4 Things You Can Do Today to Boost Website Sales
Updated September 2021
Running an eCommerce business isn’t a “build it and they will come” situation. I mean, it would be nice if a live website automatically = sales but that’s just really not the case. This is because getting traffic to your site is one thing but converting those visitors into paying customers is something else entirely.
Disclaimer: If your site’s traffic is pretty solid but you’re just not seeing any sales, I would first take a good, hard look at the site’s branding, positioning, and messaging. A complete lack of sales when you have pretty good traffic is often symptomatic of some deeper issues in one or more of those areas. Customers who are inspired by (and fans of!) your brand will usually find any way possible to buy from you so before you go crazy with the coupon codes, do a little self-reflection and see if you have some work to do to improve your brand positioning. For more help understanding your site’s analytics, check out this post.
Ok, got everything in tip-top shape and ready to boost your sales? Here are four things you can do today to help motivate folks to hit that “add to cart” button!
1. Have a Sale or Create a Discount
Discounts and sales are tricky because you can sometimes train your customers to only buy from you when there’s a discount. However, if you have a new product or service to promote or are looking to entice back people who possibly weren’t otherwise going to buy from you, discounts can be a great tool.
Squarespace allows you to easily create and manage discounts and sales. Here’s when to use each:
What sale items look like on Squarespace.
When to put items on sale - Sales are great if you’re wanting to mark down prices to move excess inventory, book spots that were going to otherwise go unfilled, or draw attention to specific products in your shop. Customers don’t need a discount code to get the discount - it’s just automatically sold at the “sale” price. Putting items on sale also has the added benefit of a special tag being displayed on your shop’s main page to attract attention.
When to use automatic discounts or coupon codes - coupon codes are a great way to offer a discount to a segmented or targeted group of people (i.e. your email list) without giving everything away to just anyone. You can also pair discount codes with some personalized marketing content to help seal the deal or as a way to attract new customers or clients in general. Unlike sale pricing, which is set manually per product, you can use discounts to discount entire shop categories or orders. You can also set up free shipping offers to boost average cart values. For more on discount rules & what you can do with codes and offers on Squarespace, check out this post.
2. Use an Announcement Bar or Pop Up
Don’t expect people to go digging for what you’re offering - show them right up front! Adding an “announcement bar” above your site’s regular navigation area or incorporating a pop-up message to your site can help draw attention to the sales, discounts, or coupon codes you’re running at the moment. An announcement bar is great for highlighting temporary messages without the need to edit any of your main content. A pop-up can do the same things but just has a bit more real estate and styling options to really highlight your message. You can include an image, simple text, and a strong call-to-action button or link to really make them effective. Here are some ideas to help use these features to boost sales:
Let people know about sales or promos that you set up (per above)
Share limited offers or coupon codes available to everyone
Link directly to new products or services
Post deadlines to create a sense of urgency
Highlight awards or press about your products or services
Remember that these selling tools are most effective when you don’t always have them turned on. Website visitors are quick to become blind to them and will often just skip right over them after seeing them more than a few times. I suggest turning one or the other on when you have something genuinely important to promote, then turn off for a while and switch things up so that things feel fresh and current to repeat visitors. To access the settings for these tools on your Squarespace site just go to the Marketing tab!
3. Get Strategic with Paid Ads
Paid ads, when done thoughtfully, are a powerful way to promote your products to targeted shoppers. But to make the most of your ad spend, be sure to:
Identify the 1-2 platforms where your audience is most active and focus your efforts there.
Craft compelling creative and messaging tailored specifically to connect with your customers.
Test different audiences, placements etc. and optimize based on performance data. Start small!
Stay up to date on emerging ad formats and features on your chosen platforms. Capitalize on new opportunities early.
Make the most of any promotional ad credits when available.
Use robust analytics to continuously improve campaign performance over time. Set it and forget it is not effective!
With a strategic, test-and-learn approach, paid ads can be an impactful sales driver. Take the time to understand your customers, craft thoughtful messaging, and keep improving based on data. This will set you up for success as you boost website sales.
4. Hit Your Email List
One of the best reasons to have an email list is that it allows you to have direct access to people who have either bought from you in the past or already expressed interest in you and your products or services! It completely takes away the need to depend on social media! There are so many great email tools available to you, especially if you use Squarespace Email Campaigns in conjunction with your Squarespace eCommerce website! This is a topic I’ve written a lot about so I’ll just drop a link to everything tagged “email marketing” so that you can jump in whether you’re just getting started or are already set up and just in need of a few new email marketing ideas.
Bottom Line
There are lots of great built-in tools in Squarespace to help you boost sales and half the battle is just learning about all the resources available to you! My last piece of advice is that even though this post technically implies that you can do all these things TODAY that my real hope is that you factor all of these elements into a longer-term marketing plan that’s not hurried or rushed. Understand how all these things can fit together to support your business and use the metrics and analytics available to you to make changes and adjust as needed. Soon, you’ll have no problem converting all that great website traffic into a steady stream of sales!
