How can improve my education in marketing and sales?

Advice needed for closing sales on my web site

• I'm marketing flavored gourmet coffees, teas, mixes, and similar items, and I want advice on what changes I should make to my web site (e.g., http://www.midnightwest.com/GabbyGoodies/Coffee.html or http://www.midnightwest.com/GabbyGoodies/Tea.html or http://www.midnightwest.com/GabbyGoodies/FallandHolidaySpecials.html) to convert click-throughs to sales. I'm receiving lots of click-throughs by advertising on Google, but I'm not closing the sales. Is there something about my layout or design which is discouraging customers? Is there a problem with my shopping cart that I'm not aware of? How much of a difference would it make if I accepted credit cards instead of relying only on PayPal? Are there sources of marketing advice on the Internet which apply directly to my situation? If so, provide references. [I want more than just a list of marketing books or articles, so please do not answer this question unless you have some marketing insight or expertise that will help me improve my sales.]

• Answer:

  Hi Aubri ~ It's good that you want to personalize your site, and you recognize the importance of being able to take credit cards, so let's get down to what you can do with the design and changes to help turn those visitors into customers. My disclaimer here is that I am not being mean or hypercritical. I am approaching this strictly from resources (which I will cite and link to) about Internet marketing, web design for success, surveys on how to create credibility for yourself and instill trust in your visitors. In my life, when I am not a Google Answers Researcher, I am a web designer, artist and marketing consultant. My livelihood often depends on my clients' online success, so I will employ a certain amount of personal experience in it as well. =========================== Start with the "home page" =========================== What is the purpose of the site? You're talking about the three pages, coffee.html, tea.html and fallandholidayspecials.html - and you *do* get potential customers delivered to those pages, but let's back off a bit and consider the whole site - because this says a lot about *you* and your business. Starting with www.midnightwest.com ... What is the purpose of this site? This may seem apparent to you, but the answer is a lot harder for visitors to answer. As a page downloads, the visitor's eyes are aimed at the "sweet spot" on his monitor (about mid-screen). It is there that he looks to see what the site is about. Is this an information site? An e-commerce site? What is the purpose and what is the site trying to accomplish? It is hard to tell, because: 1. There is a 'welcome' sign. This isn't necessary and accomplishes nothing toward informing your visitor what this site is about. 2. There is an instruction to "choose your destination" ... except there's no real indication what this about, and I have to make at least one click to find out. If a site's purpose is not immediately clear - above the fold - (that's the first screenful of information) - no matter how your visitor gets to your site, the chances are good that he'll click away, never to return. It's interesting that your site has information on * running a home business, * Mystery Company, * Gabby Goodies and * Old Crone stitchery, yet that's no *real* information as to what this site is about - or what its purpose is. There is also no link to the information that creates credibility and builds trust available. This information should be easily accessible from EVERY page on your site. I'll address that below. =========================== GabbyGoodies/Coffee.html =========================== It's pretty easy to figure out this page is about Coffee ... Gabby Goodies coffee. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with Gabby Goodies coffee, and there is nothing there to tell me about the coffee. As a visitor, there is no incentive for me to buy. There is no information about the company or you ... there is no real price incentive, because I can buy coffees locally. There's nothing pulling me in to explore. Coffee drinkers LIKE coffee. It's a rewarding experience, this page should have a graphic of cups of coffee of some sort or of people enjoying coffee and each other's company, not just the little cup you have there. The text and content should invite coffee lovers to look at (and buy) all these great coffees to choose from. There are: 1. two bows which bear no relation to the content there, 2. a drab brown background and 3. sort of a maroon/red typeface, which changes color later, but nothing there makes me want to explore further and nothing makes me want to buy. On some browsers and for some visitors with certain color blindness, the text almost blends into the background. What's missing: 1. Where is your guarantee? What if I don't like your product, can I return it? 2. What ARE your shipping costs if I do order? Where is the link to shipping information? 3. Do you take credit cards? How do I order? 4. Can I call you and ask you about these products? How can I contact you? 5. If I order and give you all this information about me - what do you do with the information? 