Know-How Exchange : E-Marketing

Dear Ange,

Think of your Website's home page as your store window. At the moment it's not blindingly obvious what you offer and who you offer it to.

What is it that moms to be want to see? What do they want to read about? What are they looking for?

If you were a mom to be, what would YOU look for in a site like this? What would your friends who are moms look for? Right now you don't need anyone to tell you your site is fine as it is because it's not. What you need is effective critical feedback.

By realigning your offering with your prospect's most deeply felt needs and compulsions you'll be able to make more use of your 2,700 daily hit rate.

So, consider moving your list of available wear up the page, so that people can see it without having to scroll down.

Consider a deal of the day to drum up anticipation. Offer something to create enough interest for people to sign up for a free offer or some kind of high value, low cost (to you) incentive.
Try having a three or four day sale which you promote to your list.

Add more colour to your site and include greater reasons for people to click on specific garments (larger views, more compelling narrative, special pricing).

Your logo lock up could work harder for you, and your USP is too far to the right of the page. Your site needs to instantly telegraph what you offer and who you offer it to. Show pictures of happy moms wearing things they've bought from you. Use testimonials to create greater credibility, and consider using more colour to spruce things up.

As a store window there must be enough eye candy to pull
people in and make them want to find out more. Make your
buying process as simple and as attractive as possible—this
means shipping to the USA as well as Canada. By installing Google Analytics you'll get better ideas of where your visitors are based, which will therefore give you the ability to tailor specific landing pages to those people.

The more connected your can make people feel to your site the more they'll feel they know you and like you and you MUST get people to do these things before they will trust you enough to buy from you.

Your venture deserves to succeed because it's a great business model and it has huge potential. But to make things more appealing you've got to think more like your customer.

I hope this helps. Good luck to you.

Gary Bloomer
Wilmington, DE, USA

FYI The number of "hits" your site gets means very little. A page with 10 pictures on it will count at 11 hits every time it is viewed. A better metric is to look at the page views. Much more realistic.

My site (www.connectionsplanet.com) is getting over 500,000 page views per month and growing 20% per month - and I have not spent a dime on advertising. Some ideas you could try:

Add a blog. People will visit your site for the blog and will spend time on the site after viewing the blog.

Post comments on every maternity related site you can find. Always include a link to your site. Be THE expert!

Do an email newsletter.

Do an online advice column. Write your own "letter" then answer it. For example:

Dear Maternity Store,
How can I find comfortable shoes now that I am pregnant?"
Signed
Susie

Dear Susie,
Blah blah blah.
By the way, you might want to check our XYZ Shoes. The are very comfortable.


Good Luck