Five Ways to Increase Your Website Conversion Rate

Written by Cari Haus


Continued from page 1

I am continually trackingrepparttar questions people ask and modifying my site to make sure it answers those questions. That way people can get answers torepparttar 108551 most common questions right away, and I don’t spend time answeringrepparttar 108552 same questions over and over again.

While a good FAQ is a great time-saver forrepparttar 108553 person who has to answer those questions, it also gives site usersrepparttar 108554 impression that your site is well-thought-out, that you care about their questions and will take time to answer them thoroughly. You can build trust in your website by having relevant product-related content throughoutrepparttar 108555 site as well, but there’s nothing like a well-planned FAQ to assist in answering questions.

4. Make Your Shopping Cart Easy to Use

I’ve had a little trouble with my shopping cart from time to time. It seems that if I modifyrepparttar 108556 header for my site, and put in a link that says “http:” instead of “https:”,repparttar 108557 secure part of my shopping cart pops up an error message with every click ofrepparttar 108558 mouse. Take it fromrepparttar 108559 voice of experience—this is not conducive to sales.

If your sales are clicking right along, then suddenly drop intorepparttar 108560 abyss, it’s a good idea to go out and place a test order. I’m embarrassed to say that in my busy-ness, I’ve had to have a customer inform me of how very difficult it was for them to place an order. Upon investigation, I have found several times that something had gone wrong on my site.

In addition to making sure your shopping cart is fully functional and doesn’t return error messages, it pays to have a shopping cart that is easy to use. I am not an affiliate for Clickbank, but whenever I buy an e-book from someone who is using their service, I am always impressed with how smooth and quickrepparttar 108561 online transaction is. There have been other times when I really wanted to purchase something, but some little glitch inrepparttar 108562 shopping cart wouldn’t let me proceed withrepparttar 108563 order, and nearly drove me to distraction.

As a customer I always think to myself, “if these people can’t get their website to work, how do I know they can ship me an order?” As a webmaster or mistress, you certainly don’t want to be onrepparttar 108564 receiving end of such thoughts—and you can prevent it by making sure your website shopping cart is easy to use, and testing it every now and again to make sure it’s working properly.

5. Give Free Shipping or Make a special offer

This might seem like a no-brainer, but it really does work. I used to give away a free rocking chair to anyone who bought a suite of log bedroom furniture, and you’d be surprised how many customers I had say to me “I just loverepparttar 108565 idea of getting something free!” Atrepparttar 108566 moment, I give a 5% discount forrepparttar 108567 purchase of multiple items. That might not sound like much, but its $100 on a $2000 order and many people are glad to have it.

I also include free shipping inrepparttar 108568 continental 48 states. This makes it much easier for people to knowrepparttar 108569 exact cost ofrepparttar 108570 furniture. I used to have people people contact me to see how much shipping would be, then I would estimaterepparttar 108571 cost ofrepparttar 108572 furniture they wanted, contact several freight companies for a quote, re-contactrepparttar 108573 customer, etc. Free shipping makes everything so much easier, and it really seems to appeal to my customers too.

In conclusion

I’m sure there are other quality ways to build people’s confidence in your site—thereby increasing both conversion rate and sales. Some of my friends have Better Business Bureau seal on their sites, or participate in BizRate or other rating services. I haven’t tried any of these yet, so I can’t speak for them. But I have learned from experience that people want to know you are a real person with a real business. They want to know that you care enough to answer their questions, they want a smooth shopping process, and they really do like special offers.

In these days of security breaches and privacy concerns, many customers will need extra reassurance aboutrepparttar 108574 care you take in such matters. You can accomplish much in that direction by spelling out company policies on your site.

If you thinkrepparttar 108575 conversion rate on your site could be better, why not make a to-do list of items mentioned in this article that might not be all they could be on your site. And oh yes, if you have a website selling “widgets” butrepparttar 108576 only people finding your site are those who are searching for “bridges”, you really should change your keywords.

Cari Haus has been successfully selling rustic log furniture and beds on the Internet since 1997. Copyright 2003 by Cari Haus, website http://www.logcabinrustics.com/. Permission is granted to reprint this article, either online or in written publications, as long as the copyright information, this paragraph, and a link address or a link to the Log Cabin Rustics website is attached at the end of the article.


THE 7 Step 'Formula' For Writing POWERFUL Articles In Less Than An Hour

Written by Cory Threlfall


Continued from page 1

Take a look at how I started out this article as an example.

Step #4. List off your main points you want to cover.

This is where you list off your main points you want to cover in point form.

You don't have to come up with alot... 3,4,5,7,10 , it really depends on what you plan on covering.

Step #5. Elaborate on each point you wrote down.

After you've finished writing down your main points you want to cover your next step is to elaborate on each of them with a sentence or two.

Step #6. Finish up with a Conclusion.

You've now figured out who your target audience is going to be.

You've put together a attention grabbing "Headline" to pull readers in.

You've listed off and elaborated on 3,4,5,7,10 points with a sentence or two.

Now... it's time forrepparttar "Conclusion".

And, your "Conclusion" is simply where you have your chance to tell your readers why this article was important and to get them to take action.

Step #7. Put together a compelling "Resource Box".

Your "Resource Box" is where you put your Copyright info and website Contact Information.

There are many styles of how your resource box could look, so, my suggestion to you is visit some article directories to see how others are putting there resource boxes together or you can take a look at mine atrepparttar 108550 end of this article.

Your choice.

Well, there you have it, "THE 7 Step 'Formula' For Writing POWERFUL Articles In Less Than An Hour".

The best way to get this "Formula" down is to have a nice size notepad to write on and go throughrepparttar 108551 steps listed above to brainstorm your article topics.

Make sure you spend some time with your "Headline", this is probablyrepparttar 108552 most important part ofrepparttar 108553 article because its job is to "Bait" your readers.

Don't let "Fear" stop you from writing because You think you don't have any wisdom to share.

I used to think that way, but as you can see, I no longer fear writing and have NO problem sharing that with You.

So, with that said, I truly hope this article inspired you to get writing and got your creative juices flowing for your first article andrepparttar 108554 one's that follow.

Get YOUR "Step-By-Step" roadmap for Unlimited FREE traffic using Articles! FREE Details=> http://compactURL.com/wgwf -- Or if you want to get MORE 'Insider' marketing Secrets visit Cory Threlfall's BLOG called... The Internet Wonders Blog at -- http://theiwe.blogspot.com or subscribe his Free newsletter at -- http://www.internetwondersezine.com


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