6. Who are you and why should I buy coffee from you? =========================== GabbyGoodies/Tea.html =========================== This background fights with any content for your visitor's attention - and the background is winning! The graphics are cute, just perfect for a personal website, but they lend nothing to a site and some clash with the background. Describe the teas, entice your visitor with rich text content about that 'perfect cup of tea' ... add graphics that compel your visitors to put themselves in their place, smell the aroma, see the tea set or teapot, hear the 'ping' of a perfect china cup or a mug, if that's their preference. This page does contain has information, but there's nothing here that says "BUY ME!!!!!" And again, there is no information to build your credibility and inspire trust in your visitor. Your top line says "single server package - 40 cents" ... you'll sell one serving? You take micropayments? Do you offer samples? Tea lovers are as enthusiastic about a good cuppa as coffee lovers are about a well-brewed pot of coffee. Rich text context and strong words that appeal to the senses of your customers can get their attention and compel them to buy. Graphics of tea, real teacups, fine china teapots or fun teapots will help. People enjoying tea (and in some cases the 'rituals' of tea) will help them see themselves enjoying your product and help them to make that decision to buy. ========================================= GabbyGoodies/FallandHolidaySpecials.html ========================================= Fall colors are good, but again, you have a background which is good for a personal site, not for business. The acorns are cute, but are you selling acorns? I have no idea what those books are with the white background, and neither will your visitors - there's nothing to explain them and it's distracting to try to figure out just what they mean. Cheesecake/Cheeseball mixes ... why aren't we looking at a real cheesecake that would make your mouth water? Or a cheeseball, cheese knife and crackers to spread it on? Why don't we have descriptives in there that beg your visitor to taste ??? And again, where are the links to all the items your visitor expects to see? ==================== Overall Impression ==================== If you're running a business, you want to present your business in the best professional light. That is not to say your site should be cold and impersonal. This is the perfect type of site - sort of a homey country store feel - in which to interject your own personality. On the other hand, it is also your responsibility as the site owner to understand what your visitor expects and needs in order to build credibility and trust. The right combination not only turns your site's visitors into customers, but converts those customers into repeat business. Just as Rome wasn't built in a day, creating a successful site requires a great deal of work and study to see what works for you and what doesn't - and being able to get rid of what isn't working and try something else. It also means to improve what IS working to make it the best it can be. It often means subscribing to worthwhile information online to learn from the best minds who contribute and help others. Something else to consider: not every store owner is adept at maintaining a website. It may behoove you to hire a designer and/or someone to maintain your site - especially if working on your site requires more time than running a successful business. Just because anyone can put up a website doesn't necessarily mean that they should. Lots of successful business people are terrible web designers - especially for their own business. If you want to actually sell from your website, you have to understand what appeals to your visitor. You design your site FOR your visitor, not for you. Your likes and dislikes are secondary to making your site friendly and usable for your visitor. Your site is pleasant - but it really doesn't look like you're in business to do business. The use of backgrounds usually doesn't work for the simple reason that they compete with content. In other words, get rid of the backgrounds - they distract from your message. If you have a very faint off-white background that isn't noticeable, that's fine. Otherwise, keeping your background light (not stark, glaring white, but a slightly off-white to cut down on the glare), with dark text against it. That is the easiest combination on your visitor's eyes. Graphics should enhance the content, illustrate a point, not look as if they're tossed in "just because". They should also be kept small enough so as not to add to download time for your visitor, and because they are small, should be recognizable so they don't overwhelm textual content. Fonts used should be of a decent size; and as a rule, a sans-serif type face is easier to read. I see you are using Comic Sans, which presents a problem for all those who don't have that font installed. Some browsers consider it a sans-serif font, and others classify it as a 'fancy' font. In any case, you should know that your site doesn't look as you see it in all browsers and your visitors may not be seeing what you intended. I suspect you used the bolded Comic Sans to help your text stand out against the backgrounds. No backgrounds - no reason to use text like that. As a rule, Times New Roman or Times are a good serif font; Arial and Helvetica are a good sans-serif font; and Verdana is a good sans-serif font made specifically for viewing on screen, so long as you don't bold it or make it much larger than about 12 pt. When reading text, after about 440 pixels in width, neck and