Successful Online Sales: The Secret to Selling on the Web

Online shopping basics haven't changed much over time - a list of categories, details for each product and a 'shopping basket'. So why is making it successful so difficult?

In years of creating online stores, we've lost track of the number of retailers that have said "I've tried selling online, but it doesn't really work for me". Intriguingly, in the same time period, we've helped many clients sell online and it's always worked out.

So what's the difference between success and failure? Here's where we crack out the cliché: you get out what you put in. Unsurprising, perhaps, but half-hearted online selling is a common stumbling block for many businesses that give the Amazon thing a try.

High street retailers know that sales depend on the location of their stores, the presentation of their products and the service delivered by staff. A friendly well-lit store on a busy street will always outperform a dusty outlet that's hidden down an alley.

Unfortunately online stores are not always viewed in the same light. Off-the-shelf software makes selling widgets via the web so easy that business owners often just 'have a bash' to see how things go. It's usually bad. WhatYouSeeIsWhatYouGet (WYSIWYG) text editors may give you the ability to edit your own website, but they are the start of a slippery slope. Soon content becomes confusing and amateurish, product photos are of poor quality and navigation is inconsistent, bordering on useless.

In fact, unless products are priced without a margin, no-one will shop at such stores. The company's reputation will suffer, and the experiment will be written off as a failure.

But enough of such gloom. You're probably reading this because it's titled 'The Secret to Selling on the Web' and so, without further ado, here it is:

"Treat your online store as a high street store."

That's it!?

That's it. But we're not going to leave you there. The rest of the article covers what treating your online store as a high street store actually means for attracting shoppers, impressing them and making sales.

Done right, you will generate income and reduce your costs. You'll even get more people walking in to your high street premises (if, of course, you have any!). We know because we've made it happen, again and again.

Attracting shoppers

Why is Oxford Street the UK's premier shopping street when it's hated by all who have walked it? Because being in the middle of London means lots of people, which means lots of shops.

The online equivalent of Oxford Street is Google. Recent research suggests that most purchasing decisions - whatever they're for - start with an internet search. These searches are probably for something like 'digital cameras'; note that the keywords used aren't the name of a store, but the category of product required. How do you make your company stand out? Here are some ideas.

Content: A high search ranking for generic keywords is essential, and essential to this is content. When Google scans a site, it catalogues written content. When other people link to you, it's because your site has something interesting that they want their readers to see. Both factors result in higher search rankings, which result in more visitors and, of course, more sales. So, get writing content. Whether it relates directly to your company, your products, or is simply a general guide on, say, the season's fashions, get it up there.

Online advertising: You can also advertise on search engines, and we recommend it. Google is the new Yellow Pages and a well-placed ad (such as Google Adwords) can do wonders for the traffic to your website (and can even have a profound effect on telephone and walk-in business). Indeed, if you wish to get serious about selling online, we recommend you spend as much on online ads as you did on the store itself - every year.

Feeds: Internet shoppers increasingly use price-comparison sites to find what they're looking for. So getting your products on the main price aggregating sites (such as Google Products, Kelkoo and PriceRunner) is essential, and in some cases, free. Oddly, price comparison sites aren't just about price. They're about finding specific products without having to trawl hundreds of possible sites. By providing 'feeds' of information (i.e. your product catalogue) to these sites you can ensure your products are seen by the people that are searching specifically for them.

Any of the above will help you attract more customers; applying them together will all but ensure it. Your next challenge is to make the most of all that virtual footfall.

Turning shoppers into customers

There are two types of internet shoppers. Those that need help in selecting the right product and those that know exactly what they're looking for. Satisfying both types can be tricky, as you must 'add value' to both types of shopping experience to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Good high street stores present their products effectively, using attractive displays and sympathetic lighting. Big chains are getting better and better at showcasing their products and the same goes for online stores. We're not suggesting that every web store must be the online equivalent of Harrods, but at the least it has to look professional; your customers will also shop at Amazon and there's no need for the comparison to be unfavourable.

Image: Your shop should look good - as with books and their covers, people judge businesses by their websites. Keep your store's image fresh and elegant. Provide product details that go beyond the manufacturer's specs. Ensure images are consistent, high quality and have a "click here to enlarge" version available.

