Many of our ecommerce customers frequently ask how they can increase sales when online advertising methods such as Adwords, email marketing campaigns, blogging and social media have reached their peak ROI or their site simply is not generating the amount of sales they think it should.
In situations where traditional online marketing solutions have become stagnate or are not returning the expected results, we usually suggest varying the presentation of the products, updating the interface and/or a site redesign to give the online store a fresh appearance.
A site redesign can be as simple as a minor menu modification or as complex as a complete company rebranding. Whether the site update is small or large, keeping the site design as well as the content fresh can jumpstart sales and convert returning “window shoppers” to customers.
Although customers love to see new items on their favorite online stores, keeping the website fresh does not necessarily require adding new content to the site. Refreshing or modifying the presentation of existing content is sometimes just as effective and more feasible.
The areas that should be periodically refreshed are:
1) Product Placement: Vary the placement of your products on the website and how they are presented to the user. Try to emphasize different items on your home page on a scheduled rotation. Add “Featured Items” to your store and track which displayed featured item(s) increase sales.
2) Update Site Menus: Optimize the site menus to give the users the most efficient way of locating their items. Simplify your menu system to make it more user-friendly.
3) Redesign Your Website: Refresh or redesign your website to reflect current site design trends. Change your color scheme periodically to give the site a fresh appearance while still maintaining your overall corporate branding scheme.
3) Sales! Discounts! Specials!: Give your customers a reason to purchase items that they overlooked or decided against purchasing in the past. Catch the customer’s eye with great deals and cross-sell additional items to encourage multiple item purchases.
Don’t be afraid to do a site redesign or products display change even on a new site. You can always revert back to the previous scheme if the modifications do not yield positive results.
If your online sales are slow, periodically change up the site’s look and products’ presentation and you will be amazed at the increased visitor-to-sales conversion.
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Kevin R. Rounsavelle
Founder, Site Store Professional
http://www.sitestorepro.com