How to Help Customers Find You Online?

More online shoppers

The interest in online shopping is growing even faster than expected. All of these due to the ongoing situation in the world – we need to stay at home which translates into a bigger number of online transactions.

The percentage of people buying online improved significantly when compared to the previous year. Moreover, we’re more willing to purchase products at foreign online stores. So why are some people still so reluctant when it comes to online shopping? Most of them think it’s crucial to have physical contact with a product before buying it. And who are the persons who don’t purchase online? As many as 43% of them are 50 or older. So who buys online? Mostly young users aged 35-49. We frequently shop online via laptops, smartphones, or tablets.

According to the Polish Economic Institute, the number of active stores on one of the most popular e-commerce platforms has increased by 15 percent since the beginning of the year which means 11 thousand new sellers. The introduction of subsequent changes and restrictions resulted in the opening of new e-commerce stores. It can be said that the ongoing situations convinced numerous people to shop online and had a positive impact on the e-commerce market. However, there’s one more question – how to reach potential customers willing to buy your products?

How to help users find your company online?

According to the research, more and more Internet users are willing to shop online. So how do they prepare for shopping and how can you help them find your company in the online world?

There’s a lot you can do to encourage people to shop in your store, already at the stage when they do the research. People look for information concerning a given item, recommendations, and reviews and then finalize the transaction only after making sure that it’s worth purchasing a given product. So how to make them visit your store? How to help them make the purchasing decision? The possibilities are endless.

Blogging

Consider setting up a company blog where you can publish valuable articles that will make it easier for your website visitors to choose suitable products. If you offer electronics and household appliances, write an entry discussing which washing machine is the best. Make sure that your content is valuable and substantive. If you don’t provide people with pieces of knowledge they expect, you may only discourage them from shopping in your store.

It’s a good idea to ensure that such content is prepared by an experienced person who knows a lot about specific devices. Don’t duplicate texts from other portals. Complement your entries with captivating or surprising information.

Blogging is also precious in terms of SEO. If your entries are somehow related to given products or services, provide appropriate internal links to them. Make the link stand out from the crowd, use italics, bold or colored font to make it visible. The question is – what to do to ensure that users come across your posts? There are a few possibilities.

Definitely, it’s worth doing SEO to make sure that your articles are ranked high in the organic search results. This valuable source of traffic may attract many potential customers. Next, you can take advantage of Google Ads. Allocate a fixed budget for certain activities and redirect users to the blog. Determine your goals and after using the resources assess whether the results meet your expectations. You can also benefit from various social media platforms. If you have a Facebook fan page, share your articles there from time to time. Obviously, you can do the same if you are a group admin on this portal. It can also help you gain traffic and customers.

External guides

If you’ve already published some entries on your company blog, why don’t you benefit from the possibilities offered by other websites? Prepare a few quality texts addressing the same issue. Choose platforms characterized by high traffic and visibility. To check website visibility, use tools like Senuto or Semstorm. The pages you select shouldn’t contain too many sponsored posts. Although greater website popularity means more benefits, it also translates into higher costs. So what are the benefits of guest blogging?

First of all, you can suggest to users how to select the most suitable products. Second of all, your entries can contain product photos and links to your offer which may attract the attention of your readers. Moreover, obtaining quality backlinks and external links have a positive impact on your visibility on Google. Don’t expect too much after providing one link to your page, however, the game is definitely worth the candle. If your articles and tips are marked as valuable by Google robots, it’s very likely that your website visibility and traffic will improve.

Forum activity

Internet forums aren’t as popular as they used to be, however, some of them still enjoy users’ trust, so it’s a good idea to be active there. And we don’t mean spammed websites full of ads but platforms where users discuss various issues. Reaching these users won’t be a piece of cake as some of them are oversensitive. However, acting professionally enables achieving outstanding results.

One of the methods of attracting customers involves setting up a company profile and resolving users’ doubts when they have questions concerning your product range. If you want to create such a company profile, contact forum administrators beforehand to avoid unpleasant situations such as having your activities marked as spam.

If users learn about specific parameters or product qualities thanks to you, it’s very likely that they’ll decide to buy these particular goods at your store. It’s best to stay active on many websites, visit less popular platforms, and answer questions from time to time. Remember that your posts are accessible for many users.

Social media activity

This point is mainly about Facebook. This is where the vast majority of online discussions take place now. Groups on this platform have replaced many forums. It’s hard to find a field that isn’t discussed on a Facebook group. The main advantage of this solution is the possibility to reach people who are potentially interested in your services or products.

You can find groups devoted to cheap airline tickets, reading, or mechanics. Therefore, you can reach the exact users who are willing to benefit from your offer. This may be an effective source of traffic and leads. One more advantage of these groups is the fact that your posts stay there and when other users ask the same questions, admins can refer them to your entries, provided that they’re substantial. There are many groups that have already gathered over 100 thousand users. Reaching them means helping people buy your products or services and attracting their attention.

Video tutorials

Take advantage of the possibilities offered by YouTube to make the decision-making process easier for users and to attract them to your offer. Prepare a clip that explains, step by step, how to perform a given task or select a product. Obviously, this must be a quality video. Redirect users to your store and if you really provide them with valuable information, it’s very likely that they’ll choose your offer.

Remember that users encounter such videos not only when browsing YouTube. Tutorials are often displayed in response to certain Google queries. That’s why your content can reach a wide range of people and facilitate their purchasing decisions.

Brand mentions

Consider using Internet monitoring tools like Brand24 or Sentient. Consequently, you’ll be informed when someone mentions your brand or asks a question. Replying to such mentions or comments quickly may have a positive impact on your company image. Users are usually pleased to receive answers to their questions directly, without having to address brand owners. The above-mentioned tools are effective, unfortunately, using them isn’t free. You can settle for Google Alerts, however, the functionalities of this solution aren’t particularly impressive.

Efficient customer service

When potential customers enter your website, do everything in your power to dispel all their doubts and make them stay there for longer. In this case, efficient customer service is a must. Provide your online shoppers with numerous contact methods – apart from standard forms, consider implementing chats or calls at specific times chosen by the users. Quick and effective help is a method of attracting new customers.

Make sure that your website contains substantive and quality texts as this is a perfect method of attracting users’ interest and encouraging them to make the right purchasing decisions. If you know any other ways of improving online store visibility and approachability, let us know in the comments below!