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Jen
01-14-2013, 12:14 PM
I've opened my online store for almost 1 year this summer and have not had much sales. It's very discouraging at times. I know there are alot more competition online. I use facebook for most of my advertising. Any other suggestions on how to get more sales and traffic? Any helpful information and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

nealrm
01-14-2013, 12:24 PM
Google ads may help. Also some good SEO work to increase your site position in the search engines.

Harold Mansfield
01-14-2013, 12:47 PM
I've opened my online store for almost 1 year this summer and have not had much sales. It's very discouraging at times. I know there are alot more competition online. I use facebook for most of my advertising. Any other suggestions on how to get more sales and traffic? Any helpful information and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Are you getting any traffic to your website? If so, and that traffic is not converting into sales, it could be any of a million things.

Your website may not be user friendly, or give off the impression of professionalism.
You may be targeting the wrong traffic.
There may not be a demand for your product.
You may be structuring your ads incorrectly for your target audience.

Ecommerce is not easy. I've said it here a few times that selling stuff online is the most difficult thing that you will ever do. Not withstanding the competition online and that the web is difficult anyway, there are so many little things that can affect your perceived credibility and destroy your chances of making any sales.

I would suggest having someone with ecommerce experience give your online presence a once over to evaluate what problems you may be having, and give you suggestions on turning it around. Maybe even post up your site here for suggestions. Many times it's not always easy to look at your own site and see it as others do.

KristineS
01-14-2013, 12:58 PM
As Harold said, there are a million things that could be causing this. You original post doesn't give us a lot to work with, so it's hard to know what the problem might be. One way to eliminate some possibilities would be, as Harold suggested, to post your site here for a review. That will let you know if the site itself has issues and what can be done to correct them.

Another thing to do would be to look at your analytics and see if you can identify any points where major numbers of visitors are dropping off your site. Also, where are your visitors coming from? What's your bounce rate? All these questions can help you pinpoint problem areas. If you don't have Analytics, I suggest getting it installed.

Another question is what are you doing on Facebook to drive traffic? Are you buying ads? Do you have a page for your company? What do you post on that page? Are you creating a community or simply selling all the time?

There are a lot of factors that can impact how well or poorly a website sells. If you can give us more specific information we can make more specific recommendations which might be more helpful.

rickmac
01-14-2013, 02:27 PM
I've opened my online store for almost 1 year this summer and have not had much sales. It's very discouraging at times. I know there are alot more competition online. I use facebook for most of my advertising. Any other suggestions on how to get more sales and traffic? Any helpful information and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Wow. That would depend a lot on what you are selling. How you are advertising and the ranking and visitors to your site. Have you check at what your compensation is doing for instance. Is there a real demand for your product?

Bobby
01-14-2013, 05:50 PM
I'm sure there are a lot of folks who start businesses because they want to work for themselves. I think the problem is that not much thought is put into why customers would go out of their way to buy what you have instead of one of the larger more prominent ecommerce sites. Do you have something exclusive that you can't buy elsewhere? If you link to your website, I'm sure people will have more input.

Pack-Secure
01-15-2013, 03:10 AM
Please post your site so we can review it and perhaps give better insight.

jimr451
01-15-2013, 06:32 AM
Have you advertised anywhere? Paid google ads are one of the better options I've seen. It will cost some money, but give you more immediate results. In the beginning it may cost more than it returns, but you can learn and tweak your bids and keywords, and hopefully tune the ads to get you to profitability.

If you don't have a budget to pay for ads, then you may not want to stay in business. Online business is generally extremely competitive - even with the best SEO, and products, you still need to put a lot of time and money into staying at the top.

That said, I've seen a client (recently) go from $0 sales to $10K+ / month by using adwords, and studying his competition, tweaking, etc. However, he put a lot of money into the business to grow it where it is today.

Good luck,

-Jim

Harold Mansfield
01-15-2013, 10:28 AM
I'd hold off on ads until you evaluate the website to insure that all is well there. Or else you'll just be wasting money and blaming the ads.

J from Michigan
01-15-2013, 12:13 PM
I use facebook for most of my advertising.

I got a TON of impressions from my ad there... but not many clicks (and zero sales.)

Like the others said, it would be nice to know your product/site, in order to help steer you in the right direction.

WolfStores
01-19-2013, 08:01 AM
Hi Jen,

As many have said it is difficult to give you any sound advice without even having a look at your site.

