E-commerce became the primary mode of shopping for many consumers during the pandemic. There are various reasons behind this. First, physical stores were forced to close temporarily, leaving online shopping as the only option for purchasing goods. Then there were concerns over potential exposure to the virus in public spaces that drove people towards the convenience and safety of making purchases from home. Finally, stay-at-home orders and social distancing measures meant that people were spending more time online and looking for ways to entertain themselves and fulfill their needs without leaving their homes.
E-commerce businesses saw a significant increase in sales during this time, with Amazon reporting a 26% rise in revenue in the first quarter of 2020 compared to the previous year. However, it was not just big companies that benefited from the shift toward online shopping. Small businesses also turned to digital platforms to adapt and continue operating during the pandemic. So if you’re running an e-commerce business, generating website traffic should be one of your top priorities. After all, without traffic, you won’t be able to make any sales! Luckily, there are several things you can do to generate more traffic to your e-commerce site. Here are five of the best:
Invest in SEO
If you want people to find your e-commerce site when they’re conducting online searches, then you need to invest in SEO. Search engine optimization is optimizing your website for search engines to rank higher in the search results. The higher your website ranks, the more likely people will click on it. And the more people click on it, the more traffic you’ll generate. Here are three SEO strategies you should implement for your business.
- Conduct keyword research to identify the terms your target audience is searching for and incorporate them into your website’s content, meta tags, and page titles.
- Optimize your website’s loading speed and mobile responsiveness, as these are factors that search engines consider when ranking websites.
- Build quality backlinks by getting other reputable websites to link to yours.
In the long run, SEO is one of the cheapest and most effective ways to drive traffic to your e-commerce site, so invest time and resources into it.
Online Advertising
Another way to increase traffic to your e-commerce site is through online advertising. You have various options for this. Here are some of them.
PPC
Online advertising is filled with great options, but nothing comes close to mass advertising. This kind of mass advertising comes from pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. In PPC, you pay a certain amount every time someone clicks on your ad. One of the most popular platforms for PPC is Google Ads, which allows you to create text, display, and shopping ads that appear on search engine results pages and websites within the Google Display Network.
Influencers
Influencer marketing involves partnering with influencers in your niche with a large social media following. They promote your products to their audience, driving traffic and potential customers to your e-commerce site.
Social Media Marketing
Social media is a great way to generate traffic to your e-commerce site, primarily because billions of people are on various social media platforms. So by promoting your website and products on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, you can reach a large audience and drive them back to your website. Just be sure to post interesting and engaging content so that people will want to click on your links!
Email Marketing
Email marketing is another effective way to generate traffic to your e-commerce site. By sending out regular emails with links to your website, you can keep your business top of mind for potential customers and encourage them to visit your site. Here are five steps to make your email marketing successful:
- Build a targeted email list by gathering email addresses from customers and website visitors.
- Personalize your emails by addressing the recipient by their name and segmenting your list so you can send relevant content to each group.
- Include compelling subject lines to increase the open rate for your emails.
- Test different calls to action and design elements to see what gets the best response from your audience.
- Track and analyze the performance of your campaigns, making adjustments as needed.
Content Marketing
Finally, don’t forget about content marketing! By creating high-quality blog posts, infographics, videos, and other types of content, you can attract attention from potential customers and get them interested in what you offer. Plus, if you include links back to your e-commerce site in your content, you can generate even more traffic!
These are just a few ways to generate more traffic to an e-commerce website. So if you’re looking for ways to increase web traffic, give some of these methods a try!