Gridlock - SEO News: 7 Reasons Your Site Isn't Selling

If you've had your site up for some time now and haven't seen many sales, there are a number of reason that could be contributing to it:

1. Your site is too difficult to navigate - The absolute best way to sell your product or service is to have it be obvious what you sell and how to buy it within seconds of a visitor landing on your site. Each click that exists between the visitor coming to your site and the visitor purchasing your service or product, is a step that can turn people away. The cardinal rule of selling on the internet is that people will not spend a lot of time doing anything. Here are some do's and don'ts to help speed up and clarify your site's navigation:

- Entrance pages are a waste of time and add an extra click to the buying process. It doesn't matter how nice your entrance page is, it is doing your business harm. Every entrance page is doing harm to the business that has posted it. There are absolutely no exceptions.
- "Buy now", "Proceed to Checkout" and "Place Order" buttons should be blindingly hard to miss.
- Specials and featured products should be on the very first page that people see when they load your site, along with visible prices and buy now buttons. This captures impulse buyers.
- As much information as possible in as concise a manner as possible for those who spend a little bit more time thinking about their purchases.
- Clear pictures - spend a little bit of money on a pro photographer. It will pay for itself in no time.

2. Lack of payment methods - offer as many payment methods as possible, even if you don't like them. In our current economic climate, most people have their preferred method of payment, be it PayPal, Google Checkout, 2Checkout or just a credit card. Whichever it is, if you don't offer it, you can lose that customer.

3. Your website is not being found - Just putting up a web site is not enough these days. You absolutely must optimize it for the search engines. Pay Per Click can also be a way to make your site visible. The more people you have coming to your site, the more sales you will make. Install some sort of analytics, such as Google Analytics, to see how many people are actually finding your site and from where.

4. Your site content is not written for your customer. Some people get so carried away with search engine optimization that they end up writing copy for their websites that is completely unreadable. The number one rule of search engine optimization is, however, to design and write your site for your customer first. It is important that every last word on your web site be for the benefit of the customer, and not the search engines. The search engines will respond in turn.

5. It is not clear which geographic areas you serve. Countless times I have come across a law firm's web site or a counselor's web site, etc. and I have no idea where they are located. This is bad for the search engines as they won't know where to list you, but it's also bad for your consumer. If they are unsure of whether or not your services or products are offered in their area, they won't stick around very long to find out. This information needs to be on more than just your contact page. If you are a law firm in New York City, you need to be very clear, in titles, headlines, page content, logos, graphics AND your contact page, that you serve New York City. A basic rule with both location and what you offer: if you think it's obvious, make it even more obvious.

6. It is not clear what you sell. Don't use industry jargon, don't beat around the bush and don't expect people to call you or navigate to other pages on your site to find out what it is you're offering. This isn't an M. Night Shyamalan movie, this is business. Be blunt, be clear and again, use the rule: if you think it's obvious, make it even more obvious.

7. The number one killer of all web based sales, is very simply, too many steps. This can take many forms. Some companies force their customers to sign up for an account on their web site in order to make purchases. A popular article called The $300 Million Button makes it very clear why that's a poor decision. Some companies ask for way too much information in their contact forms or purchase forms. If you're buying software that you're going to download, why does the company need to know your mailing address? Do you really need to know my phone number? Do you really need to require we fill out a security question? They don't work anyway, I'm not the only who knows I grew up on Main St. or my first dog's name was Spot. Make all forms that customers need to fill out skin and bones. Only ask for the information you absolutely need. Every text field that needs to be filled out before that person clicks "complete order" is a lost customer, or two, or three.

In short, the absolute best way to sell, sell, sell is to have respect for your web site visitor. Respect their time by not making them have to navigate through 10 pages to make a purchase or sign up for an account just to order one book. Respect their level of knowledge about your industry by not using jargon and technical wording. Respect your customer's sensibility by being clear, to-the-point, obvious and readable. A business website is not a work of art or a medium of personal expression. It is a direct communication with your customer or your client and should say exactly what you would say to them in person or on the phone. The bonus is that when you follow these simple rules, your website automatically becomes search engine friendly and providing there is a demand for your product or service, you should have no problem selling.

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