6 tips to help you sell more online

[spott]

Here are 6 tips we've used to sell tens of millions of dollars
worth of products (in our case, software) online over the
last few years:

1. Publish your shipping, exchange and returns policies on your
website and make them easy to find

When people buy online they like to get the "whole picture" even
before they click the "Checkout" button on your shopping cart
page. This includes knowing where you stand on refunds and
exchanges, as well as which shipping methods you offer.

You should create a page on your website's main navigation
menu called "Shipping & Returns" from which you can list the
different shipping methods you provide, as well as information
on your refund policy.

If you can offer a no hassle refund period of at least 30 days
you'll put shopper's minds at ease about purchasing from you,
especially if they've never heard of you and feel like they're
taking a risk placing their first order with you.

An image of a professional looking refund badge can also
help to boost your conversion rate through the roof. Here's
the refund badge we use on our website:


  refund_badge.gif (Size: 11.56 KB / Downloads: 28)

It should also go without saying that you should honor your
refund and exchange policies for all customers.

2. Offer free shipping on orders over a certain dollar amount

It's a well known fact that shoppers hate paying extra for
shipping. You'll be one step ahead of the competition if you can
afford to offer free shipping on all orders from your online
store.

If you can't afford to offer free shipping on all orders, then a
great way to increase your average order value while still
offering free shipping is to offer free shipping on orders over
$100, for example.

3. Capture the email address of shoppers and start a regular
email newsletter

Did you know that email marketing is the best performing and most
affordable marketing method you can use when selling online?

On average email marketing returns $52 for every $1 spent, so
starting a regular email newsletter and offering visitors a way
to subscribe is a great way to keep in regular contact with them.

You could send weekly or monthly emails containing information
about new products added to your store, or you could even
include special offers and discount coupon codes to encourage
new shoppers to place their first order from your website.

I'm sure you've bought at least one thing after receiving an
email from an online store in the past?...

4. Encourage customers to review products they purchase

Product reviews are a great social proof marketing method which
show that other customers have purchased from you and are
willing to share their opinions and experiences with products in
your store.

Amazon.com is most famous example of using customer reviews
to sell products. Amazon.com publishes unedited reviews (both
good and bad) and over time those reviews have become a
trusted source of information for tens of millions of shoppers -
regardless of whether they end up buying from Amazon.com or
another website.

5. Make a great first impression by having a professional
looking website design

You only get one chance to make a first impression, and when
it comes to selling online there are two critical factors which
will influence shoppers:

- The loading time of your website and
- The design and visual appeal of your website

Make sure your website loads quickly (the average time a
visitor will wait for a web page to load is 8 seconds) and most
importantly looks professional.

Avoid large fonts and bright colors. If you have a logo then
make sure you display it in your online store. You should also
use a website design which is simple yet modern - you don't
want to scare off new visitors with a complicated site design.

6. Make your online store secure by purchasing your own
SSL certificate

When it comes to selling online you absolutely must provide
a secure checkout experience from your website.

Companies like Verisign.com and GeoTrust.com sell SSL
certificates which protect your customer's billing details
and credit card information from being stolen by hackers.

SSL certificates are easy to add to your website and when
installed the yellow padlock icon will show in the web
browser telling customers their information is safe when
shopping in your online store.

Adding an SSL certificate to your website can increase
your conversion rate by over 500% and costs only a
few hundred dollars.