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Hi there.
Speaker:It's Sue.
Speaker:And thanks for joining me for tips and talk day.
Speaker:These are bite-sized topics that I pull from community questions and
Speaker:things that I'm observing in the world of handmade small business.
Speaker:If you'd like to submit a topic,
Speaker:DME, over on Instagram at gift biz,
Speaker:unwrapped, people are coming over to your website.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:that's happening because you're seeing it in Google analytics,
Speaker:but they're not buying.
Speaker:So you're getting the eyeballs on your site.
Speaker:And for whatever reason,
Speaker:they're not converting over to sales.
Speaker:Why, why is that happening?
Speaker:That's what we're going to be talking about today.
Speaker:I want you to think of your website as your on
Speaker:line headquarters.
Speaker:Your website should be the home base where you direct everybody
Speaker:to go,
Speaker:because they're going to learn about you.
Speaker:They're going to see your products.
Speaker:If you have a blog,
Speaker:everything should be housed on your website.
Speaker:And the reason I'm bringing that up for conversation right now
Speaker:is with the addition of social media and the ability to
Speaker:sell on Facebook,
Speaker:Pinterest, Instagram,
Speaker:pretty much everywhere.
Speaker:These days,
Speaker:the lines start to get blurred.
Speaker:It's kind of like when Kmart years ago started adding grocery,
Speaker:it was like,
Speaker:okay, do I go to Kmart for t-shirts or do I
Speaker:go to Kmart for apples?
Speaker:Are you a grocery store?
Speaker:Are you general merchandise?
Speaker:What are you?
Speaker:That's the exact same thing that's happening online here,
Speaker:because you're a website,
Speaker:as I was just saying should be your home base.
Speaker:But you start thinking a little differently when you can be
Speaker:like, well,
Speaker:but I can sell on Facebook and I can sell on
Speaker:Instagram. I want us to all firmly understand that your online
Speaker:presence, your main spot online is your website.
Speaker:I'm not talking about here.
Speaker:All of the elements that you should have included on your
Speaker:website. I'm more going to talk about things that might prevent
Speaker:people from actually buying from you once they arrive on your
Speaker:website. Okay?
Speaker:So not all the preliminary things like posts.
Speaker:You might put on social media,
Speaker:directing people to your website,
Speaker:talking about once they actually get there.
Speaker:Okay? So you've got people coming to the website.
Speaker:You know that they're looking at other pages.
Speaker:You can see all of this behind the scenes in your
Speaker:Google analytics,
Speaker:but no orders are coming in here are seven things to
Speaker:check and maybe tweak a little bit to affect sales.
Speaker:These are things that will prevent sales from happening.
Speaker:First one first impressions.
Speaker:When someone lands on your website,
Speaker:what's the first impression that comes up.
Speaker:Do they understand exactly what you do,
Speaker:what you stand for,
Speaker:what you make and what you offer.
Speaker:And that's really easy to get across.
Speaker:When you have the banner image that shows products,
Speaker:I should be able to know from the second that I
Speaker:get on it,
Speaker:your website,
Speaker:what you're all about.
Speaker:I so should feel comfortable knowing that I've landed in the
Speaker:right place,
Speaker:because what I'm expecting to see,
Speaker:let's say you're transitioning over from social media,
Speaker:onto the website.
Speaker:It should make sense because the colors look the same.
Speaker:The products look the same.
Speaker:There's enough similarity between the two that they know they've landed
Speaker:in the same place.
Speaker:So this is point number one,
Speaker:do they get it?
Speaker:The second that they're on the website within literally three seconds,
Speaker:do they understand who you are and what you stand for?
Speaker:The second place where things can fall apart on a website
Speaker:are pictures.
Speaker:Quality of pictures are all important.
Speaker:And I'm not saying that you need a professional photographer to
Speaker:get your pictures taken.
Speaker:You can do it right from your phone,
Speaker:especially with all the editing apps that are available now on
Speaker:the phone,
Speaker:your pictures need to be,
Speaker:they need to be clear.
Speaker:They need to be detailed.
Speaker:And if you,
Speaker:you want to add in some fancy editing,
Speaker:you can,
Speaker:and it has to be very clear or what your product
Speaker:is. You can still have a lifestyle scene.
Speaker:For example,
Speaker:pottery, that's sitting on like a really cool like farm country
Speaker:table, maybe or something like that.
Speaker:But it has to be understandable what your product is and
Speaker:be able to see the products.
Speaker:Also, when you get to your individual product photos,
Speaker:when you get over to your shopping pages,
Speaker:make sure that for each product there's consistency within the pictures
Speaker:and that the pictures are sharp and clear.
Speaker:Okay. Enough said about that.
Speaker:I think we all understand that are important,
Speaker:but I will tell you if someone doesn't like the style
Speaker:or doesn't feel comfortable with the quality of the pictures that
Speaker:you have,
Speaker:they'll leave and go somewhere else.
Speaker:Because quality of pictures,
Speaker:indirectly, unconsciously leads to the quality of your product.
