One of the easiest and lowest hanging fruits on most Affiliate and eCommerce sites are selling a product. That sounds odd, but it’s true. People get so caught up with having to have the newest and coolest things that they forget to look at the basics. Here are some of the things you need to double check and make sure you have done, then try it again and then you can help to move more product, build more sales and create a better user experience.
Images:
1. Clean and clear photo – Make your photos clean, clear and professional. You can easily buy cheap photo kits to feature your products. You also want to make sure everything is uniform and the same size.
2. Multiple angles – If you can, share the photos from all angles of the product, above and underneath. You could also have it being used (if it’s clothing, have a model from all angles.)
3. A shot with a measurement – Make sure you show some form of measurement with the images to let people know how big or small the product actually is. Use rulers, objects like a penny or whatever is a standard size to get your point across.
Copy:
4. Short description – Have a short description that sell the product. Make it short, to the point, bring out the most popular features and have a strong call to action.
5. Long description – Feature all of the aspects, specs and features of the product. Go into how they can use it, why they would want it, etc… This is where you can sell the product with an actually interested reader who may not be sure. Use this to sell them. Use the short description to close someone who already knows they want the product and just needed somewhere to buy it for a reasonable price.
6. Match the tone of the site to the product and make sure it matches what your visitors would like to hear when they are shopping – Some stores use rhymes and others use jargon. Match the copy to the visitors who will actually shop by testing and collecting data and then make it work for them.
7. Build excitement and trust – If you cannot get the person excited about the product or build their trust with your copy, they probably won’t buy from you. If you can get them excited by using high energy words or impulse buy words and colors, you can generate actions. If you build their trust then you can turn those actions into sales.
8. Spark an emotion – This is key. If you are selling things no one would want to buy like a collectible that is brand new, you have to spark an emotion. It could be comfort and security like you do with retro marketing. You could use memories or their love of things like characters, tv shows or somethign they have always wanted like a car to generate a want. Getting someone to react with an emotion is one of the best and easiest ways you can move a product on your site.
Socialize it:
9. Social sharing – Add in social sharing buttons. Seeing that there are active tweets, shares, etc… shows people are on the site, have been on the site and use the site. It could also mean they liked the product and that the person currently on that page isn’t the first one to buy it. It also builds trust to see that the product from that page and that store has been recommended and shared. (Not to mention it can bring you new customers and help with your SEO.)
10. Reviews – Let people leave product reviews. You get more content, your readers get to leave feed back, it builds trust for your site and even bad reviews help to show that people can trust your site and can sometimes increase sales based on honesty.
11. Ratings – User ratings and comments are a great way to increase sales. As long as you can show they are real, your new customers may trust your site and feel more confident in their purchase from you.
Add in trust:
12. Guarantees – If you have a guarantee. Add it on a starburst on the check out button, mention it by the product and show people they have a no risk offer.
13. SSLs – This shows your customers that they are able to pay in a secure place without having to worry as much about theft or having their cards stolen.
14. Phone numbers – A phone number on your site builds trust. It shows an actual person is there and they can get or have support when they need it.
15. Live chat – If you have and use an actual person, it shows the company hires real people and there is someone there to talk to and help them.
16. Physical addresses – By having a physical address, even in the FAQs or customer service section you show that you have a real building, there is a place to make returns and that you actually exist. You aren’t just a random site on the web or some company trying to scam people.
Stopping points and distractions:
17. Cross sells – Cross selling is great because it can add to your AOV. Just make sure you don’t take the person away from buying the product they were there for originally. This can be tricky. Try testing your cross sells and up sells in different parts of the site instead of just on the product pages to see if you can increase conversions and AOV and where your best mix is.
18. Sign in at the checkout vs. quick checkout – This is a no brainer. It can be the same exact process, it just makes the consumer feel like they can check out faster which can easily increase your conversion rates. Make sure if you have a sign in or register, you also have a quick checkout link or button.
There is a lot more you can do and add on, I have a list I use of about 40+ things I look for on product pages, sites and checkout process as my basic checklist. These 18 are enough to give you things to do and work on for more than a month easily. Then once you have implemented and optimized them, test again and think about the new quarter and what changes in traffic could cause an improvement by changing and adding other things to your site. Remember to go back to your basics when you want to sell products online. Show the benefits of the product or service, show the images and ways to use it and make sure you have an easy and trustworthy checkout process for your visitors to use.
