Following months of specification, web design, build and testing your new website went live with a fanfare. Six months on and despite the grand promises made by the salesperson who originally sold you this website, it’s so far generating no sales.
Why am I getting no sales and what can I do about it?
Firstly, is your website receiving traffic? Do you have the tools to measure the traffic?
Traffic to your website can be measured simply and for free. Installing Google Analytics will provide you with all of the information you need about how people are finding your website, how they’re using it and how they’re not.
Once you’ve established that people are visiting your website it’s important to regularly review how they’re using it and to enhance your website in the areas that the analytics show are not performing well.
Okay, I’m getting plenty of traffic but no sales. What are the options?
Are you getting the right traffic? If you’re selling socks and your visitors were looking for cheese then these are not qualified visitors. You need to be attracting those people with an interest in the products or services that you’re offering.
Is your content optimised for your target audience? Take a look at your homepage. Does it speak clearly about your products and services? Does it use the key phrases that people looking for your website would enter into a search engine? Is it clear to navigate? Can I find products quickly and easily?
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a process of optimising your existing content for search engines. When a search engine indexes your site you need to make sure that it’s picking up the correct information, that it understands the content and that it’ll be able to make the association between your content and relative searches. It’s not rocket science but it takes time and work to get it right. Even then, this is going to be an ongoing process and the goals you set need to be longer term. SEO is not for those seeking quick returns, it’s for the longer term investor.
Pay per Click (PPC) advertising is used for quick returns. In return for a budget (that you control), you’re able to create targeted adverts that appear in search engine results pages (SERPS). The benefit of this model is that, with a carefully managed PPC campaign, you’re able to target your real customers, those looking for your products and services. From the PPC advert you’re able to direct them straight to the product page, removing the need for them to trawl your site to find what they’re looking for.
Email Marketing is an excellent way to speak with your clients if you’ve already built up a customer database. A good email marketing campaign will avoid being spammed, will appear clearly to all of your recipients and will provide good, interesting, click-provoking content to drive qualified traffic into your website. Many people speak of being able to do this but not many can do it properly.
So, the qualified traffic is landing on my site but still no sales. Is my marketing wrong?
If you’re receiving qualified traffic then the likelihood is that your marketing campaign is doing its job. What you need to do is review what people are doing when they get to your site. Using your analytics software you need to understand how people are entering your site and where they’re existing.
If a large percentage of the traffic is leaving your site at a particular page then you need to review that page and understand why it’s causing your visitors to abort. If they’re leaving the site from a product page is the pricing competitive, does it provide the information that the visitor requries, does the “buy now” button work?
If the visitors are largely aborting at the cart page then look at the functionality of the cart, the breakdown of the order charges (products, VAT, shipping, gift wrap).
Is your site secure? Have you installed a security certificate? Many people are now aware of what to look for when buying online. If your website doesn’t tick some or all of the secure boxes – valid security certificate, extended verification, recognised payment gateway provider – they’re likely to be discouraged from buying from you.
If you’ve installed Google Analytics you’ll be able to set up goals within your account to monitor certain processes. A goal might be set up to measure the pages within your checkout. Analytics reports on the progress made by your customers through the tunnel and makes it easy to identify where problems exist in the process. Sometimes the problem is minor, sometimes major. Whatever the severity of the problem, the likelihood is that it’s costing you money.
A website can’t simply be designed, built and then set out on the internet in the vain hope that it’ll make you money.
At Mancala we like and need to work with you. We have the expertise to build and market a website but you know your products and your customers. By working together we can understand your business, your objectives and help guide you through what can become a technical minefield in some cases.
Give us a call or drop us an email. We can offer you help and advice or can arrange a review of your existing website. Whether it’s web development, web design, content management, payment integration, ecommerce, email marketing, internet marketing, social media marketing or something else, you can guarantee we’ll be able to help.
email: emailus@mancala.co.uk
phone: 0191 241 6726
Steve is Mancala's Operations Manager and also our ecommerce and CMS expert. Steve has extensive experience managing and running ecommerce stores and this wealth of knowledge is passed on to Mancala's clients to ensure that their online store is the best it can be. 
