How to Make More Sales by Giving Your Customers Less Choice
You know how it is – you open the menu in a new restaurant and are bombarded with hundreds of different options. There’s every starter, main, side and desert dish that’s ever been cooked and all of them come with a complicated explanation. It takes ages to decide on a choice and when you finally order, you worry about whether you’ve made the right decision. The same scenario could be applied to filling in a survey, buying a coffee, going to the supermarket or choosing a holiday. Having too much choice can lead people to become anxious, confused or panicked and as a result they make no choice at all because it’s simply too difficult to make a decision.
The same is true if you sell products or a service online – too much choice can result in your customers making no choice at all and clicking away from your website without spending a penny. So how can you make sure you’re not bombarding your customers with too much information, especially if you sell a lot of products? Check out the top tips below…
· Keep your message simple
Short, simple messages are the best way to make a visitor interested in your product. Throw in a few benefits and you will have a customer for life. Most people aren’t interested in anything about a product or service other than how it will make their life easier and with clear and concise website copywriting, you can tell them. Make it easy for your visitors to make a decision to buy from you by not filling your web pages with huge descriptions of what you sell. Use focused website copywriting to tell them what it is, how it can help them and how they can get it.
· Group products
If you sell a lot of products on your website then many of your visitors will start to fall into a panic if you have them all displayed without any kind of logical order. Most people won’t wait around to decipher how to find what they’re looking for and instead they’ll click away. Make it simple for your visitors to find what they want and group your products in categories which they are most likely to be looking for. If lots of people find your website by typing in ‘patterned wallpaper’ for example then have this as a category and list sub categories divided by colour or types of patterns below this.
· Add a search box
Having a search box on your website is a great idea, even if you don’t sell a lot of items online. The searches typed into the box will provide vital information as to what people are looking for on your website. If plenty of people are searching for particular items and you don’t currently stock them, you could consider bringing them in and if you sell them already you could promote them on your homepage or in your newsletters. A search box is also useful for people who know what they’re looking for to find it quickly – just make sure the results are fast and clear so your visitors don’t lose interest.
· Have a clear call to action
You will only be able to sell online if you tell people how to buy from you. If your website copywriting is focused and persuasive and your customer is ready to buy but there’s no ‘Add to basket’ or ‘Buy now’ link then you are missing out on a lot of cash. Don’t assume people will follow difficult instructions or confusing links to buy from you – they won’t. Even if you sell a service, your visitors will still need to know how to contact you to find out more. Include clear, explicit links such as ‘Click here for a free quote’ or ‘Contact us to find out more’ on every page so your visitors know what to do next.
Remember – too many choices can kill sales so make sure your website copywriting speaks directly to your visitors and tells them what you’re offering, how it can benefit them and how they can get it.
Tags: website copywriter, website copywriters, website copywriting