Navigation: Whether they have a target in mind or just want to browse, people need to be able to get around your store quickly and easily. A search facility should help those who already know what they're looking for while clear and intuitive navigation will assist the others in finding their way around.

Stay on the customer's agenda: It's tempting to think that the more you show people the more they are likely to buy. Unfortunately not. Make it easy for customers to find what they're looking for and they may hang around to buy something else; make it hard and they'll leave. Even Ikea's website doesn't make you trawl through the whole shop.

Help with the buying decision: Your site can provide 'walk-throughs' for people who can't make their minds up, providing an online equivalent of the in-store assistant. Using buying guides to explain product terminology, whether bicycles or bedsteads, is a good start. You can also address the different reasons customers have for buying from you: are they looking for a style statement or comfort and what would you recommend in each case?

Cross-sell: Unobtrusively, of course. When products go well together, group them on one page. John Lewis do it with clothing - selling outfits rather than items; Ocado do it with food - selling recipes rather than ingredients; and we do it with our famous Tripp Trapp pages - making Back in Action the biggest seller of Tripp Trapps in the world!

So, the customer wants to buy your product! Don't breathe that sigh of relief just yet - there's still plenty of opportunity to lose the sale.

Closing the sale

Have you ever gone to the tills in a high street store and been told to 'open an account' before you buy? Is there ever a packing charge that isn't revealed until you hand your details over? You'd most likely walk out.

While you can't see internet shoppers walking away, it happens; people claim an incredible variety of reasons for giving up just before purchase, and only one is the price. If you make it easy for potential customers to spend money, they will, but if the checkout process is difficult they'll go elsewhere (think queues in sandwich shops).

To maximise sales you need to minimise the 'leaky pipe' effect: where loads of potential customers go in at one end, but relatively few actual customers come out at the other. It's not rocket science - once people have started to buy, they want to finish - you just need to make sure they don't have a reason for dropping out.

Availability: It might not make a sale, but it could definitely break one. If customers can't find out whether you have the product they'd like in stock or how long it will take to reach their door, they might as well not be there.

Delivery: Give customers a choice of delivery dates, and make the costs clear up front; having both quick and low-cost delivery options will make sure all tastes are catered for. Of course, if you can offer next day delivery for free, so much the better!

Streamline the purchase process: Giving customers the choice of whether to open an account will remove a big obstacle for some people. If using third-party checkout systems, ensure they integrate smoothly. Every click counts.

Price: There's no getting away from the fact that price does matter, particularly on the internet where comparisons are easy. However, although your prices will need to be broadly competitive, adding value to the shopping experience will attract both new and repeat customers and mitigate any premiums you have. Don't, by the way, think that offering a popular product at a low price to attract custom through the search engines will lead to sales of other products at better margins. This is a fallacy, unless you're Tesco.

So, we've covered attracting shoppers, making them customers and closing the sale. There are a lot of parallels with high street shopping and, if you're in the retail business already, the lessons are the same: it's about understanding the psychology of customers' buying processes and designing your approach accordingly.

Technology

There are a few other - more geeky - aspects of online shopping worth covering here. If you're not technologically minded, skip ahead now.

Accessibility - Make your site accessible. This doesn't only mean ensuring users with disabilities can read it (a legal requirement), but also includes users with varying standards of computers and software. For example, at the time of writing, 25% of users have a screen that is only 800 pixels wide (...that's small!). Making your website wider than this is like putting ceilings in a showroom at 5'6".

Security - Strong security is essential for your sake as much as your customers'. Don't overlook the perception of security, though. If a potential purchaser doesn't feel your site is trustworthy they will not buy, no matter the reality. Ensure people never have to wonder whether their transaction is encrypted and ensure any third-party payment processing looks trustworthy by integrating it seamlessly with your checkout process.

URLs - The text in the address bar at the top of a web browser; URLs have an important effect on search engine rankings and ease of use. Use plain text, such as www.dianamaynard.com/jewellery/stone/ruby, rather than 'unfriendly URLs' (obscure combinations of characters) that mean both your visitors and Google have no idea where they are.

Headings - In web design, these are the <H1>, <H2>, <H3>, etc tags. It sounds simple, and it is: structuring your page using headings will get you a higher search ranking.

