Increasing online sales is primary goal countless companies, large and small.

Whether you run a mom-and-pop retail business or work for a massive online commerce giant like Amazon, increasing sales through online channels looks much easier than it actually is.

Fortunately, there are dozens of ways you can make it happen more online sales, many of which you can apply immediately.

Some of these tips focus on specific strategies you can implement, while others are more general.

In this article, we'll look at 11 such strategies, so whether you sell physical goods or run a service-based business, here are 11 practical techniques you can use to boost your online sales performance.

1. Be honest in your sales pitch

This may seem painfully obvious, but it's amazing how many sites write checks that their products can't cash.

Not only is honesty in your sales pitch crucial to your business's reputation, it's also encouraging trust into your brand.

Don't make claims you can't back up and don't use hyperbole lightly - today's consumers are hypersensitive to marketing and that's why be honest, direct and accessible in all its sales copies, from the homepage to the newsletter campaigns.

This principle also applies to how you position yourself as a company.

Have you ever come across a site that is obviously run by one or two people, so it's a small business, but the texts are for a multinational company?

This approach not only makes yes you look stupid, bigger it damages credibility of your brand.

If you are a small company, be proud to it and be honest about it - many consumers turn to smaller businesses precisely because of the more individualized, personal service they can offer.

Don't try to be something you're not.

2. Get more ad clicks

If you're selling stuff online, ad plugins are no easy feat – this feature (also available in to AdWords in Bing) allows you to increase the reach of your ad with more places to click. And it doesn't cost more!

And it increases the click-through rate of your ad! Amazing, isn't it?

3. Show testimonials and evidence of trust

In today's social media environment, customer feedback they have never been more important.

Fortunately, this means that your satisfied customers can provide you with one of the most valuable weapons in your arsenal – testimonials.

Groups of satisfied customers are considerable more influential even from the best written sales copy so make sure you include great testimonials and reviews from your loyal customers and admirers of your brand spreading the word how wonderful you are.

They can appear on your product pages, landing pages, pricing page, even your homepage.

Similarly, including proof of trust can be great way to increase online sales, because it creates a more favorable perception of your brand in the eyes of potential clients and can prevent prevent scratching and hesitation.

If your business has any professional credentials (even something as basic as a Bureau of Commerce certification or membership in your local chamber of commerce), put these credentials prominently and "secure" your website.

If you have an impressive list of satisfied clients, make sure your new, potential clients know about it.

4. Create a sense of urgency

It's important to be honest and transparent about who you are and what you do, but there's no rule against creating a sense of urgency to convince prospects to buy from you right now.

Many consumers they react positively to incentives that create a sense of urgency, from time-sensitive special offers to limited-edition products.

While the ways in which you can achieve this are as varied as the products you can buy online, some strategies can be more efficient from others.

For example, if you don't (or can't) make a limited-edition product to attract potential customers, you might be able to offer a financial incentive to customers who commit immediately, such as free shipping or a discount.

U to AdWords you can use ad customizers to show a countdown for a seasonal offer or limited sale:

However you do it, creating a sense of urgency is a great way Yes increase your online sales.

5. Offer a money-back guarantee

Often, one of the most powerful factors in a consumer's decision not to buy something is risk aversion - desire to avoid potential loss.

In most cases, this perceived risk is financial.

Why should someone buy your products?

What if they don't work or the customer doesn't like them?

Even small purchases can be carried risk from "buyer's remorse," so overcome this objection from the start by offering a money-back guarantee.

The more risk you remove from a potential client's decision, the they are more likely to buy from you, so remove anything that might deter potential customers from buying.

6. Offer fewer choices

For many companies, this concept is simply unimaginable.

Offering more products is sure to be a great way to increase sales! Well, not necessarily.

In fact, in many cases, a greater variety of choices can lead to indecision by the potential client, which in turn results in lost sales.

If you have a wide range of products, consider structuring your site or product pages in a way that offers visitors as few choices as possible.

This reduces the possibility of the visitor being overwhelmed by dozens of different products.

This can be achieved by grouping your products into increasingly narrow categories (an added bonus that offers visitors greater ease in finding exactly what they're looking for), or you could place more emphasis on fewer individual products.

Either way, remember that the more choices you provide, the more likely the customer will be refuse and go somewhere else simply because he is overwhelmed with choices, confused and indecisive.

7. Target the Look-a-like audience at Facebook

One of the best ways to increase your online sales is to use the data you have about your existing customers dand find people like them.

Facebook allows you to do this through similar audience targeting.

Lookalike audiences on Facebook are essentially users on Facebook that share characteristics and behaviors with customers in your database.

You upload your data to Facebook, which then cross-references its own data (and information from third-party data brokers) to create matches based on the criteria you specify.

You can also use tracking pixels and data from app installs to help you create lookalike audiences.

This is a great way to make your existing customer data work for you, because you effectively enables to greatly expand your reach with minimal effort and use highly targeted ads to attract Facebook users who are very similar to your existing customers.

8. Reduce unnecessary steps in the checkout process

According to Business Insider, about $4 trillion worth of online goods were left in incomplete baskets last year alone, 63% of which are potentially recoverable.

This is a truly staggering statistic and one that reveals just how crucial it is to complete the checkout process.

Similar to the user experience above, reducing friction in the checkout process can have an incredible impact on your conversion rates.

Just as you should provide your visitors with as much as possible easier to use and navigating your website, you should make it easy for them to actually buy what you're selling.

Remove any unnecessary steps in the checkout process that could deter a potential customer from converting.

Skip unnecessary fields in forms.

Don't delay their shopping time and make them start all over again because it is complicated and inexhaustible.

You lose for that matter.

9. Provide as many payment options as possible

OK, so far you've had the option to pay by card.

What about payments from Google wallet? Or Apple Pay?

Consumers have more choices than ever before about how they actually pay for goods and services, and not everyone likes to use American Express.

By offering multiple payment options, including newer services that are becoming increasingly popular on mobile devices, you make it easy for potential customers to literally give you their money.

Of course, there can be problems with optimizing your website - but it's a great way to increase your online sales, especially if your website has the majority of traffic from mobile devices.

10. Invest in quality product images

There is compelling evidence that well-presented food tastes better than messy dishes.

Considering how much appearance is important relative to how we perceive things (including other people), it stands to reason that investing in quality product photography will have a similar effect on your site visitors.

Regardless of what you're selling, include high-quality images of your products – no tiny thumbnails or low-light shots taken in your warehouse.

Also, be sure to include a wide variety of images.

It might seem like overkill to include shots of your products from every possible angle, but give it a try.

People they like to see how something will look before they buy, especially online.

11. Answer every question and objection in your sales pitch

One of the most dangerous traps where you can fall into when trying to sell online is making assumptions about your potential customers' knowledge of your product, service, or even market.

Many companies mistakenly believe that their customers know more about what they're selling than they actually do, resulting in unanswered questions or complaints that go unaddressed—which can hurt sales.

Consider every question you can think of about your product and answer it in your sales pitch.

Similarly, think about any potential objections your prospects may have to your offer and anticipate and overcome them in your sales pitch.

This may seem impractical, but remember, you're not bombarding prospects with unnecessary information – you're giving them exactly what they need to make a decision.

This approach is also a great exercise in writing tight and concise text.

Only keep your focus on the customer and that how it benefits them, not why your company is so great.

If you want more time to devote to selling and perfecting it, by automating some types of repetitive tasks through digital technologies, contact us. We can help you achieve everything.

source:wordstream