I picked up a new client who wants me to manage their e-commerce site. What are some of the basics I should know when it comes to promoting a e-commerce site? The site ranks #3 for the main keyword, but only gets about 100 uniques per day and is getting a 5% conversion rate.
Is the e-commerce site already using Google Analytics? If not, that may be your first order of business to get it implemented -- it will help you determine how/why/where/what regarding visitors to the site. You should also ask the owner what they want out of their site (which I would assume more sales). But do they want branding as well? Or just more traffic/sales?
I agree with John on this one. Get Analytics implemented and define some goals..then set up conversion tracking based on the business goals in analytics to create a baseline for measuring results.
Look into leveraging social media. Are there any tools/widgets you can build that tie in to your sector? Contests and giveaways can be a good way to generate interest. Find out who your competitors are and what they are doing - and do it better!