Metadata - Not only does good metadata (such as page titles and alternative image text) boost your search ranking, it also ensures that your site is accessible to everyone. Make it descriptive and relevant to each individual page or image.

Keyword Density - The terms your visitors enter in to search engines when they're trying to find the products that you sell are keywords. Make sure you use them liberally in your site and you'll maximise your chances of a good ranking.

Site Maps - The major search engines allow site owners to submit maps of their sites in XML format (such as Google SiteMaps). This allows the search engine to scan every bit of the site and enables it to provide more relevant information on the results page.

XHTML 1.0 Strict - If you're starting a new website, make sure it's Strict XHTML. This means it complies to the W3C's standards for web programming. There are lots of really good reasons for doing this - the biggest being that Google will find it easier to read (and therefore list) your site.

Adobe Flash - It's the icing, not the cake. It sweets the overall experiences and can do wonders for aesthetics. However, just as no-one wants a cake made entirely of icing, it's best to steer clear of Flash-only sites and avoid using it for the navigation; it can cause all sorts of problems. Also, curb the temptation to have a 'click here to see our non-flash site' option, as it's very easy to end up with inconsistent and out-of-date information running on parallel sites. The very need for a dual site acknowledges the limits of the technology!

In summary

People are looking for the products you sell every day and most of them start their search on the internet. By having a web presence, you make it possible for them to find you. By having a web store you can make sales directly, reaching a much wider audience and growing your business.

If you're going to sell online, do it well. Treat your online store with the same care and attention as you would high street premises and the sales will flow in. Following the concepts in this article has led to much success for our clients. We hope it helps you.

Search Engine Optimisation is Dead. Long Live High Standards!

Have you ever come across something like the following in a web design pitch?

Website design: £15,000
Search Engine Optimisation: £2,000

What's going on here? Fifteen thousand pounds on a website, and 'search engine optimisation' costs two grand more? What is it, and why break it out as a line item?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) refers to any activity designed to get a website highly placed in the list of results returned by search engines such as Google. It gets broken out as a line item because it's possible to sneakily add to the overall cost by doing so, thanks to the mysticism that surrounds this dark art of the internet.

This article is about how you can make the most of search engines through good design. The idea is to build understanding by explaining the search engines' perspective, the types of SEO and what it means for you. Our fundamental point is that search engine optimisation is not something to be done apart from web design, it should be included as standard.

The site owners' perspective

Everybody wants to be top of the search engines' rankings, for obvious reasons. One of our clients, Back in Action, is there for the keywords 'back in action' and also for many of their products, such as the Tripp Trapp. This is very pleasing, but - of course - we'd like them there for all of their products.

The ideal position is number one, but failing that, being 'above the fold' or even just on the first page will do. Above the fold refers to the area of a web page that can be viewed without scrolling down. Fail to list here, and the number of users that click on your link drops dramatically.

The users' perspective

Of course, there can be only one winner, and only ten or so sites can be on the first page. Given that, all of the people searching want those top-ranked links to be the ones they need. They need the search engine to turn their badly spelt, badly constructed queries in to useful results.

The search engines' perspective

Back in the day - in the years leading up to the dot-com bust in 2000 - everyone was developing search engines. Yahoo! still had actual people looking at the sites, but Altavista led the pack; whether it was ever so many tiny elves performing the magic, or simply some clever code, they turned those gobbledegook queries into useful links better than anyone else.

Then came Google. They'd been around for a while, waiting in the wings and refining their search technology. Suddenly, though, they were providing the most relevant results. The rest is history: in a remarkably short space of time, almost everyone was using their service, leaving AltaVista and the others floundering. And that's the way it's stayed.

Don't think Google are resting on their laurels, though. They know it was great search results that got them where they are and they know that their crown could be stolen; it's pretty easy for web users to switch, as Altavista found.

The upshot is that Google invests a huge amount of effort in staying ahead, and all the others - most notably Yahoo! and Microsoft - expend a huge amount of energy in catching up. All of them want to provide links to sites that users will find useful. However, as the sites that practice search engine optimisation most aggressively are not necessarily the most useful (quite the opposite, usually), the search engines must actively fight some of the most common optimisation methods.