Speaker:It may not even be true.
Speaker:You're a product,
Speaker:maybe top-notch in terms of quality.
Speaker:But if you pictures don't represent that,
Speaker:how is your potential customer to know?
Speaker:Okay, so that's the second one.
Speaker:Third one is branding.
Speaker:I touched on this a little bit,
Speaker:right in the beginning with my first impressions,
Speaker:but is your branding consistent from place to place to place?
Speaker:If I was at a booth at a craft show,
Speaker:and now I'm coming over to your website,
Speaker:am I seeing the same kind of colors and the same
Speaker:type of style,
Speaker:if it's completely different,
Speaker:that leaves a question about the credibility of the business.
Speaker:Overall point number four,
Speaker:personality, let's stick with pottery.
Speaker:Since I pulled that out of the hat today,
Speaker:to talk about if your pottery,
Speaker:in terms of the website view looks just like two or
Speaker:three other websites that they looked at,
Speaker:what's the reason for someone to choose and select your pottery
Speaker:versus anyone else's you haven't given us enough of a reason
Speaker:to buy from you.
Speaker:So in terms of bringing in personality to your pages,
Speaker:some of that of course is done through color and the
Speaker:branding, but also you show wheen you.
Speaker:I can't stress.
Speaker:How important as a maker.
Speaker:This is,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:the big brands don't have to do this.
Speaker:Think of any big brand.
Speaker:Let's say pottery barn.
Speaker:They've invested at all.
Speaker:A lot of time,
Speaker:money, years professionals in putting in the personality,
Speaker:into the brand crate and barrel or Williamson.
Speaker:All of those,
Speaker:you have an impression already,
Speaker:right? Someone might not know you.
Speaker:So that's where our individual brand comes in and is so
Speaker:important. So how do you interject that personality into a website?
Speaker:Your about page?
Speaker:Don't let it be totally just like a resume,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:have your about page.
Speaker:Be in first person,
Speaker:talk with a customer.
Speaker:Personally, let them get to know you,
Speaker:let them see you in all your quirkiness and craziness and
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:whatever you stand for,
Speaker:because then people are going to relate to you.
Speaker:And you're going to stand apart from any of those other
Speaker:pottery websites that only show products,
Speaker:very similar to everyone else's site.
Speaker:So you want to interject personality.
Speaker:And if you don't,
Speaker:it's easy enough for them to jump.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Point number five navigation.
Speaker:If I jump over to your website and I want to
Speaker:get to know who you are for a second.
Speaker:And then if I like what I'm seeing,
Speaker:then I want to look at your products.
Speaker:Is it easy for me to understand how I can get
Speaker:to all of these places that I want to know about
Speaker:your website?
Speaker:That's navigation.
Speaker:It's most typical that people have the navigation right up at
Speaker:the top.
Speaker:Some people have them down the side,
Speaker:either way.
Speaker:If I want to,
Speaker:I know who you are.
Speaker:Where's that about page.
Speaker:Sometimes that's hidden at the bottom.
Speaker:I would suggest for makers,
Speaker:you leave it up front and center so people can see
Speaker:and get to know you.
Speaker:And the page is going to have a lot of personality
Speaker:as we just talked about.
Speaker:But when I go to your website and I'm looking for
Speaker:something, is it understandable that I can get directed to where
Speaker:I want to go?
Speaker:So first,
Speaker:maybe I want to learn a little bit about you.
Speaker:I want to understand maybe where you're from,
Speaker:what area of the country?
Speaker:Not that it matters at all,
Speaker:but I just want to know,
Speaker:like, it just makes me feel more connected.
Speaker:Maybe I want to understand a little bit about how you
Speaker:got into your business.
Speaker:I want to know him,
Speaker:some of the materials that you're using in your product,
Speaker:because that helps me decide if your product is for me.
Speaker:And then I decide,
Speaker:yes. So then,
Speaker:then how do I get over it?
Speaker:And look at all the products,
Speaker:not just the products that are on your homepage.
Speaker:Now, I want to see all of my options because I
Speaker:to make a selection,
Speaker:where do I go to do that?
Speaker:Make it super easy for people to be able to figure
Speaker:out where they need to go on your website,
Speaker:to get the answers that they want.
Speaker:What if they have some questions about shipping time or return
Speaker:policies within your navigation,
Speaker:wherever it is at the top,
Speaker:on the side,
Speaker:in the footer,
Speaker:that it's easy to get to so that they can get
Speaker:their questions answered.
Speaker:Because again,
Speaker:if they can't,
Speaker:they'll go to another site that makes it easy for them.
Speaker:Point six,
Speaker:how slow is it for your website to load or out?
Speaker:Let me reverse it.
Speaker:Can your website load really fast?
Speaker:The second that I enter your URL,
Speaker:all of a sudden your website pops up or you've seen
Speaker:it where it just circles and circles.
Speaker:And then it takes forever for the website to load that
Speaker:makes people feel a little anxious or nervous.
