. Commuting to work and slaving away at the office can be rather miserable—which is why so many turn to online ventures to make money instead.
Starting an online business is the easy part; becoming successful is where the real challenge lies.
In the e-commerce world, sales are always the name of the game. And the first step in driving your sales revenue is by gaining more traffic. Your current customers are great, and you’ll need to nurture their loyalty as well, but they’ve already bought whatever you’re selling—meaning you’ll need to acquire more customers if you want to make more money.
It’s pretty simple, really: the more people who visit your site, the more chances you have at completing a sale. Here are some of the best strategies for to spiking your online traffic:
- Start a blog. Write about useful information in your industry, including how-to articles, FAQs, product reviews, and latest happenings. Strategically add keywords to your blogs so they can be found naturally online, or share your blog posts as a part of your email campaigns to stay relevant in the minds of your leads. If you’re not skilled at copywriting, hire a writer to tackle the blogs on your behalf.
- Get active on social media. Give your business some personality and become involved with your community on social media. Not only does this make your business feel more personable—rather than just some ghost in the machine—but it also gives you the opportunity to take your online branding up a notch.
Create a professional company logo, develop a distinct brand voice, then make yourself seen on social media by sharing, liking, and commenting on posts relative to your industry.
- Build links. If you think about it, ultimately, how will people get to your site? By clicking on a hyperlink that directs them to your domain! So the more links you have in the online universe, the more chances you have of someone visiting your site and making a purchase.
Links have an effect on your potential traffic, but they may also play a role in your Google ranking because the more websites that direct to your business, the more credible you’re seen in the eyes of the search engine overlord. Run a link profile analysis then use your findings to strategize a link building campaign. - Earn their trust. You not only need authority on Google in order to rank well, but also (and more importantly) need to earn your customers’ personal trust, who are ultimately the ones that will be supplying you with their credit card information over the internet. Be sure to follow the best privacy practices and that you can guarantee a secure transaction.
- Promote online reviews. Another great way to establish your reputation is by harnessing the power of online reviews. Encourage your shoppers to leave a review about their product or their experience they had with your business—one good way to promote reviews is by offering a discount or a complementary item on their next transaction. Great feedback is critical considering how most online shoppers read through reviews before making a purchasing decision. If a 5-Star rating is your goal, excellent customer service is your ticket.
- Analyze your traffic sources. Once you’ve increased your rate of traffic, analyze who your visitors are and where they come from. Did they arrive at your site after opening your email and following the link to learn more about your latest promotion? Maybe they shopped your catalog after browsing your Instagram profile?
This data is insightful and allows you to tailor your advertising campaigns to what matters most, whether that may be improving your click-through rate with catchier headlines or lowering your cost per acquisition with improved media marketing. - Create a buyer persona. Don’t stop at determining where your largest sources of traffic come from; take it one step further by analyzing your traffic demographics. Depending on the industry of your online business, maybe there’s a certain gender or age range that accounts for a large majority of your sales. Use this data to create a buyer persona and better marketing toward your target audience.
Hey, if it were easy, everyone would be working from home in their pajamas. It’ll take some effort to get your online business up and running, but armed with these tips, you’ll be on your way to raking in profits into time.
