Optimize Your Website

Studies have shown that e-commerce retailers have only 8 – 12 seconds to fully engage visitors and convert them to sales. The biggest challenge in e-commerce conversion lies in creating an effective landing page (usually the homepage of your website) that will entice visitors to click further into the site. The website templates that Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., provides free of charge to affiliates employ successful marketing concepts, but we encourage you to customize your site to make it your own. And, of course, you're always welcome to develop your own site.

Here are five important marketing principles that should be present on your landing page:

1. Present a clear call-to-action message that is professional and makes sense.
2. Be specific about what you're offering. Don't simply provide a generic description of your products or services. Include customer reviews and satisfaction guarantees. Your marketing copy should answer the following questions:
• Why should a customer buy this product from you?
• What differentiates you from your competitors?
• How do your prices compare to your competitors'?
• Are you offering any discounts or promotions?
• What makes your product(s) the best?
• Who needs your product(s)?
• Where (geographically) is the product available?
3. Present your information with the utmost professionalism. Organize the page so that the eye is drawn to individual items and not to large chunks of text which might deter visitors from browsing further. Above all, avoid spelling, punctuation, and grammatical errors; these are prime indicators of a scam in the e-commerce world!
4. Be consistent. Branding is important in building credibility. Make sure your logo is visible on every page, and use fonts, color schemes, and other design elements uniformly.
5. Make sure visitors do not need to scroll around your site to find the "register" and "login" links. The main message, promotions, news, and images that will prompt customers to click the links need to be complete, concise, and readily apparent. Users do not want to search for these things; if they don't find them immediately, they may abandon your site.

Presenting a meaningful and professional image from the first interaction will help you to convert the visitors to your site into customers. Use the tips above to optimize your message, build a relationship with visitors, and successfully connect them with the products and information that they need.