Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

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"Success is 99% hardwork and 1% intelligence"
Albert Enstein

Owen –

 

2 ideas strike me quickly.

 

1) Do you know WHY your visitors do not convert to buyers? Is it price? Selection? Maybe your marketing is only targeting ‘window shoppers’? I don’t know and I’m not critiquing your site. I’m just saying that once you know WHY they do not convert, you can immediately work on making the fix. (I recall a program that let’s you quickly ‘poll’ a visitor who tried to leave your site without buying…it works like a Pop Up ad…but I don’t know anything about the expense of implementing it.)

 

2) I’m a big advocate for using Blogging as a free-but-powerful marketing tool. Both your home page and your “Why Us’ section show that you know a LOT about ‘quality bikinis’. I would suggest you exploit that niche’. Your goal is NOT to write a blog about how great your store is. Your goal is to write articles about quality bathing suits…quality summer wear…quality materials…bikinis ‘in general’…   Now, if each article ended with either a link to your site or a link to a specific item you want to highlight, then you have the icing on the cake.    

 

       Your goal is to use the blog to attract readers to your knowledge and your insight. The expectation is that as they regard you as an expert in your niche’ they will then/also check out your store. You are building a brand-loyal base due to their respect for the information you share.

You want to get your blog noticed by ‘communities’…female shoppers, clothing afficinados…people who like to talk up swim wear, etc. It’s a small “niche” but it’s a particularly easy way to expose yourself to them.

 

Does this make sense?

I can give you more specific examples if I’m in the right direction for you…

Hi Alvin,
I took a look at your site, and coincidentally, have been reading a Judith Krantz series (fiction) about high fashion, world markets, and the very rich. One of the accounts for an advertising company that`s part of the plot is swimwear. Funny coincidence. :-)

Anyway...I looked at your site, and I see two immediate problems, both of which tend (in my mind) to drive customers away rather than attract them to buying.

1. The overall appearance and "feel" of the site is gloomy, dark, and depressing.
2. The low-contrast gray on soft gray is almost impossible to read, setting aside that the font size is so small as to be like fine print at the end of a contract. Usually that fine print causes bad problems for the person signing the contract.

Anyone can sell swimsuits---they can also be purchased in just about any clothing store. But the thing is that nobody really is selling swim wear! They`re selling a *style* when you get into this business.

The key problem with your site is that it isn`t selling a lifestyle---an image.

Alvin,

I echo the advice already given and add that today`s internet business is quite different from even two years ago.  We worked with a fashion consultant recently for my wife`s business and learned that it can take up to $1.5million to really drive traffic to a new website in the fashion business today.  PPC just doesn`t work by itself anymore because the web is so crowded. Blogs are okay but if you check the traffic for most this doesn`t build a business.

You are absolutely on the right track by wanting to do some more traditional marketing methods.  If your product is unique enough take it to a tradeshow, try sending a well-designed (not necessarily expensive) catalog to a tightly defined list of boutiques, send free samples to fashion magazine editors, try to get a celebrity to wear one,

All the best,
Matt

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Jewelry desighns using nature and gemstones
http://www.southpointstudios.com
My Email

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"Success is 99% hardwork and 1% intelligence"
Albert Enstein

Alvin,

I suggest giving Google Website Optimizer a shot. I agree with a lot of the advice given about how you could change the style of your site. Although, what we think may not work, so Google`s tool will allow you to actually test it. What it does is automatically show show users different versions of a page (i.e. user X sees landing page 1 and user Y sees landing page 2). Then it will calculate the conversion rate of each and you`ll know which design to choose.

There are some basic SEO techniques you could implement on your own. I noticed a site search for your indexed content only retrieved 9 pages: http://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Amaregeubikini.com%2F&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a. Of those 9 results, all have the same title (not very unique or helpful to search engines/users).

Another thing is that your navigation is image based, lacking the anchor text or even the ALT text, so search engines have no idea what your what your navigation anchor text is and you`re missing out on possible keyword usage.

If you can fix a few things you just might see better search engine referrals.

Let me know if you have any other questions. I can give you some more tips if you feel comfortable implementing them.

-Patrick Daly



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Ecordia
Top Organic Search Results in 2 weeks
www.ecordia.com

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"Success is 99% hardwork and 1% intelligence"
Albert Enstein

Alvin :

 

Are you converting your current sales into future sales? 

 

Do they has percentage off bonus for referrals?  Do you mail them specials and keep contact?  Can they sign up to be notified of replenished stock if there is something you are out of that they like?  Can they be notified of new products?

 

It`s hard to find a customer, and expensive, keep them.

 

Further, what is your demographic and how are you sure you are marketing to them?  Do you email market?  Direct marketing?  Do you have a couponing method integrated into your site so that you can attract new business with discounts?

 

Hope this helps!

 

 

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Tom Ryan
866-507-9089
Direct Marketing Services
Sales Leads, Direct Marketing Data

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"Success is 99% hardwork and 1% intelligence"
Albert Enstein