About search engine optimisation

Search engine optimisation is a broad church, covering everything from designing a site so that search engines can scan it easily, to outright trickery. The former - known as 'white hat SEO' - is desirable and good, while the latter - 'black hat' - is evil and wrong. This article is about white hat, but let's take a brief detour and look at a famous example of black hat; the practice of 'Google-bombing', which was briefly popular until Google took steps to prevent it.

Google-bombing took advantage of Google's 'PageRank' software, which - according to the company - reflects "the uniquely democratic nature of the web". It ranks web pages according to how many other pages link to them, the assumption being that if a page links to another page, there must be something at the other page worth reading. And a good assumption it was; it got Sergey Brin and Larry Page, Google's founders, a masters degree from Stanford (they're on leave from their doctorates) and several billion dollars each. Not to mention the Google Jet.

Early versions of PageRank were pretty simple and, because no-one had done anything like it on a large scale before, worked pretty well. But PageRank made SEO popular; people discovered that by creating networks of sites and links, they could not only convince Google to rank a particular site highly, but also specify the search terms that would trigger this result.

This was no good for Google, because sites would appear high in their results not because they were good matches for a user's search, but because the technology had been tricked. They knew that if this happened too much, people wouldn't be able to find what they were looking for and might desert. So, although PageRank still exists, it is now enhanced and complemented by many other techniques that prevent gaming of the system as best Google knows how.

Why Black Hat SEO is a short term solution

It's clear that staying ahead of SEO techniques that attempt to fool the system is of paramount importance to all search engines. The optimisers are determined to get their sites artificially high in the rankings while the search engines are determined to preserve the quality of their results. It's a race between the two groups to either exploit or engineer out loopholes.

The reason that black hat techniques are often short term solutions is because the search engines do not simply close the loopholes, they punish those who've been trying to squeeze through them. They do this by pushing such sites down the listing, or simply delisting them altogether. It can happen to the biggest - in 2006, BMW was banned by Google for nefarious search engine optimisation.

We hear many reports of our clients being approached by companies that offer to boost their search engine ranking and always advise them to decline the offer. These companies are scoundrels and charlatans; they'll use black hat techniques and although the site will rocket up the rankings for a couple of days, it's likely to be banned soon after.

How to be one of the good guys

It's quite simple really: you should optimise for people, not search engines and you should do as standard, not in retrospect. Because Google and the like want to provide their users with the best search results, they increasingly read web pages like actual human beings do. This means that all those old tricks, like dense blocks of keywords that are hidden from view (by being the same colour as the background, for example) are out. These old-school techniques are less effective than ever and can get you blacklisted.

So what's in?

WEB STANDARDS. We're putting them first for a reason. Modern web pages are coded using XHTML and CSS and using other technologies is counterproductive. Building to standards separates content (the XHTML) from formatting (the CSS), making it extremely easy for search engines to read the useful stuff that's on your site. Old techniques such as frames will confuse the search engine 'spiders' that catalogue sites.

Once you're building your website using web standards, the next fundamental aspect is the navigation. Users rely on clear, efficient navigation to get around a site, as do search engines. The most common mistake made with navigation is inconsistency: make sure you have top level categories that cover all of the content in your site, and make sure you display them on EVERY page. The navigation sections of the screen should not significantly change as a user moves through the site.

To make the most of consistent navigation, it should be built from text links rather than images. Text links can be read by any browser and any search engine, whereas image links are less effective. Although image links can be attractive if implemented well, bear in mind that good navigation forms the backbone of your site and has quite an effect on search engine results. If you really need to use images as navigation, investigate CSS and 'image replacement' tricks that use hidden text to ensure the site remains easily catalogued and is accessible.

Accessibility is worthwhile (and a legal requirement) in its own right, but less well known is that the same techniques help ensure your site has prominence in search results. Web accessibility is largely geared towards ensuring that users with visual impairment can access sites and those that meet high standards of accessibility can even be used by people who are completely blind thanks to 'screen readers'. These are web browsers that read the text of web pages aloud and accessibility standards require a set of techniques that ensure they can do so without difficulty. These techniques apply to the way in which navigation works, each page is laid out and also to individual elements, such as images. Of course, following accessibility guidelines that make it easier for screen readers to format the page as text will translate well to search engine spiders, which essentially do the same thing.

