The Internet has become extremely competitive in recent years. New companies and platforms appear on the market almost every day. Online shops are equally popular. Although it is possible to become an owner of e-commerce very quickly, maintaining a profitable website requires a considerable amount of time and resources, as well as tremendous business experience. It is also necessary to know how to gain valuable traffic for an online shop. Why is this factor so important?
Sources of e-commerce traffic
In e-commerce, it is necessary to look at customer behaviour in a slightly different way than in traditional sales. Analysis of sales data, promotion or customer service is of key importance here. Equally crucial is traffic in an online shop because the number of visits directly translates into profit.
In the case of online shops, there are several primary sources of traffic:
1. Organic traffic
One of the main sources of traffic in e-shops at present is the traffic from the Google search engine. To place it on an optimal level, it is necessary to perform systematic activities related to website positioning.
What is important in this case are the actions implemented on the website (i.e. onsite) aimed at the appropriate selection of keywords, the correct creation of meta descriptions, the use of headings and the uniqueness of product descriptions. Working on the factors on the website allows for its better reading by robots and more straightforward navigation, which translates into a higher position in the search engine. We cannot forget about the so-called offsite works, which in turn are aimed at obtaining valuable links to our online shop. Their main source may be a company blog, social media, as well as publications on external and partner websites.
2. Paid traffic
Paid PPC advertising campaigns are another source of e-commerce traffic. It is an easy and relatively inexpensive way to direct traffic to your website. In this billing model, the advertiser pays a fixed amount each time a user clicks on one of his ads. In this way, we can quickly attract people to our shop who are interested in the product range. For this purpose, it is worth to use the promotion by Google Ads or Facebook Ads.
3. Remarketing in an online shop
An equally good idea for generating traffic in an e-shop is remarketing, i.e. actions aimed at re-engaging customers who have already had contact with our shop and can make conversions. Remarketing lists are created based on cookies and user behaviour in the website, application or social media. The operation of remarketing actions is extremely simple – users who have viewed a given product in our online shop and then left the site will see an advertising banner with the previously selected product on other websites. In this way, they are encouraged to return to the e-shop and place an order.
4. Social media
Social media play an increasingly important role in generating traffic for online shops. This is not surprising. More and more people are using them every year, and the reach of the media, combined with the many possibilities of targeting advertisements, gives e-commerce owners a wide field of action.
However, before we start to attract traffic from social media, we need to make a thorough analysis. It is crucial to find platforms on which the recipients of our services are likely to be active and focus our efforts on them.
5. E-mail marketing
In the case of online shops, a good mailing database is a unique and precious resource. After all, the user who entrusts us with his e-mail address gives a clear signal that they are interested in the offer of our online shop. Therefore, it is worth maintaining constant contact with them and sending not only information about new products and promotions but also e-mails with a dedicated discount.
Mailing campaigns are also an ideal source for the use of cross-selling and up-selling techniques which effectively increase sales by presenting products complementary to or of greater value than those already put in the shopping cart.
6. Pricing comparison engines
Every e-commerce owner should be aware that before a customer places an order in their shop, they look for information, compare offers and ask their friends for their opinions. Cooperation with price comparison engines increases the traffic in the shop. It directs valuable traffic to it, as usually people browsing through offers in price comparison engines are already at the final stage of the purchasing process.
7. Communication with customers
Brand recognition and customer approach are equally important in acquiring traffic in an online shop. Neil Patel, the guru of online marketing, has built his business by responding to every comment on his blog. He calculated that by leaving 249 comments, he gained as many as 3973 site visitors, six potential consulting clients and a USD 25,000 public speaking contract.
So, when you interact directly with your clients, you stand out from your competitors. What matters here is authenticity. Mass sending of answers in the same form is not welcome, neither is a complete lack of response.
Today’s customers reach the offer of online shops by various methods. So, anyone who wants to achieve satisfactory profits from e-commerce should remember about multi-channel traffic acquisition.