How to increase my sales?

Discussion in 'General Marketing' started by aab1, Jan 31, 2011.

  1. #1
    I have a few websites and sell a few products and know I could be making much more money but I just don't know how/where to advertise and my website designs are quite poor which doesn't help.

    My main website is for both an online ebay auction sniping service as well as a downloadable software that does the same. This website is horribly designed but still the one that makes me the most money. I also sell the same items on eBay and about 60% of the sales are from my website and the rest from ebay. I also made my own affiliate program where I offer 50% of referred sales but never made much from that. I tried advertising on Google and it always costs me much more in advertising than the sales it brings me so for now most sales are from people finding my website in internet searches.

    My 2nd website is for a high volume color printing service with prices as low as 5-10 times cheaper per page than major copy centers (my prices start at 4.5 cents per color page) so I know it has a lot of potential and I have many repeat customers but orders are fairly rare, maybe a few per month at the best. Again I also list this on ebay and all my sales other than repeats (which go through the website) come from eBay.

    Another small business I have is selling a recipe/health book I wrote and self publish/print/bind myself. Sales were very low the past few years but recently have been selling 10 or more per month. I sell this on ebay only but think it would be worth making a website for it.

    Can anyone give me tips and advice on increasing my sales for all of these?

    Thanks
     
    aab1, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  2. doodaaloo

    doodaaloo Well-Known Member

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    #2
    Well how is your website doing on the search engines for the relevant keywords?

    Have you done SEO?
     
    doodaaloo, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  3. aab1

    aab1 Member Affiliate Manager

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    #3
    For certain search terms I'm the 2nd result, for others I'm a few pages away.

    I keep reading about SEO but have no idea what it involves doing or how to do it. Where can I read about how to SEO?
     
    aab1, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  4. inspiredguy

    inspiredguy Peon

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    #4
    You can do a google search on seo and look for some introductions to what it is. Then, keep reading up on it and take notes 'cause you probably won't find a complete guide in any one place. As you discover new "optimization" techniques, you can check if they are in place on your website/blog.
     
    inspiredguy, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  5. lukey372

    lukey372 Notable Member

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    #5
    lukey372, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  6. magnus1

    magnus1 Peon

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    #6
    Don't get tied up with how your site looks. There's some butt ugly sites out there making tonnes of money. SEO is vital unless you're prepared to use paid forms of traffic such as PPC or stumbleupon. Google has millions of sites on SEO. I recommend you outsource your link building as soon as you are able as it is very boring & time consuming. Good luck!
     
    magnus1, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  7. aab1

    aab1 Member Affiliate Manager

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    #7
    What do you mean by outsource my link building? Thanks
     
    aab1, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  8. magnus1

    magnus1 Peon

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    #8
    Your link building can include from article writing, forum profile links, blogging, video... etc... that all point back to your site (directly or indirectly). Building these yourself can be done, but take a lot of time to do, so is best left to others who can do it quickly & for a good price (depending where you go). You should also check your onpage seo is set up correctly, i.e. keywords etc.
     
    magnus1, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  9. magnus1

    magnus1 Peon

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    #9
    BTW, regarding your book. Have you tried create space? Amazon will take care of all the printing/binding etc. and you will reap the benefits of their huge traffic.
     
    magnus1, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  10. cuttypowers

    cuttypowers Peon

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    #10
    Be VERY VERY of paying linking services! I have had clients literally crying, either from getting ripped off to ending up in the "bad neighborhoods"
     
    cuttypowers, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  11. cuttypowers

    cuttypowers Peon

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    #11
    Also, while looks arent everything - some landing page tweaking can result in a nice percentage of increase closes.
     
    cuttypowers, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  12. Kiranraj

    Kiranraj Well-Known Member

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    #12
    Apply SEO techniques for your site. It will help you to get ranking for your targeted keywords & get leads & traffic for your business. You can also go with PPC
     
    Kiranraj, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  13. Zachmo

    Zachmo Peon

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    #13
    Yes applying seo helps a lot. You may do it yourself or hire a couple of seo experts for faster results.
     
    Zachmo, Jan 31, 2011 IP
  14. shiv-sah

    shiv-sah Peon

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    #14
    Get SEO for your sites...
     
    shiv-sah, Feb 1, 2011 IP
  15. untitled17

    untitled17 Peon

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    #15
    Just google SEO and read about it. There's tons of free information about it that will help you getting your websites ranked.
     
    untitled17, Feb 1, 2011 IP
  16. Adnan959

    Adnan959 Member

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    #16
    Adnan959, Feb 1, 2011 IP