Be hesitant in using any technology that requires third party software or 'plug-ins', such as PDF files and Flash. In the former case, CSS can be used to format pages for printing, avoiding PDFs that are harder to index and less attractive to people when they appear in the search results. Flash is almost always a real hindrance to search engines; use it only for decorative purposes and even then very sparingly.

Earlier in this article, we mentioned PageRank - Google's search technique that uses the number of links to a site as an indicator of its relevance. Although this technique is complemented by many others, it remains important. If you can get links to your homepage on other sites it can be a significant boost to traffic. When placing the links, do not use phrases like 'for ABC Ltd's wonderful products, click here' as this associates the words 'click here' with the link. Instead, use something like 'click here for ABC Ltd's wonderful products', which will associate 'ABC Ltd' and 'wonderful products' with your site.

These kind of associations are also very important. Gone are the days when you could simple rely on big, hidden lists of keywords. The search engines now search for keywords in context, which means using them in titles and headings (use the <title> and <h1>, <h2>, etc. tags in XHTML). As an example, make sure that the title of each page - which appears at the top title bar of the browser window - reflects the content of that page, rather than just being a site-wide piece of information such as your company name.

Last, but most definitely not least, is the content itself. As mentioned in our guide to successful online sales, great content is hugely beneficial to your search engine ranking. Whatever you can write about, do so. If you can give a useful overview of the area you specialise in, or perhaps a product guide, it will give the search engine spider something to crawl over and provides much more text, increasing your chance of matching what a Google user is looking for.

Think about how people search for things on the internet. What phrases do they put in to Google. For example, when searching for a new camera, do they type 'Canon Digital IXUS 800', or 'Digital Cameras'? It's overwhelmingly the latter; in fact an amazing number of people will use natural language searches, for example 'where can I buy a digital camera?' So, even if you sell the IXUS 800, ensure your page for it contains the keywords 'digital' and 'cameras' and somewhere on you site you write something like 'If you're asking yourself "where can I buy a digital camera?”, you've come to the right place!' You get the idea: good content is becoming ever more important to search engines. It is, after all, what people actually want.

In summary

Being highly placed in search engine results is critical if you want people to find your website. If you're running a business online, it can help you attract more visitors and - ultimately - customers. Optimise for people, make your site accessible and write great content. Resist the temptation to trick search engines; it won't last and might get you banned.

Although there isn't room to include all the detail here, we've covered design fundamentals that will make your site search engine friendly. Implementing them will be a great start; before long you'll find your site rising up the rankings. Just remember: 'Search Engine Optimisation' isn't an option or an add-on; it should come as standard!

Can your online store do this?

Are you looking to start a web store or take your existing business online? Unless you've the time, patience and technical know-how to build your own web store, you'll also be looking for an ecommerce provider or software that does the hard work for you.

We've already written on the general subject - Successful Online Sales - but this article's a little more detailed. It's about the factors that make a difference in online sales; the details that will attract shoppers, turn them into customers and close the sale. In particular, it lists features that you should ensure your ecommerce solution provides.

What we say here is particularly relevant if you're either planning to move your offline business online, or open an online shop in addition to your physical premises. It's important to ensure the things that make your high street stores successful make the transition to the internet. These characteristics make the difference between you and your competitors and losing them en-route is easy.

Customers enjoy shopping in store because of personal service and the opportunity to touch the products. Of course, you can't replicate these online, but you want to get as close as possible. Can the ecommerce software you're looking at do the following?

Make the most of your product details

Every web store has product detail pages, which makes them seem deceptively simple. However, many detail pages fail by not catering to the specific requirements of the product being sold.

There are some products you can sell with little description, such as commodities - where each one is just like all the others - or items with no substitutes - where only a Harry Potter DVD will do. There are many other products that need more explanation and specific fields. Clothing comes in different sizes and colours and, were you to go all-out in fashion retailing you'd need a web store that reflects this. If you're selling highly priced furniture, ecommerce software that only allows two lines of description just won't cut it.

