Website Sales: 4 Methods to Help You Convert Web Traffic Into More Sales

One of the biggest issues that small businesses face is how to turn more online visitors into actual revenue-generating website sales. It is usually frustrating to see just a small fraction of total visitors who become actual customers. Online sales conversions usually average about 2% - 5%, with the lucky ones churning out a whopping 10% conversion. But how can you improve your own web conversions?

Here are four innovative and best ways you might include on your small business website to help increase your website sales conversion rate.

1. Boost Website Sales with a Chat Widget

   You may have seen this clever program while visiting another website. Suddenly a new window "pops" up and asks if you would like to speak with a sales representative. You could then start a live chat with someone, ask questions, pose problems or make any other inquiries that you don't immediately see on the website.

   This software is amazingly easy to install and use. There are paid chat programs available for as little as $15-20 per month. You can even get a free chat widget at Meebo.com that allows you to "see" visitors on a single page of your website and open a chat.

   Other most expanded chat programs will allow you to follow your website visitors as they navigate your site. At any point, you could pop up a window with a basic greeting to invite them to chat. This clever gadget alone can be well worth the cost in order to convert more web traffic into online sales.

2. Encourage Visitors to Participate

   The more "sticky" your website is, the more likely your visitors will stay and convert their visits to website sales. Thus, encourage your visitors to get engaged and involved with your website. Here are a few ideas on how to do just that:

   • Participate in a poll - You could invite them to offer their opinion on a topic. Entice them with the aggregate results after their input.
   • Invite them to your forum - If you have an online forum installed on your small business website, you can invite them to participate in the discussion. Provide clear links and reasons to click to that area.
   • Provide a search tool - You can easily install a search feature within your site. If a new visitor reached your website, it was likely due to a search result. Help them find precisely what they are looking for.

3. A Call To Action Increases Website Sales

   Help guide your visitors through your small business website. For instance, you might include a prominent link to your main product on the home page. Then give them an overview of the product with a clear link to more details on product features. That page should then have a very prominent "add to cart" or "have a question?" link that visitors will click next. And so on.

   The easier it is for your visitors to find the next answer to their question, the better your web traffic conversion. Try your best to guide and steer them toward that final goal of a sales transaction.

4. Web Conversions through Freebies

   You can obtain better online sales conversion with the leads you generate. But generating leads requires some form of customer or client contact information. You can entice them to provide an email address and/or phone number by offering "freebies" like the following:

   • White Paper - A white paper is basically an expanded brochure. It is a sales piece that expands upon the benefits and features of a particular product or service. It can also be an informative document on product use (see 'guides' below).
   • "Top 10" Report - Offer the visitor to view a helpful "top 10" list of relevant websites, uses of your product, or anything that provides value to the customer.
   • Newsletter - Invite the visitor to receive your regular small business newsletter. Be sure to include the fact that they can receive exclusive deals.
   • Guide or Webinar - Why not create a helpful online guide in PDF format that the visitor can download? Or you could even design a "webinar" via a Powerpoint presentation that can be viewed with a simple email address.