shoulder muscles come into play, and comfort level drops. While 440 is comfortable, text lines wider become harder to read and retention and comprehension decline. ========================= Building Trust ========================= Some of the simplest ways to build trust are often overlooked. When building your business, remember to include: User-Friendly Design — Design to deliver your information quickly and make it easy to access the information your visitor seeks. Make it easy to order from any location on your site. Include ALL the Information a Buyer Needs — Include important information about the product (such as sizes, colors, etc.), warranties, return policies, etc., and consider them an unbreakable contract with your customer. Establish a Privacy Policy — Sixty percent of online consumers are concerned with privacy issues and the amount of information business collects; eighty percent are concerned about the amount of information the government collects. Establish an easy-to-understand privacy policy and make sure it is available from every page on your site. Regard this as your contract with your customers and never break it. Contact Information — Make it easy to contact you by as many means as possible. The more you can tell about yourself, the more confidence you instill. Answer Those Customer Queries — If by phone, don't put your customers through “on-hold” hell. Don't make them wait to hear from you, either by phone or email. Customer Service — “Serve” is the base word of service. Keep in mind if you don't serve your customer well, he'll go to someone else who will. Adding the following to your site - and including links to them from every page - will help build trust: * About Us -- your chance to let your visitors (think new customers) get to know you * Contact Us -- A very important feature. Give as many ways to get in touch as you can. If you're leery of giving your home address, consider using a 'mail address', like Mailboxes Etc. * Privacy Policy - In detail, tell what information you collect and what you do with it. * Testimonials - As TaxMama said ... they work wonders use real people and link to their websites if they have one. * Shipping Costs - No one likes sticker shock, so include that information on EVERY page from which they can order. * Payment information - let them know what credit cards you take, and other methods of payment, including PayPal, check, etc. * Add to cart, View Cart and checkout - don't make your visitors click around trying to figure out how to pay for what they want. When they are ready to fork over the payment, make sure YOU are ready to take it. ============= Usability ============= Remember that your visitor is there because he wants to be. Don't make him guess how to get around. Navigation should be easy, and your visitor should be able to get to every section of your site from every page. Use text navigation, you get a double bonus! Search engines can follow text navigation, and you're not making your visitor click all over the place (like on graphics, etc.) trying to figure out how to get around. There are two important sources on Usability. One if Jakob Nielsen's useit.com - http://www.useit.com/ and the Bobby site to check your site for usability AND accessibility - http://bobby.watchfire.com/bobby/html/en/index.jsp =================== Methods of Payment =================== If you don't have a merchant account, there are third party processors you can sign up with to offer payment by credit, AND use with Mals-e. You already offer PayPal, but the more ways you offer to pay you, the easier it is for your visitor to do so. A couple that I have seen recommended are 2checkout.com - http://www.2checkout.com and CCnow - http://www.ccnow.com/ Make it easy to do business with you, and you will be surprised how many actually will! ======================= Some resources for you ======================= 1. Site's Purpose What is Your Site's Purpose? - http://www.contentanddesign.com/purpose.htm How to Write for the Web - John Morkes & Jakob Nielsen http://useit.mondosearch.com/cgi-bin/MsmGo.exe?grab_id=5414544&EXTRA_ARG=&host_id=2&page_id=465&query=site+purpose&hiword=SITE+PURPOSE+SITES+PURPOSES+ 2. Text line length Web Style Guide - http://www.webstyleguide.com/type/lines.html Guidelines - http://www.smcc.qld.edu.au/its/org_guidelines/text_layout.htm 3. Usability Usability Studies - The Best Online Font for Older Adults - http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/3W/fontSR.htm Usability News - A comparative font study - http://psychology.wichita.edu/surl/usabilitynews/41/onlinetext.htm 4. Credibility and Trust Consumer WebWatch & Stanford University Study - "How Do People Evaluate a Web Site's Credibility?" - http://www.consumerwebwatch.org/news/report3_credibilityresearch/stanfordPTL_abstract.htm Search strategies - =================== Aubri, the foregoing was mostly from bookmarked sources of marketing information in the form of white papers, marketing studies, market indexes, web design effectiveness, usability and accessibility studies and other information garnered from around the Internet during my regular course of business. Thank you for the opportunity to help with your site and answer this question. I say again, this isn't intended to be unkind, but to explain part of the considerations successful websites use to increase sales. I hope it is of value to you in some way. Kind regards, Serenata