If you want to sell online, you need a website. Ok, that’s an obvious given. Having a website is, however, only part of the equation. Once the website is designed, built, and live, you still must bring people to it. The internet is growing exponentially, and competition gets greater every day. Getting your website noticed, and getting people to visit and buy can be a challenge. Luckily, the challenge is not an insurmountable one. There are things you can do to help your site stand out from the crowd, even in the busy online marketplace.

The Power of Good SEO

Credit: Kristine Shreve

If you run an e-commerce site, one of the things you need to know about is Search Engine Optimization, more commonly known as SEO. For those who aren’t familiar with the term, SEO refers to “the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.”

There are two types of search results with which to be concerned, organic and paid. Organic results are the ranking the search engine algorithm produces based on a site’s contents, SEO, and relevance. Paid results are generated though Google Ads and other such programs, and rankings are purchased.

Most search engine ranking ad buys are purchased through the pay-per-click (PPC) method, and more popular keywords will be much more costly. SEO and PPC could each be subjects of an article in their own right, so if you are unfamiliar with either, take the time to learn how they work and what sort of impact each can have on your site and where it appears in the rankings.

Another option for getting your site seen and attracting buyers is social media. This is another area where competition for eyeballs and customers is fierce. It’s also an arena where community and connections matter.

A common recommendation for new sites is to have friends and family share a link to the fledgling site when it goes live. While that’s better than nothing, it may not be effective in reaching the audience you need to reach. The link will be out there, but it’s possible it won’t generate the traffic that will lead to sales.

A better option is to start building a connection and a community with your target market before the site goes live. If you already have a network of potential customers in place, it’s easy to build excitement and raise a buzz. That way, when the site does go live, you have a legion of fans eager to see what you have to offer. And, since you’ve concentrated on your target market, they are also qualified customers who are eager to buy.

Who is Your Market?

This leads me to the next important tip for getting your site found: Know your target market. Some “experts” will tell you that any traffic is good traffic, but that’s not really true. It’s not just about getting people to your site, it’s about getting the right people — those who want to buy what you have to sell — to your site. And that’s an entirely different prospect.

Random people who land on your site are as likely to bounce as they are to buy, which is wasting both their time and yours. Make sure you understand what type of customer you want to attract, where they are, and how you can connect with them before you start trying to attract visitors to your site. Narrowing your market down before you start working to bring in visitors will save you a lot of lost time, money, and effort.

Credit: Kristine Shreve

Your website can have a million visitors, but if those visitors don’t want what you have to sell, you have nothing. Narrowing your focus at the beginning will save you a lot of trouble in the end.

Another huge tool in the game of getting your website found is analytics. Most site software will provide some analytics, and many sites use Google Analytics as well.

Using analytics can give you insight into things like how much traffic is hitting your site, which pages are sticky and which are bouncing like rubber, and where your traffic is coming from. Using analytics can help you refine page content, correct issues or trouble spots on your site, and form alliances or connections with the sites and people that are sending the most visitors your way.

Analytics will also help you understand how users behave once they get to your site. You can see what pages are most popular, where visitors enter the site and where they exit, and which areas might be roadblocks or cause confusion for visitors. If you have a website, be sure you are not neglecting the data from your analytics program. It can give you valuable insights into how your site is getting found and being used.

Some experts may recommend using influencers as a way to get your site noticed, and that can be a viable option. There are some things to remember when contemplating working with an influencer.

First, keep in mind that anyone can hang out their shingle and claim to be an influencer. Make sure whomever you work with has a verified audience and a verified record of being able to sell things to that audience. Remember these are two different things. Influencers need to have a cadre of devoted followers and be able to inspire those followers to do things or make purchases.

Having an audience is not enough. Without a verifiable record of actually being able to influence their audience, an influencer may not be as influential as claimed. Always verify before entering any agreement with an influencer.

Final Thoughts

While it’s true there is a lot of competition on the internet and that getting an e-commerce site seen and visited will require some work and some study, don’t assume that ranking highly or getting noticed is impossible. Pay attention to your analytics, make sure your site is up to date on all the necessary features, work on your SEO metrics, and target the right groups with your site’s message, and you’re well on your way to being successful.