Exit Rate measures how many people left your website from a certain page. It would seem like it would show you where people are exiting from your site so you can fix problems with specific pages. The problem is that everyone who comes to your website has to leave at some point. What if they came, bought something and then left? That’s what you want them to do. Or what if you blog daily and people come to read your latest post and then leave. While you may prefer they spend time on other pages, if they’re loyal readers, they’ve been keeping up with your posts. So is Exit Rate useful? Yes and no. Let’s look at it in more detail…
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Aug
12
2010
Is Exit Rate a Useful Metric?
Aug
04
2010
Defining Conversions
Just like Metrics and KPIs, Conversion is another measurement term which is often mis-used (thanks to Jim Suchara for the suggestion). A conversion happens when someone completes an action you want them to take — purchases from you, signs up for a newsletter, registers for a webinar, etc. So, just like KPIs (key performance indicators) measuring conversions requires first understanding exactly what it is you want people to do — what are your business goals and objectives?
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Oct
13
2008
30 Ways to Increase Sales on Your Business Website
As we discussed in our previous post on traffic, there are three ways to increase sales on a website: 1) increase qualified traffic (number of potential customers), 2) increase the number of conversions (sales) or 3) both 1 and 2. This list focuses on ways you can increase traffic or conversions. A good strategy would be to pick a mixture you’re comfortable with and continue to add to it as you see success.
- Increase your advertising budget
- Expand the keywords you target with Search Marketing
- Use/Expand Affiliate Marketing
- Purchase ads on niche websites
- Write articles with valuable information for your potential customers
- Start a blog
- Join social networks and start conversations in your areas of expertise
- Advertise on social networks
- Allow customers to rate and comment on your products & services
- Create a FAQ section on your website
- Add a discussion board to your website
- Start a podcast
- Target your marketing message to your audience
- Change to a customer-centric design
- Add support information about all your products and services
- Make it easy for customers to contact you with questions or concerns
- Create an ongoing newsletter
- Offer a free product or service in exchange for contact information
- Update your website design to a professional, modern look
- Add a sitemap to make it easy for customers to find information
- Include a search function
- Use structured menus instead of drop-downs
- Organize your website information intuitively
- Add contact information throughout the site
- Use a creative, but professional color scheme
- Incorporate all the information needed to make a purchase decision on product and service pages
- Solicit customer purchases from every product and service page
- Tout company accomplishments on homepage
- Announce company news through press releases
- Optimize your website copy for search engines
Do you have more ways to increase sales on your business website? We’d love to hear them in the comments below.
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(photo by timparkinson @ Flickr CC)
Technorati Tags: seo, search engine optimization, internet strategy, internet marketing, internet consulting
Oct
09
2008
Just Increasing Traffic May Not Increase Sales on Your Business Website
Many business owners get caught up with the need to increase traffic to their business website in order to increase sales and/or revenue. Increasing traffic to your website may or may not help increase sales depending on who the traffic is (whether they are potential customers).
Sales from a website are based on the number of potential customers who come to the website (a lead) and the percentage that actually purchase something (a conversion). To increase sales from a website, there are three options:
- increase the number of potential customers coming to the site (leads)
- increase the number of actual sales on the website (conversions)
- both #1 and #2.
While increasing traffic can help, it will only help if the traffic includes more potential customers (leads). Just increasing traffic, if none of the people are interested in making a purchase, does nothing to help sales. So it is very important to increase the number of potential customers (leads), which is sometimes called qualified traffic.
Sometimes sales are not happening because information on your website is not clear or potential customers are not sure how to make a purchase. Increasing the number of potential customers who actually make a purchase (conversions) is another way to increase sales from your website. Taking a look at where people may be leaving the site, as well as whether marketing information entices a purchase can help increase conversions. Advertising should take potential customers right to an “action” page where they have all the information they need and can make a purchase.
Just increasing traffic to a website without increasing the number of potential customers and/or conversions will probably not increase your sales, leaving you wondering why your efforts are not working.
(photo by Burning Image @ Flickr CC)
Technorati Tags: seo, search engine optimization, internet strategy, internet marketing, internet consulting
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