Please feel free to PM me the URL to your site and any specific questions that you may have.

Best Regards,

Tim

user21
01-19-2013, 09:36 PM
I've opened my online store for almost 1 year this summer and have not had much sales. It's very discouraging at times. I know there are alot more competition online. I use facebook for most of my advertising. Any other suggestions on how to get more sales and traffic? Any helpful information and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Jen,

Facebook can be a great tool for advertising, but have you considered using Google Ads or other types of advertising. The first thing you want to do is have a functional website. If your website is not user friendly it will deter traffic and sales. Make sure you are advertising to the right markets and consumers. Segment, Target and then Position your brand for consumers so they understand what you can do for them. Most companies try and find a niche. SEO is an expensive route to building your website, but necessary. I think it is very important to reinvest at least twenty percent of your businesses income into SEO.

The bottom line is that you have to be building relationships with consumers. Build that relationship with people by genuinely trying to help them with your products/services. I would encourage you to try adding promotional offers, coupons and diversifying what your online store is selling. You need to increase your exposure and presence.

If you have any questions let me know,

Nick

webchefs
01-21-2013, 11:39 AM
It could be something to do with your website. You should also sell where your target market looks to buy. You may want to try selling on Ebay or Amazon or see where else your competitors sell online.

Zman
01-21-2013, 06:17 PM
I might try small "test amounts" of Google Adwords but don't open it up all the way until you find out what works and what doesn't or you will just be throwing your money away. The same thing with Facebook ads. Great for branding, not so good on the conversion side unless you have a really good sales funnel with a high converting converting back end. You might want to give a look at your site. No sense trying to reinvent the wheel when there are some really good, proven methods out there to increase traffic and/ or conversions.

Jen
02-04-2013, 03:01 PM
Thanks to everyone who replied. Lots of helpful information. My website is Haute Society Boutique (http://www.fashfiend.com) I am an online boutique geared towards the 20-30 something year old women. I have not tried Google ad words.

KristineS
02-04-2013, 04:04 PM
One thing I noticed right off when I looked at the site is that there doesn't seem to be a size chart available for any of the clothing. I don't know how you'd sell clothing to women without a size chart. I'm not going to buy something online unless I have some idea that it will fit me. As we all know, the meaning of small, medium and large can vary greatly from clothing manufacturer to clothing manufacturer. Sizing information would, at least in my eyes, be a must if you hope to sell clothing online

Harold Mansfield
02-04-2013, 04:21 PM
Why is your domain "HS Boutique.com", your page header says "Haute Society Boutique", but your logo says "Fash Fiend"?

It makes it look as if your site was hijacked, giving the impression that the user is not on your website. It is actually a common tactic used by unscrupulous Chinese and Russian "webmasters" to redirect other people's traffic to their knock off clothing or pharmaceutical sites.

Right off the bat I'd say your site has a confusing identity problem.

You have nothing on your "Sale" page. Remove it from the navigation until you do (or redirect to a page with products). Little things like that make people question your credibility. "Sale" draws people to investigate immediately and then the first thing they see is an empty page? Not cool.

jim.sklansky
02-04-2013, 04:25 PM
I've opened my online store for almost 1 year this summer and have not had much sales. It's very discouraging at times. I know there are alot more competition online. I use facebook for most of my advertising. Any other suggestions on how to get more sales and traffic? Any helpful information and tips would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

You can consult your matter with a marketing specialist. And you must need to spend at least a some for the advertising. :)

Jen
02-04-2013, 05:46 PM
One thing I noticed right off when I looked at the site is that there doesn't seem to be a size chart available for any of the clothing. I don't know how you'd sell clothing to women without a size chart. I'm not going to buy something online unless I have some idea that it will fit me. As we all know, the meaning of small, medium and large can vary greatly from clothing manufacturer to clothing manufacturer. Sizing information would, at least in my eyes, be a must if you hope to sell clothing online

Kristine, I have a link at the top navigation bar for the size chart. It's a general guide chart. Should I be more specific on each item? Thanks for your input!

Jen
02-04-2013, 05:49 PM
Why is your domain "HS Boutique.com", your page header says "Haute Society Boutique", but your logo says "Fash Fiend"?

It makes it look as if your site was hijacked, giving the impression that the user is not on your website. It is actually a common tactic used by unscrupulous Chinese and Russian "webmasters" to redirect other people's traffic to their knock off clothing or pharmaceutical sites.

