“If you build it, they will come”

It’s a great voiceover for a movie, but it hardly translates to the online world.  There are countless entrepreneurs out there who think that all they have to do is get some products together, create a website, and – BOOM! – they’re swimming in profits.

Guess what?  They’re all wrong.

The world is not waiting on bated breath for your new online store.  Once you launch, you will not see tons of traffic rushing in.

Rule #1 of owning an e-store:  traffic is everything.

Rule #2 of owning an e-store:  traffic is not guaranteed.

You have to work hard to get traffic, and the real work begins after you have the site up and running.  So, how do you get it?

Follow the principles of SEO

At least 70% of online shoppers head a search engine to find the right online store. If you’re nowhere to be seen on search engines, you will never get off the road. Make sure your site is optimized for targeted keywords, and get links to your site to help build the search engines.

Content, content, content…

Both on and off site. You need good product descriptions and other information relevant to the scene. Use content off-site to get your name out there. Social networking sites are great for short bursts of traffic. For the long-term traffic, article marketing and make some guest blogging. All links will help you improve your ranking in search engines.

Focus on the soft-sell

Any off-site content needs to focus on the benefits of your products, not a hard sales pitch.

Take advantage of all sales opportunities

Have a ‘related items’ list for each product.  Also, encourage shoppers to join your email list.  Email them any time there’s a sale or other promotion, and they’ll be much more likely to come back.