Much of my consulting work comprises writing ‘Outside Opinion’ reports on the sites of large companies and organizations. Sometimes I review just a few pages, sometimes fifty or more.
I’m just finishing one up now and have recognized a thread that is common to many of reports.
Here is what I have noticed: On many sites we are too slow to ‘get to the meat’. Too much rambling and introduction on each page.
You’ve put up a website to promote a product or service.
You’ve spent piles of cash to generate traffic.
But sales are not coming in.
So, you’re wondering what is wrong?
Here are 10 website sales secret reasons why they are not buying from you:
1. You don’t make people feel safe when they order. Remind people that they are ordering through a secure server. Tell them you won’t sell their e-mail address and all their information will be kept confidential.
General rule of thumb is not to sign up for yearly web hosting plans. Instead, get monthly plan where you can unsubscribe from on the second month when you are not happy with the service. That is, if you ended up with an unreliable web hosting company in the first place.
Here is a simple guide that can be easily applied to typical web sites:
–Web Space–
Expect a small website to take up 10 and 100 MB. Considering that you may want to expand your website in the near future, it is advisable to get a web hosting plan with ample web space.
When your web site sells more than a dozen items, you may face a fierce challenge of helping shoppers find what they are looking for. You’ll need to classify products into categories, but these will serve as obstacles and even deal killers if those categories do not match those in the heads of shoppers.
I’ve seen again and again web sites using classifications that aren’t known or understood by a portion of their customers. For instance, I once wanted to buy T-shirts and went to the site of a famous catalog company, where I found a category called “shirts.” So far, so good. But then I had to choose between a category called “woven” or another called “knitted.” There I got stumped. Are T-shirts woven or knitted? I was not sure.
