Whether to increase your margins or become less platform-dependent on major marketplaces like Amazon … [+]
Today’s entrepreneurs have more avenues than ever before to generate sales. Countless brands and individuals have found success selling on platforms like Amazon, Etsy, eBay, across social media and otherwise. But many of the most successful brands know that when done right, your own website can become the best channel for driving online revenue.
Of course, turning your website into a sales-generating machine, is easier said than done. That’s why I recently spoke with Jacob Elggren, founder of Andar, a maker of handcrafted leather goods like wallets, phone cases and other modern accessories. Elggren’s website topped revenues of over $1.1 million last year—and has seen that figure increase by an additional 60% so far this year.
By implementing a few key practices, you can apply these five principles to achieving similar growth figures for your own website.
1. Optimize For Search Engine Traffic
Search engine optimization is essential no matter which industry you’re in. This was a lesson Elggren learned early on, even before his website became his brand’s primary focus.
He shares, “We originally launched on Amazon and did a ton of Amazon SEO to ensure that we’d perform well for relevant keywords. Once we switched our focus to our Shopify-powered site, the same principles still applied. Investing in organic and paid SEO is key for getting people who are interested in general product to discover your specific brand.”
When you combine on-site optimization efforts like utilizing proper title tags, writing strong meta descriptions and alt tags—with paid bidding on relevant keywords through platforms like Google Ads, your website will become much more discoverable.
Just be sure to do thoughtful keyword research to guarantee you’re allocating budget toward the right terms customers are already searching for, as related to your products.
2. Influencer Marketing Makes The Difference
During our conversation, Elggren attributed much of his brand’s recent sales growth to successful social media marketing efforts. While traditional Instagram, Facebook and YouTube ads have been efficient over the years, some of their best results recently have come from working with influencers.
“We’ve tried to focus on influencers with between 10,000 and 100,000 followers,” Elggren explains.
He adds, “Not only are they more cost-efficient, but they also tend to have a more highly engaged audience than those with a larger following. Their followers respect what they say, so when they make a recommendation, people are more likely to visit our website and check out our products.”
In fact, as AdWeek reports, micro influencers with less than 30,000 followers tend to have a 60% higher engagement rate than those with a larger following, making campaigns 6.7 times more efficient than those involving major celebrity influencers. So, if you want to experiment with influencer marketing—start smaller with micro influencers and you’ll likely see the strongest return on your investment.
3. Use Pop-Up Offers To Push Sales
Pop-up offers can sometimes seem irritating, but when properly utilized, they can dramatically help increase sales. These offers are a great way to inform customers of a limited time offer or to encourage them to opt in to your mailing list in order to receive a special discount. Such combinations can boost immediate sales, while also giving you more email contacts to use in future marketing campaigns.
Rather than seeming intrusive, by instead offering a special deal, these popup offers can become a welcome part of shopping on your site—as long as you don’t overdo it.
Whether you’re getting someone to sign up for a loyalty program or join a newsletter, an opt-in program will make it easier to convert these customers in the future and encourage repeat sales. That’s well worth the trade-off of giving visitors free shipping or a one-time 10% discount.
4. Offer More Payment Options
“To get people to buy from your website, you have to eliminate the potential barriers that keep them from being able to complete their purchase. The more payment options you give to your customers, the easier it is for them to buy from you,” Elggren notes. “If you accept methods like Paypal, Apple Pay or Google Pay, you’ll expand your audience to those who don’t use their credit card for online shopping.”
While credit cards and cash payments may be more popular for brick and mortar purchases, statistics have shown that eWallets and other alternative payment methods are rapidly rising in popularity for digital purchases.
The 2018 Worldpay Global Payments Report notes that 36% of global online shoppers prefer to use eWallets, with credit cards trailing behind at 23%. By 2022, that disparity is expected to increase even more, with an estimated 47% of shoppers preferring eWallets.
5. Unlock The Power Of Customer Reviews
According to survey data from Podium, 93% of online shoppers claim that an online review directly impacts their decision to buy a product. In fact, part of Amazon’s rise to prominence could be attributed to its user-generated reviews, which help customers objectively evaluate the pros and cons of different products.
Customer reviews have subsequently played a big role for Elggren. “Since we started out as a Fulfilled by Amazon partner, we quickly learned just how valuable online reviews can be for generating more sales,” he says.
Elggren continues, “That’s why we put an option on our website for customers to leave reviews for each of our products. A five-star rating and positive review from a real person verifies the claims that we’ve made on our site. It gives new potential customers confidence to buy.”
There’s no doubt that turning your website into an online sales juggernaut is a process that won’t happen overnight.
While you may need to revise your website content, refocus your marketing spend or undergo a fair amount of A/B testing to land on the right page layout, the results are well worth the effort.
Improving how you utilize and market your website to generate sales could lead to massive long-term revenue growth for your business—and less platform dependency on the major marketplaces.