Right off the bat I'd say your site has a confusing identity problem.

You have nothing on your "Sale" page. Remove it from the navigation until you do (or redirect to a page with products). Little things like that make people question your credibility. "Sale" draws people to investigate immediately and then the first thing they see is an empty page? Not cool.

Harold, I just switched my domain and business name. I dont have a big customer list yet, so I figured now would be the best time to do it before I get bigger (if I ever do!). I am still getting everything switched over to the new name(fashfiend.com). Thanks for your input about the SALE page.

Blue Hen
02-05-2013, 01:21 AM
Harold, I just switched my domain and business name. I dont have a big customer list yet, so I figured now would be the best time to do it before I get bigger (if I ever do!). I am still getting everything switched over to the new name(fashfiend.com). Thanks for your input about the SALE page.

Switching your domain name is one thing but switching your business name is another. You may lose some of the brand value that you built with your customers, but also with search engines. I understand that you are still small and it's better to do it now, but are you really going to start from scratch after a whole year?

Harold Mansfield
02-05-2013, 11:01 AM
Harold, I just switched my domain and business name. I dont have a big customer list yet, so I figured now would be the best time to do it before I get bigger (if I ever do!). I am still getting everything switched over to the new name(fashfiend.com). Thanks for your input about the SALE page.

Not to throw a monkey wrench in this, but why are you switching TO fashfiend? Is that the name of your brick and mortar store? If not, I like HSBoutique FAR better and I assume that this is the name of your company and store. Am I correct?

KristineS
02-05-2013, 01:41 PM
Kristine, I have a link at the top navigation bar for the size chart. It's a general guide chart. Should I be more specific on each item? Thanks for your input!

Jen, I didn't even see that link and if I didn't, when I've reviewed a lot of websites, your average customer probably won't either. I'd also say size charts specific to each item or manufacturer would make more sense. Women's clothes sizing varies so much that I'd be wary of a general size chart. So, I'd go specific or have a very liberal return policy so if someone buys something and it doesn't fit they're able to quickly and easily return it and get a refund. One way or the other you have to remove most of the element of chance about something fitting your customers.

mightymouse
02-10-2013, 02:15 AM
Hi Jen,

Please post your site for a review, we can give you advice and suggestions once we see the products/services, and how the site looks. A professional looking site is important especially if people are going to be shopping there and trust you with their credit card info.

IADS
02-18-2013, 10:37 PM
I've found that placing a Press Release in several location, including Craigslist, BlueEgo.com, and PRWeb.com can not only build free traffic, but you have a chance of getting picked up by a newspaper, magazine, or blog, which equals free advertising. Post on a regular basis about anything of interest, including openings, sales, tech or website upgrades. Also, you can put out press releases about yourself, and mention your business. Press releases are one of the better ways of building a brand. In your press release you can also mention your Facebook page or Twitter name and hit them from both sides.

PS: Online Press Releases are a good way of building link popularity which helps your search engine indexing.

Alex1
02-26-2013, 10:30 AM
Analyze your website from a customer point of view. See what you don't like. Change it. See the result. Try again.

Ted
03-28-2013, 12:35 PM
Thanks to everyone who replied. Lots of helpful information. My website is Haute Society Boutique (http://www.fashfiend.com) I am an online boutique geared towards the 20-30 something year old women. I have not tried Google ad words.

First Make Sure The Site Will Convert If You Are Getting The Right Traffic

I would find a dozen girls who are in your target market and have them be brutally honest about your site. Have them look at your site and give you feedback as they are doing it. Record their conversations and study what their immediate reactions are. Find out why they wouldn’t buy from you right now. Obviously you would pay more attention to the things that are pointed out by more than one person. Fix those first.

Once your site is fixed to the point where those women say they would definitely buy from you, then focus on getting better traffic for your site. There are better places to get targeted traffic for ecommerce websites than Facebook for sure.

For your situation I would explore search engine marketing on Google – both Adwords and SEO. I would also recommend you try promoting your individual products on Pinterest.
Another approach that could work really well for you would be for you to reach out to female bloggers who fit into your target audience. Offer to send them a free dress in their size if they will write about it on their blog and if they will give you honest feedback about your website. Then ask them if they have any other friends who would be willing to do the same thing. Maybe try doing this once per month with a different blogger each month.

