Do you ever notice that you have very little sales from your web store, but always seem to be answering questions from your customers asking you “how they can buy”, or asking questions about your store policies, or maybe it’s a question about a single product?

Customers Online will naturally have questions. Your answer is probably “No, I don’t?”

Do you know why you aren’t answering those questions?

Because your potential customers are leaving. Now, I here you. You are probably thinking “ah, yeah, that’s not hard to see, tell me something I don’t already know”. Well, I just did. Let me say it again, but in a different way.

“Your customers are leaving because you are not answering their questions!”

Now, does it make more sense?

Every potential customer has questions they need answered before they feel comfortable buying. These questions are not always “heard”, but are most often “silent” in nature. They reside in the customers head, and are one of the many barriers you face when convincing them “why to buy from you” instead of another seller. They may be silent, but they are real, and they are there.

They live within every visitor that wants to become a customer. If you don’t answer them, they will leave and you will lose the sale.

So how do you answer someone that hasn’t actually “asked” a question yet?

Simple, you answer them BEFORE they ask it!

You answer by placing the proper information in front of them at precisely the right time for where they are in their buying cycle. By doing this, any questions they have will be answered (before they ask them), and rather than leaving the site, you’ll increase your chances of them not only staying, but buying from you.

It’s called “building customer confidence”. It includes things like:

Customer points of assurance
Proper calls to action
Providing store policies
Secure logos in the right spots
and more…

“Customer confidence” goes a long way toward increasing sales.

So, how do you answer them if you don’t know what they are asking?

One way is to put yourself into their position — become a customer yourself (I’ll give you some actual examples in another article, but this article is to get your mind thinking like a “customer” — one of the first steps to increasing sales).

Think about what you look for, and at what times you look for it when you are attempting to make a purchase from the internet. What makes you feel comfortable enough to buy from an online store? Really think about it, and pay close attention the next time you shop online to what you ask, when you ask it, what you look for, and when you look for it.

This forces you to think of things from a “visitor’s / customer’s” perspective (which is how you should be looking at it if you want to increase conversion anyhow). If you are asking it, your visitors are probably asking it too! So, the next time you shop online, pay close attention to your thoughts and movements. Then go back and check your own web site for the same things you looked for (in the same locations) which helped make you feel comfortable in deciding to buy.

If you are missing those items, you’re missing sales.

In my next post I’ll actually go into a number of “best practice” items you should make sure you include on your site, and the general location of where would be best to include them (although this may differ based on your site, target market, and visitor demographic).

Until then, think like a customer and find out where your site needs to start answering their questions.

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What is RSS and How do I Use it?

June 4, 2007 by Eric Leuenberger
Filed under Uncategorized

3 Comments

With all these acronyms like RSS, XML and terms like “syndication feeds” floating around the Internet, it can become confusing to say the least understanding what each actually means and more importantly how you can use them to benefit yourself and stay up-up-date on the latest content posted to this site.

I’ll go into a few details below on these terms, but in short, if you “subscribe to a feed” (as it is called) using RSS, then what you are in effect doing is getting all the latest updates (posts and download contributions) from this site sent to your computer without the need to check email. The updates are sent directly to your computer via your internet browser or your chosen “feed reading software” (more on those below).

As an example, if you use Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL, etc… as your “home page” (the page you are taken to when you open up your Internet browser), then you could have new posts that I put on this site show up directly on that page. It’s just like getting the “weather” or “news” sent to you. It’s easy, and convenient, and you don’t have to check email to stay up-to-date.

Readers like Yahoo, Google, MSN, AOL, etc… are called “web based readers” because you do not need to install any software on your computer to get them working, and you read the content directly from your web browser.

Definitions

The best place to get information and definitions on the terms I am talking about here is through Wikipedia entries on XML, RSS, Web Syndication and Web Feed. If you have never utilized Wikipedia in the past, you may want to bookmark it as it contains a wealth of information on just about any topic you want.

RSS Basics

You use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) to syndicate or subscribe to the feed of a website, blog or almost any media content online (that of course offers an RSS feed). Feeds can be for music, videos, content, articles, or just about anything you can think of. When you “subscribe” to the feed of a web site, it means you do not have to go visit the website to read the latest content. Instead of you “visiting the site”, think of it as the “site coming to you”. The purpose of subscribing to an RSS feed is to therefore make it more efficient for you to read your favorite content.

How to Subscribe to a web site’s RSS feed

Sometimes the best explanation is a good sample visual. So, I have put together a short video tutorial on how to subscribe to this web site’s RSS feed using a web based reader. In this example I am using Google as my “home page” only because that is my preferred search engine of choice and the one I have set to show when I open my browser.

At the top right corner you will see an orange RSS link button. To subscribe to my feed all you do is click that link. If you do not have a feed reader yet, most of the time you can register for the one of your choosing after clicking that link and selecting it. You may also use the search box further down this post to search Google for a large variety of information on RSS Readers.

Here is the video tutorial on how to subscribe an RSS feed using ZenCartOptimization.com as an example.

What can Happen if You Provide an RSS Feed To Your Shopping Cart?

So, now that you know what an RSS feed is, and how it works, you should already have an idea of how it could be used to increase sales from your online store.

Imagine this – every time a user opens his or her browser window, along with the daily news and weather report comes a listing of YOUR products, right from your store! Yes, it can happen, but you have to first offer them an RSS feed. And if they are constantly seeing a listing of your latest offers or products, you can be sure they are qualified to buy (or they wouldn’t have subscribed to your feed in the first place).

So, you have an idea of how many “potential” customers are viewing your “feed” (i.e. your stores products) each day. Now, it’s your job to put the right content and offers in front of them to make them buy! The limits are now endless (and you don’t have to worry about your email offers being blocked as spam etc…) In short, you’ll have a target base of qualified customers that are “listening” to you with open ears. Give them what they want, and watch them buy.

Where to Find Feed Reading Software and Web Based RSS Readers

As indicated, there are currently two types of feed reading methods available. The “Software” route, and the “Web Based” route. For your convenience, below is a handy search box that will allow you to search Google and get a list of any number of RSS Readers. I already pre-filled in the search box for you, all you have to do is click “Find RSS Readers”. I’ll leave it up to you to choose your preferred one.