Why Has My Website Only Made One Sale After Receiving Over 7,000 Visitors?

Q: Jeffrey writes: The question I need an answer to is why hasn’t my website, The Lord’s Store made one sell after receiving over 7000 visitors? I realize paying for traffic doesn’t really work now, but I have had at least several hundred good Christian visitors which clicked on my banner from Christian websites

Yet, not one of those Christians purchased one thing from my Christian superstore selling thousands of Christian products. I have only made 4 sales so far. Three of them were from myself, so I really only have made one sale.

I have spent close to a thousand dollars between putting my banner on other Christian websites, of course worthless traffic sites promising targeted visitors. (They don’t tell you that none of them will speak English.)

I have also tried Google Adwords and a Google pay per click campaign, but Google is sending me less visitors than anyone. (Perhaps 112 visitors total) Now I have raised the click bid to 50 cents a click at Google, but still nothing.

My total cost so far is close to $1500 between advertising, getting traffic and the cost to set up my site. All that expense for only one sale from 7,000 visitors in one month. The bottom line question is: What’s wrong with my site?  Jeffrey

P.S. I’m about ready to close my website, which I’m sorry I started in the first place, because my wife and I live on a very small fixed income and it’ll take us several years just to pay off what the website has cost us so far. $1500.00 for just one sale that made me only about $17.00.

A: First, thank you for your email Jeff and I will do my best to help you out. After an investment like that I’d hate to see you throw all your hard work down the drain.

After reading your email and taking a look at your site, I’ve got a few suggestions that may help. Let’s start with the traffic side of the equation first.

First, you’ve already realized that buying traffic isn’t always the best answer. But, even more importantly is where you are sending that traffic, be it bought, through search engines, Google Adwords, or PPC campaigns.

One of the most important things to remember when selling anything, especially online, is that your customers like to be directed or held by the hand. You have to give them calls to action telling them what step to take next.

If you’re sending your traffic to the main page of your site, your visitors may not know where to go next, especially with the large amount of items and directions to choose from on your homepage. Try setting up targeted ad campaigns for specific products and you’ll likely see better results.

Even though you may not have the sales records to help you determine what your hot items are, don’t give up. There are still other ways to determine which items people are interested in. One of those ways is to check you stats to see what people are searching for and where they are going on your site. Use those stats as a starting point when setting up your campaigns.

Now, onto your site itself and some of the things I noticed when visiting.

1. The main page is very busy and can easily turn people away. Try breaking things up a bit and maybe not including everything you offer on the main page individually.

2. The categories on top are very helpful, but the black may be a bit hard on the eyes. Maybe try toning this down a bit to be more visitor friendly.

3. A nice professionally designed logo might help to create some brand recognition. The one you have there is decent, but the rotating text also distracts visitors. If you can create a logo with your site/business name and a short but catchy and memorable tagline, it might draw people in a bit more.

4. I really think the images at the bottom of the page are overkill and really not necessary. Again it can confuse your visitor and turn them off from wanting to learn more about what you have to offer. I think having 1 or 2 product graphics under the categories like you have above is perfect to let your visitor see what they will find in each category when they click. Once you get to the individual category pages you can then put a small graphic and description for each product you offer.

5. The flower background is a great color contrast with the black, but it is distracting and probably takes your visitors focus off your products, which is not the goal you should be looking for. You want your visitors to focus to be on your products

Just a few suggestions for you, Jeff. I know it may not be the miracle you’re looking for, but step-by-step improvements can make a world of difference. I recommend getting really targeted with any ad or promotion campaigns and simplifying things for your visitors.