SWAMP80
05-06-2013, 03:06 PM
Oh this is right up our alley! Alright, so, three things - [Solicitation Removed]
1. Pinterest - drives more traffic to websites than any other social platform AND people who come to your site through Pinterest spend 10% more. Don't pin only your products, though. Be sure to pin other things that are related to your brand and aesthetic - more people will follow you if you provide them more well rounded content
2. Fashion bloggers - find blogs who identify with your aesthetic. Find out if you can run a giveaway on their site (give the blogger something, a winner something, and then a code for their readers (i.e., FREESHIPPING for all X blog readers from 4/1-6/1). Also find out if they allow advertising on their blogs (ask for their traffic stats!)
3. Twitter - talk to those fashion bloggers you've identified - engage in convo, retweet their content, etc.

patrickprecisione
05-07-2013, 09:19 AM
One thing that was very helpful for my site was doing user testing (i think it was usability.com). We hired a service that let us set the target audience, choose what we wanted them to do once they were on the site. Then we got a video of them reviewing the site and attempting to achieve these goals. It's a real eye opener. I think sometimes when you're too close to your site, you can't see the forest for the trees. Once you've got some of your conversion issues taken care of, try working on SEO and/or looking in to an Adwords campaign.

liljani
08-22-2013, 06:24 PM
i think i am going to be in the same boat as Jen, its been months already but still havent had a chance for converting much traffic. I've been advertising on social media, blogs, and amazon but all i get is few clicks, i might be doing something wrong... sorry for jacking the thread...

King Akoma
08-22-2013, 07:51 PM
i think i am going to be in the same boat as Jen, its been months already but still havent had a chance for converting much traffic. I've been advertising on social media, blogs, and amazon but all i get is few clicks, i might be doing something wrong... sorry for jacking the thread...

Yea, I know the feeling. It can be discouraging at times, but its a processing. Are you using only free traffic techniques at the moment?

Dan Furman
08-22-2013, 10:50 PM
i think i am going to be in the same boat as Jen, its been months already but still havent had a chance for converting much traffic. I've been advertising on social media, blogs, and amazon but all i get is few clicks, i might be doing something wrong... sorry for jacking the thread...

Just being honest: Your home page copy is so obviously SEO heavy that its actually annoying to read.

liljani
08-23-2013, 01:58 AM
@King yeah, im using a free seo as of the moment but might be using a paid search prolly in the next couple of month or might change direction...

@Dan thanks for being honest, i really did that in purpose, for seo sake (since im doing free seo), i rather do that instead of doing a "black seo" which could trouble my site.

Dan Furman
08-23-2013, 12:25 PM
@King yeah, im using a free seo as of the moment but might be using a paid search prolly in the next couple of month or might change direction...

@Dan thanks for being honest, i really did that in purpose, for seo sake (since im doing free seo), i rather do that instead of doing a "black seo" which could trouble my site.

Well, if it's working for you, great.

Is it?

liljani
08-24-2013, 02:03 AM
Well, if it's working for you, great.

Is it?

at first yeah but now its slowly going down, so i might do a paid search in a couple of months.... on the other hand, im still debating if i will continue with the products i have since these products are about to go out of trend or ill just add other products, just to have a backup... i dont know...

mattchambers
09-21-2013, 04:44 PM
Try out different advertising methods like pop up ads, banners ads through advertising companies' networks and if you have the budget you can get an animator or someone to make a good old TV like ad for popular video sites like youtube.

Try doing good SEO for all pages and increase website activity...I guarantee you the more activity your website has is the more Google and other search engines will see you as a likely candidate for higher rankings for the keywords you're targeting.

dbuster
11-25-2013, 08:10 AM
what type of business and advertising are you doing? If you don't have a budget for Advertising try some low cost advertising.
Check out local papers for business card size ad, hang flyers around town on bulletin boards, seek out people in different ways that use the product or service you are providing, on line manta, chamber of commerce for towns have members and there addresses.
Email people or post on line constantly on facebook, twitter, linkedin, blogger the more you post and do searches on your own website these bring you up in ranks on search engines. It is a lot of work to have a business you can't put a website up and expect traffic you have to create the drive to the website, If you have crafts go to these craft fairs coming up and advertise there hand out business cards, radio in small towns is a reasonable price. If your on the social media websites try looking up groups that advertise small businesses, watch out for those that say no cost They are usually a scam!