How to Boost Online Sales – Start with the Basics

The advent of the internet and world wide web has helped in improving business sales dramatically. This is because people now shop differently — rather than going to a traditional store, they prefer to sit at the comfort of their homes and buy things online. However, marketing online can be challenging — with tons of other competitors, you had better hone up your online marketing techniques. Start with the basics.

Set Measurable Goals

Your first step towards boosting online sales is to set measurable goals. How can you monitor improvement without a goal as your yardstick? A typical example of a measurable goal is to determine the volume of sales you want to achieve and the time frame you want to get this volume of sales accomplished. It’s important that you stay realistic when setting your goal. In essence, do not set goals that are almost impossible to attain.

And, bear in mind that it is not just enough setting goals, you also need to put methodologies in place for tracking your goals. Some of the methodologies include web analytic software that you can build into your e-commerce or business website. Using the analytics, you can track the volume of sales you have been able to accomplish.

Make Your Sales Items Minimal

While most people will prefer the “more is better” maxim when selling, it’s more practical to offer fewer items. Based on research, it has been confirmed that consumers make a buying decision easily when they have fewer items to choose from.

If you doubt that it is better to sell fewer items, take a look at the empirical research conducted by Columbia University. According to the result of the research, only 3 people bought some kind of jam flavors out of 60 percent of people who came to taste the 24 different varieties of jam. On the other hand, when the flavors were reduced to just 6, 24 percent out of the 40 percent that came over to taste the flavors on the second day made the purchase.

Include Opt-In Offer

The opt-in tool will help you generate customers’ information such as their email addresses. Subsequently, when you send product emails such as promotions and online sales to the addresses, they may end up buying, thereby resulting in increased sales. Besides, you would ultimately build positive relationships with the recipients.

And, the best place to feature your opt-in form is on your home page for easy accessibility. You should target the top left-hand corner, which is often where the visitors’ eyes would first go to.

Finally, you should consider outsourcing the major parts of your online marketing — e.g. content marketing, social media marketing, and SEO.

Daven Michaels is a New York Times Best Selling Author and CEO of premiere global outsourcing company, 123Employee. The company employs hundreds of young bright individuals on three continents. His International event, Beyond Marketing Live! inspires entrepreneurs to build & grow their business with revolutionary new theories and systems allowing them to design the business and personal lifestyle of their dreams.