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"When Will I Start Making Sales??"
 It is a natural expectation of many new site owners that they'll have direct sales from their website relatively soon after going online. While that does occasionally happen for some people, in most situations it is generally a bit more complicated.
Getting sales on any kind of a regular basis requires first & foremost a steady flow of good quality visitor traffic, and that in turn requires the passage of time AND a focused promotion campaign. By "good quality" I mean people who are genuinely interested in what you are doing and have the capability of making a purchase via credit card or check. Kids playing on the computer, for example, does not meet that definition.
It has been my experience that when a client can commit to a well thought-out and focused promotional effort, then at the point where the traffic level is up to about 100 quality visitors per day there is the beginning of sales activity (note these are NOT "hits", but rather, "unique visitors" -- to understand the very important difference, click here).
Let's first consider how visitors arrive at your homepage. When we started on the web, we would always ask customers when they were placing an order with us how they first found our site, and the answer was almost always "I can't remember -- it was one I bookmarked."
That being the case, here is a typical example of how a new visitor finds you:
~ They go to a search service like Google and enter a query;
~ They'll possibly get thousands of results, so if their specific query brings you back on the first 4 or 5 pages, then there's a chance that they'll make their way to your site;
~ If your items are the kind of thing they may want to eventually order, they'll bookmark the homepage;
~ At some point (hours, days, weeks, or months later) they will be ready to make a purchase, so they'll go through their bookmarks and will look at some of the sites that earlier caught their interest;
~ Then if all the forces in the universe are going well, they will take the step towards an order.
While that is admittedly a generalization, if you think about how you use the web when you are looking for an item to buy, you'll see that it often fits the typical pattern.
"All alone am I..."
 
Part of the anxiety that site owners feel about erratic sales activity comes from the fact that their online business exists in a kind of vacuum. In other words, you have no idea whether it is only you going through a slow time, or is it everyone in your field? When you have a realworld shop you can look outside and see customers moving in and out of other establishments; if you are an artist doing shows you can look around you and gauge the level of sales activity. But on the web, it's just you and your machine.
So how can you explain the root cause(s) of slow sales?? Listed below are some theories about the things that impact the buying behavior of web surfers. Note that this is simply a broad overview -- you'll see the formation of your own distinct traffic/sales patterns the longer you are on the WWW:
[1] Is your website built in a way which encourages your visitors to do business with you?
This is a very BIG deal, so don't overlook the possibility that your own site is in fact the problem! Before you go any further, see if it meets this fundamental ecommerce checklist.
[2] There is an inverse relationship between negative technology related news & online sales -- when bad news goes up, sales go down. This is a curious and important phenomenon -- here is what I mean...
If there are a multitude of news stories day after day about "credit card fraud on the internet" or "new virus wipes out hard drives" or "most computers are infected with spyware" or "identity theft is rampant" or "security hole in Internet Explorer"; etc etc, then there is a palpable fear that is developed in the general populace that it is not safe to use the World Wide Web to send sensitive information (such as credit card numbers).
Even though secure shopping carts are in fact safer to use than cell phones, most people get scared if they see too many of these sort of "the sky is falling" stories. Unfortunately for all of us, the mass media seems to run with this on a regular basis, to the real detriment of most online business.
Here is a suggestion for dealing with those visitor fears: In addition to your online shopping cart, you might also want to consider a toll free number for collecting credit card numbers -- a "1-800" small business account is very low cost (should be under $10 per month). This provides your customers with an attractive alternative ... call your local provider for more information.
[3] There is a very direct correlation between the general state of the economy and internet sales.
By that I specifically refer to the amount of disposable income available to people and also the "consumer confidence" levels. Plus, never underestimate the effects of oil prices and health care costs. If people feel good about the direction of the national economy and have some money left over after paying their essential bills, then they are more inclined to go to the computer and make purchases. If not, they hold off -- just as in the realworld of commerce.
[4] The level of personal credit card debt will affect online sales.