Speaker:And if it takes too long,
Speaker:they're going to go.
Speaker:We have new time,
Speaker:you know,
Speaker:this life of instant gratification that we live in.
Speaker:We're so conditioned that when we press a button,
Speaker:we want to see things fast.
Speaker:So you want to make sure that your website loads properly.
Speaker:Some of the things that clog up the website in terms
Speaker:of its speed for loading biggest culprit is really,
Speaker:really large files for pictures.
Speaker:You want to make sure that your files are smaller so
Speaker:that they load faster.
Speaker:That doesn't mean that you're affecting the quality of the picture
Speaker:or the detail of the picture at all.
Speaker:You just need to make sure that they load quickly.
Speaker:And then final point is clunky checkout,
Speaker:a checkout system that either I don't understand how it's working.
Speaker:It's bringing me to all these extra screens that I don't
Speaker:understand. This is a very,
Speaker:very critical point because if I decide I'm going to buy
Speaker:something, I added to my shopping cart and I want to
Speaker:check out,
Speaker:but there's some type of a hiccup there,
Speaker:some type of a glitch where it's bringing me to another
Speaker:page that doesn't make sense to me.
Speaker:It's taking too long.
Speaker:This is where people get really anxious that you know what,
Speaker:maybe this isn't a true company after all,
Speaker:maybe someone's taking my money and there's really no business behind
Speaker:it. All of our antennas are on high alert.
Speaker:Now for things like this,
Speaker:right? This is where all of these barriers that might be
Speaker:happening unconsciously,
Speaker:you don't know on your website are things that can prevent
Speaker:you from getting sales.
Speaker:Let me review these for you again.
Speaker:The first one is,
Speaker:do they understand right away when they come to your website?
Speaker:Exactly what you do this first impression is key.
Speaker:Second. Are your pictures clear,
Speaker:crisp, and truly represent the high quality of the product that
Speaker:you make?
Speaker:Third branding?
Speaker:Do I understand?
Speaker:Is it cohesive?
Speaker:Is it professional?
Speaker:Is it consistent from your social media or a craft show
Speaker:booth that you have now?
Speaker:When I come on your website,
Speaker:everything looks similar.
Speaker:Is there a personality there?
Speaker:Do I get to know about you?
Speaker:This is point number four.
Speaker:Do I get to know about you as the maker?
Speaker:Why you started let me into your life,
Speaker:because then I'm going to be interested and I want to
Speaker:support you navigation.
Speaker:Do I understand where I need to go?
Speaker:This is 0.5.
Speaker:Is it easy enough to maneuver around the site to get
Speaker:to where I want to go to get the answers that
Speaker:I want,
Speaker:that walk me to the sale.
Speaker:Number six,
Speaker:how quickly does it load?
Speaker:If I'm sitting there twiddling my thumbs,
Speaker:waiting for your pages to load,
Speaker:I'm leaving just the way it is.
Speaker:And finally at checkout,
Speaker:is there any type of a hiccup,
Speaker:a glitch that makes me question whether this is a true
Speaker:company or if my money is going to be taken and
Speaker:used elsewhere and never to be seen again,
Speaker:we all are so familiar now with online shopping that we
Speaker:know what the experience should look like.
Speaker:So you want to make sure that when someone's purchasing from
Speaker:you smooth,
Speaker:the screens go from one to another.
Speaker:Everyone understands if it's PayPal,
Speaker:it's going to jump over to PayPal,
Speaker:which is fine,
Speaker:but that the experience looks smooth.
Speaker:This is a little seven step website checkup,
Speaker:go place an order with yourself,
Speaker:or have a friend go over to the website.
Speaker:Someone who's not connected with your business at all.
Speaker:Say, go buy something from my website.
Speaker:Tell me what your experience is.
Speaker:If you can find the products that you're looking for.
Speaker:If you can learn a little bit more about me,
Speaker:something you don't know about me,
Speaker:even though we're friends,
Speaker:what can you learn about what the business and buy something
Speaker:from me and tell me your experience.
Speaker:So often when we talk about websites,
Speaker:we talk about getting people to the website.
Speaker:You know,
Speaker:how do we draw more eyes to the website?
Speaker:And that is clearly the first step,
Speaker:but another place that people aren't talking about all the time
Speaker:is once we've got people there,
Speaker:you can still lose the sale.
Speaker:If your website doesn't have all of these things that I
Speaker:talked about,
Speaker:because when it does,
Speaker:then people are going to see and find what they want.
Speaker:And as they're checking out,
Speaker:they're going to have confidence that everything is running smoothly.
Speaker:And that is the way you're going to get sales over
Speaker:on your website.
Speaker:That's a wrap.
Speaker:I'm a get to the point kind of girl.
Speaker:And this is what you can expect from these quick midweek
Speaker:sessions. Now it's your turn go out and fulfill that dream
Speaker:of yours.
Speaker:Share your handmade products with us.
Speaker:We want them,
