March 18, 1999 Making and Saving Money: getting people to buy

Getting visitors to your site is one part of the puzzle. Gif Girl will be writing about that subject in the coming weeks. What I want to know is what happens when people get to your site? Are you doing all you can to make sure that as many visitors as possible turn into customers? Gif Girl has some easy tips to make that conversion a smooth one.

Like a great pair of shoes, the most important rule in selling is a good fit. The more you choose companies or products that complement the content of your site, the more success you will have. Links to southern comfort cookbooks will do much better on our Tennessee site then, say, links to books about computer languages.

Placement and content are key, as well. Try to weave the links and graphics into the content of your site as much as you can instead of just putting up a banner. Also, the more detailed the link can be - either to a category of products or to specific products themselves - the more effective they usually are. One great way to increase your click-through rate and sales is to write a personal testimonial praising the product or service. If you haven't tried the product, perhaps you can get a testimonial from a friend who has.

Gif Girl has found that using strong selling language encourages people to buy. In our Tennessee site example, you might have a link that says, "Buy books by Tennessee author Cormac MacCarthy" (a great Tennessean author!) that takes a visitor to a page on Barnesandnoble.com listing all of MacCarthy's books. Using language like "Buy it" or "Click here to buy" will do more than increase you sales. It will also let your visitors know what they're getting into before they click, so they won't feel like you've tried to trick them into buying something.

While affiliate programs are an easy way to make some money, Gif Girl wants to make sure you keep your expectations realistic. On average, about 1% to 2% of visitors will click on the links - and then about 2% of those who clicked will actually purchase something. Still, even that kind of click through on a site that is well promoted can mean a nice chunk of change every month!

Important note! Gif Girl wants to send a message loud and clear: Do not promote your site using spam — bulk unsolicited e-mails. This is very uncool! It's also the best way to receive a deluge of angry e-mails from unhappy recipients of your spammy self-promotions (and a sure-fire way to get your Tripod membership cancelled). Only e-mail your friends, family, and personal contacts or folks who expressly request the information.