Launching or marketing an online store can be a very difficult task especially if you don’t have the money or the technical know-how to compete with companies that already have a strong online presence.

Some of the biggest challenges online businesses face is getting traffic to their website, increasing their current traffic and converting traffic to sales. But an even greater task than ‘simply’ generating traffic or converting visitors to buyers, is creating a following of loyal or frequent online shoppers. Therefore to grow a successful online store, you have to understand the market which involves taking the right steps, doing the right things and patience.

Growing your online store doesn’t happen overnight, it comes through hard work and dedication, and truck loads of patience.

Tips to grow your online business:

1. Create a User Friendly Site: An important factor is creating a user friendly and attractive website. This does not only make the user stay long on your website, it makes it easy for them to easily navigate your website and make a purchase. The website should be properly aligned and categories and sub categories should be properly arranged and easy to navigate. The process of registration should not be cumbersome and you should provide multiple payment options to ease their payment stress.

2. Use Social Media: Social media has definitely come to stay, this is one of the best tools to increase traffic, build your brand and interact with your customers. For effective use of social media, you have to be interactive, consistent in your posts, use clear images when posting links, add social media share buttons to your website, run social media campaigns and/or treasure hunts to reward loyal customers.

3. Good Content/Improve your SEO: Search Engine Optimization is one of the greatest tools of any successful online business. It involves using the right keywords and descriptions on your web pages. Search engine optimization helps improve your search ranking when people search for products or services relating to yours online. Good content on the other hand means a nice title, good descriptions and clear images (showing different sides and angles of the product) which give your customers a good understanding of the product.

4. Great customer service: Good customer service is determined by the ways you respond to their queries, your ability to resolve issues professionally and within a reasonable time-frame, being helpful and kind and above all it’s all about making your customers feel welcome and at ‘at home’ when they visit you store.

5. Build a Trusted Brand: Building a trusted brand is also one factor in building a successful online store. It involves selling quality products, having a good return policy, fast, effective and efficient shipping and delivery, good customer service and long term quality service delivery.

6. Give coupons and discounts: Make it a good habit of giving out discount coupons and vouchers on all products purchased and also running special promotions at specific periods.

7. Competitive pricing: When it comes to shopping, the number one factor every customer wants is good pricing which involves making your prices very competitive compared to your competitors’. It should also be a good practice to monitor your competitors wisely.

8. Price Comparison Sites: Price comparison sites is another great tool for increasing traffic to your website; it increases your brand visibility, makes it more trusted and a great way to market products on your website. A price comparison sites allow buyers to compare your products with that of your competitors.



Follow these simple but efficient tips and watch you Online Store grow and grow and grow…

Source - http://blog.pricecheck.com.ng/2013/12/tips-for-growing-your-online-business/

Yeah very informative, but will blog still do the same work as a website?