6 Ways to Increase Online Sales

Try the following 6 tips to increase online sales from your website:

1. Discounted or Free Shipping on Large Orders
Giving your customers free shipping on large orders will give them an added incentive to purchase more products and it doesn't take much more time and effort to ship. This will increase sales per customer and keep them coming back for more. Many online shoppers hate paying shipping charges. Very often the shipping charges for low-priced item to add an additional 50-60% to the final purchase price and customers feel that retailers are taking advantage of them. Raise your profit margin and encourage larger orders by offering free shipping for multiple-item orders or orders that reach a certain dollar level. This is very common among large online retailers who have already found this to be very effective at boosting sales.

2. Create compelling website copy.
Website design can only take you so far towards customer credibility. Immediately after a visitor notices your website design, they will begin to search for valuable content. Be sure to format your content to reflect how people read online and do your research on how to write convincing online copy.

3. Have complete product information and photos. People want to see what they're buying and they want to know a lot about it. But consider overall page size and download time when you're adding this information.

A) Informational pages.
Useful information will turn your web site into a valuable resource on the Web, making customers feel more comfortable buying from you. Product pages full of useful information will attract not only human visitors, but search engine spiders as well.

B) Detailed and Thumbnail Product Images.
Make sure you have both small, lower-resolution thumbnail images that link to much larger, high-resolution images for each product. By doing so, you will allow visitors to quickly browse through your product categories while also having the ability to see each product in much greater detail. This also benefits those users that have slower internet connections. Ensure that visitors don't lose their patience waiting for your pages to load or they will go elsewhere to shop.

4. Stick the Candy Near the Register.
Grocery stores have been doing this for many years. When a customer is about to add an item to their shopping cart, offer them related items that they may need as well. An example would be if a customer has just added a digital camera to their cart, you can display a link and picture for additional related products such as batteries, memory cards, or other accessories.

5. Make Them Stay.
It has become very common for shoppers to do their research in the virual world only to head down to a store in the physical world to make their purchase. Minimize this by offering online shoppers special offers for purchasing online. Giving them a "web price" or including a free product with their purchase can be used to combat this. Discounted or free shipping will also help with the fight. By giving people more incentives for purchasing online rather than heading to their nearest store location, you will keep much more of these orders in your pocket.

6. Give Them The Best Customer Service.
You did the hard work of getting a new customer. Now don't blow it! Research shows that over 40% of purchases made online were done at a website where the customer previously had a pleasurable experience. It takes far less energy and work to keep a customer than it does to get a new customer. Let your customers speak to a real person and they will love you for it! Also ensure that you promptly respond to customer service emails.

If you follow these tips, you will be well on your way to increasing the number of visitor to customer conversions.