How do I convert visitors to sales?

There’s no magic bullet.

The easiest way to see if you’ve taken the first step is by checking the Bounce Rate (in Google Analytics) of visitors to your website. The higher it is, the fewer people who visit your website are actually finding what they were looking for.

In the early days, the ACTUAL number of non-bounce visits is a more important measure of the success of your website than the number of visitors. Of course, as the total number of vists increases, if your Bounce Rate doesn’t get worse, then more people are finding your website relevant to them.

For anyone who sticks around, you need to give them a clear path to following through with becoming a ‘conversion’. it might be an email contact, a phone call, or even an online purchase. Whatever it is, it needs to be simple and clear for your visitors.

The internet is often referred to as the Information Superhighway. I don’t remember a time it was ever called the Advertising Superhighway. An idea might sound fantastic, but unless people are already searching online for what you offer, the chances are you won’t gain customers.

It’s easy to over-estimate the amount of business you’ll generate online.

A website alone doesn’t make you an online business.

Well, it put’s your business name online, but whether it supports your business is another question altogether.

If you’re thinking a website is a great idea (and maybe it is), first ask yourself these questions:

1. What do I want it to achieve?
2. How do I measure if it achieves my goals?
3. How can it fit into my existing business, or what must I change in order for it to fit?