The software you use has to allow product details that can answer the questions a customer might ask a salesperson in store. Is it suitable for...? Can it do...? Why should I buy this one?

Product walk-throughs

When an in store customer asks a question that relates to a selection of products, experienced salespeople will recognise the opportunity for a sale. By asking the customer questions and trading off the products' features and benefits based on their answers, a salesperson can reach a specific recommendation. This recommendation will be very powerful, as the customer's own requirements will back it up.

While successful, this process is difficult to transfer online. Can your web store software provide space for asking customers the type of questions a top sales person would? Such questions go beyond product features and get customers to think about benefits. For example, what are they looking for in a mattress; back-care, luxury or image? And what should they do in each scenario? With software that can walk a customer through the buying process you will give them confidence and make more sales.

Fast, effective search

A lovely aspect of shopping in a high street store is being able to ask an assistant to point something out, rather than having to go through all the shelves. Search performs the same function for an online store and, in a world where people are used to Google, it gets used all the time.

The ecommerce solution you choose has to have a high quality search function - one that takes people to product listings, rather than obscure parts of the site, such as press releases. It needs to be able to correct misspelt queries and it needs to do all of the above fast.

Clear and appropriate navigation

Of course, just as in a physical store, there will be some who like to browse. Most likely they will know the type of product they want to buy, but not the model. These people need clear, effective navigation that suits the products you sell. Be aware that some ecommerce solutions offer navigation that cannot be sufficiently customised.

For example, the best stores that sell clothing have an option to navigate by size. This makes sense - each shopper will only be looking for at most a few sizes. Being able to browse only the sizes you are interested in is a huge step forward for usability. So why do so many clothes stores not do this? It's a limitation of their ecommerce software.

Product guides

A product guide helps customers choose among the products you sell. Using clothes as an example again: a product guide might be a run down of the different cuts available. If you sell in-car satellite navigation systems, you could easily and usefully produce a guide to the main features.

The product guide communicates your expert knowledge to the customers and gives them confidence that you're a reputable retailer selling quality products. More than that, it saves them the trouble of going to the next website. A product guide will help customers make up their own mind to buy from you.

Market overviews

More broad than a product guide, a market overview is an explanation of the industry you are operating in. If you're selling clothes, it could be an explanation of the season's trends or a rundown of the different designers you stock. A market overview for headphones might explain differences between the headphones that come with an iPod and expensive replacements.

The market overview helps to orientate customers; it introduces them to what you're selling and communicates why your store is special. It gives customers a reason to visit your site (and re-visit, if you keep it updated). Google loves it, which gets you a high search result ranking and lots of visitors.

Customised home pages

Finally, the first thing a customer sees: the front page is the most important page of your site. It's no coincidence that it's also the page you should put most effort into.

This effort should be focused on customisation that reflects your business, something that a lot of ecommerce solutions don't allow you to do. Does your online store allow you to choose which products appear on the front page of the site? Does it allow you to add custom text and images so that you can run particular promotions?

Although they have invested millions and can appear automated, stores like Tesco and Amazon still have teams of people crafting their front pages by hand, because what customers see first affects what they ultimately buy. Their software allows them to do this.

Breaking the mould

Sales online is the same as sales offline; the challenge is to understand the customers' needs, recommend the most appropriate product and sell to those needs. Each of the features above can break the mould of a normal online shop - they go beyond the standard lists of categories, products and features.

Unless you are in a commodity market, where the product itself doesn't matter so much and the most important thing is low cost, choosing an online store that is not flexible and cannot provide the above will lead to failure.

You're a computer user, and there are web stores out there that you like and some that you don't. When starting your own, don't forget that your experience as a user is a valuable asset. As a user, demand the functionality that you enjoy on other sites.

As a business person, you should look for software or a service that can deliver a customisable shopping experience and will not restrict your sales practices. This may mean avoiding off-the-shelf products and looking for something that is either bespoke or semi-bespoke.

A bespoke option is designed purely for you and never used anywhere else; usually a privilege of the large high street retailers, such as John Lewis, or web behemoths like Amazon.com. The semi-bespoke option is more practicable for smaller businesses; it means having a web development firm create a custom web store on a established platform. You get the best of both worlds: a bespoke interface at a lower price.

And your web store can do anything.