If you sell something that people absolutely need in their daily existence -- gasoline for example -- then the level of consumer personal debt may not impact you. But if you sell something that is generally considered to be non-essential, then people will most likely put that off until their $$ debt drops. This seems to go in cycles so if you start hearing news stories about "credit card debt reaching dangerous levels", then don't be surprised if you experience a downturn shortly thereafter.
[5] Sales activity moves in mysterious ways (and in unpredictable "waves").
This is typical -- you'll do little or nothing for a couple weeks, then all at once for no apparent reason you'll get multiple sales in a very short time period from totally unrelated sources. Artists who exhibit at shows see this all the time -- being very busy for 45 minutes, followed by total idleness for 2 hours. It is difficult to explain why these sort of activity patterns take place, but it happens so often it cannot be denied.
[6] Sales are greater during certain seasons for many businesses.
From what I have seen, the "indoor weather" periods mean more traffic, which I assume is because working people tend to spend more time in the house, where they use the computer more often.
Conversely, the "good weather" months may actually result in somewhat lower traffic/sales activity (depending on what you sell), perhaps due to people being outside doing things with friends and family. Our own highest sales activity is in the holiday season (gift buying) and during most of the winter; FYI, the highest visitor traffic on a daily basis is between the hours of 11am and 2pm -- during people's lunch hour at work.
[7] Sales are lower around certain annual dates.
For example, many online businesses should not expect too much to happen in the week(s) before and after Memorial Day, July 4th, & Labor Day because much of the country is on vacation or planning family events. Same is true (for different reasons) around the dreaded April 15th deadline.
[8] Finally... There is the "aggravation factor" inherent to the current state of web surfing.
By that I am referring to spam; unrequested popup windows; ugly irrating banner ads; pages that trap you so you can't use your back button; pages that are not what they pretend to be (when listed in search engine results); pages that try to force you to download plugins if you want to see their content; pages that include coding that locks up your browser so you have to restart your machine; pages filled with gigantic graphics so they take forever to load; etc etc.
People don't want all that nonsense -- it's too frustrating. They want to turn on their computer, visit some pages, enjoy the experience, then sign off. If they are regularly subjected to rude, insulting, malicious, aggravating, or vulgar content during their strolls around the internet, then they are not inclined to use the web as much for enjoyable activities, such as buying the things they like.
When you add up any combination of those various observations you have a situation where the overall level of online sales are likely going to be impacted.
Now here's the good news....
Having said that about the ugly side of the web, it is equally true that there is a lot of great content which can be an enriching & rewarding experience for those interested visitors who stumble upon it. And "interested visitors" can turn into "serious customers" over time. If you can attract those folks to your site, and if they enjoy the visit, then you will stand to benefit.
More good news is the focus being put on cleaning up the surfing experience by the big software/internet companies.  It is clear that they have made the elimination of spam a top priority; plus, more and more programs are including user friendly features such as "popup window killers" and spyware blockers. We forget sometimes that this is still a very new technology -- equivalent perhaps to TV in the 1950's -- so it's just a matter of time before many of the more egregious aspects are brought under better control by the major powers in the digital communications field.
And the credit card companies too are developing e-commerce models that could make any kind of fraud very difficult, so again, the day will come when customers will not have a second thought when buying online.
To sum it all up, here's our advice: be patient & be determined to promote your site as best you can in terms of your time and money -- it is that dedication which will pay off in the long run. To assist you with that effort, we've put together some traffic/sales building suggestions that you may find useful. If you need any help with any of this, please let us know...
~ Steve Reynolds / Ann Contois
ClassicWebsiteDesign.com
· If you are not making sales and believe the reason may be your current site design, please contact us to discuss a makeover ·
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.
~ Albert Schweitzer
Contois Reynolds Design Studio · Ann Contois & Steve Reynolds
1501 Trace Creek Road · Hamlin, West Virginia 25523 · 304.824.5651 ·
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