How to Drive Traffic To Your Shopify Store With Proven Strategies
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Recent studies show that the average conversion rate for Shopify stores is just 1.5%. To boost sales, it’s important to attract more visitors. Luckily, there are many ways to help you improve the matter. In this article, we’ll help you learn how to drive traffic to Shopify stores with proven tactics.
How to drive traffic to Shopify stores and make sales
Without visitors, even the most beautiful Shopify stores will struggle to make sales. Here are some proven strategies to help you drive traffic to your Shopify store and increase your chances of success.
Improve organic search rankings for your Shopify store
Search engines are the primary tool people and businesses use to research products and services, making them a key driver of traffic to your website. To ensure your site reaches the right audience, it’s essential to optimize it for search engines through Search Engine Optimization (SEO).
SEO is the process of enhancing both the quantity and quality of traffic to your site, improving your pages' visibility and rankings on Google and other search engines for relevant, targeted queries.
The first step in leveraging search engine traffic is understanding how search engines rank websites. One of the most important factors is the use of relevant keywords - terms that potential customers are most likely to type when searching for your product or service.
These keywords should be seamlessly integrated into various areas of your website, including headlines, product descriptions, subheadings, title tags, meta descriptions, URLs, and image alt text. By strategically placing keywords throughout your site, you can help search engines connect your content with the right users.
Invest in paid ads
To increase traffic to your Shopify store, it’s important to reach your customers where they are. Running paid ads on social media platforms is a great way to do this. With a targeted ad campaign, you can focus on people who are more likely to click and buy from your store. This is one of the fastest ways to attract the right audience and get more visitors.
Before you start running ads, it’s key to know where your potential customers spend their time online. Once you’ve chosen the right social media platform, think about your audience's interests, location, and buying habits. Then, set your budget based on this information. Here are some platforms you can use to run paid ads:
- Facebook ads: With more than 3 billion active users, Facebook is an excellent platform to drive traffic to your online store. You can target ads based on interests, location, and behavior. For example, if you sell tops and dresses for women aged 18-35, you can specifically reach that group to boost sales. Shopify can also be connected to Facebook Ads for easy management.
- Instagram ads: With 2 billion active users, Instagram is another great platform for reaching customers. Create a business account to run ads using photos, videos, stories, or carousels. For instance, if you sell jewelry, you can showcase products and link directly to your shop, making posts shoppable.
- Google Ads: Choose the right type of Google Ads for your business, like search, display, or YouTube ads. Bid on keywords and create effective ads to improve placement. When done right, Google Ads can bring targeted traffic and a strong return on investment. Use the Google Ads Revenue Calculator to estimate your campaign's revenue.
These are the main platforms where advertising gives you the best chance to reach potential customers. Additionally, to increase your brand’s visibility, depending on your target audience, you can run ads on other platforms like Microsoft Bing Ads, Twitter Ads, or LinkedIn Ads.
Paid ads are very helpful when it comes to driving more traffic to your website.
Leverage influencer marketing
Influencer marketing is a great way to introduce your online store to new customers. Since influencers already have a trusted relationship with their followers, their recommendations can drive more traffic to your store and increase sales. They promote products across various social media platforms.
When choosing an influencer, make sure they align with your brand and campaign goals. After selecting the platform, set a budget for influencers, which will help determine the type of influencer you can work with. Here are some tips for success:
- Choose influencers who fit your brand.
- Check that they have high engagement on their posts.
- Offer fair payment for their work.
- Let them create content in their own style.
Run contests and giveaways
Contests and giveaways are a fun and effective way to drive traffic to your Shopify store. They grab people’s attention and create excitement.
Offer appealing prizes to encourage customers to participate. These events can help grow your email list, increase social media engagement, and bring more visitors to your store. Also, social sharing should be encouraged as an entry method to boost visibility. Once participants visit your store, offer discounts or coupon codes to turn them into customers.
Take advantage of Google’s free listings
Since 2020, Google’s Shopping ads let retailers list their products for free across Google. To get started, you just need a Google Merchant account and a good product listing. Your products can then appear on the Shopping tab.
Since it’s a free feature, there’s a lot of competition. To stand out, it’s important to optimize your product information. Make sure to research your competitors, improve your product titles, use clear images, add ratings, and include negative keywords to increase visibility.
Google free listing allows sellers to list their products for free on Google
Use content marketing to attract customers
Content marketing helps bring potential customers to your website by offering interesting and useful content. It's more than just having a blog—things like videos and podcasts can also help grow your business and reach new audiences.
By creating fresh content, you can position yourself as an expert in your field and build a strong brand reputation. It also helps you connect with potential customers and encourages engagement. You can focus on topics that are relevant or interesting to your audience.
Content marketing also helps your business appear in search results for more than just your product or brand. You can use free tools like Google Keyword Planner and keyword.io to find new opportunities to get your business noticed and reach a wider audience.
Build your email list
Growing your email list is a great way to bring more visitors to your store. The best part is that you own the list, so no changes in Google or social media algorithms can affect your results.
As an eCommerce marketer, you should focus on building and using your email list for most of your marketing efforts. For example, if you run a giveaway, collect as many email addresses as possible and follow up with email campaigns to re-engage those users. Once you have a large list, send your subscribers relevant content, special deals, and updates to keep them interested.
You should grow an email list to use in most of your marketing efforts
Main types of Shopify traffic source
Studies show that the main ways websites get traffic are through organic search, direct visits, social media, email marketing, and referrals. Below is the detailed information about each traffic source:
- Search traffic (organic and paid) happens when people search for a product on search engines like Google. Your products can appear in these results through paid ads or by showing up naturally based on search engine algorithms.
- Direct traffic is when someone already knows your website’s address and types it directly into their browser. This usually happens when they’ve visited your site before and their browser remembers the URL.
- Referral traffic comes from other websites that link to your site. This means someone clicked on a link from another site that directed them to yours.
- Email traffic comes from people clicking links in your email campaigns. If people click on the links in your emails, it means they’re engaging with your content and visiting your site.
- Social clicks are when users click on links to your site from social media platforms after seeing buzz or mentions about your brand.
According to research, Shopify stores mainly get visitors through organic traffic. This is great news because organic traffic is free, meaning people find your site through unpaid search results rather than paid ads.
Reasons why your Shopify store has low traffic
Low traffic to your Shopify store can lead to fewer sales. To know the causes, you can check out these possible issues and see if they apply to your store, along with ways to fix them.
Targeting the wrong audience
If your ads are reaching the wrong group of people, they won't click on them or will leave your store quickly. This can result in low traffic and poor sales. It’s important to know who your target audience is and when to reach them.
Solution: Find out who your ideal customers are by using surveys or checking social media posts about your products. Track changes in your click-through rates (CTR) and bounce rates when you adjust your ad targeting.
Targeting the wrong audience will lead to poor sales
Low-quality photos in ads
Using low-quality or unclear images in your ads can turn customers away. They may not trust your product and might choose a competitor instead. Good, clear images are essential.
Solution: Experiment with different types of images. For example, lifestyle photos might appeal more to your customers than generic stock photos.
Low-quality data feed
A data feed is a file that contains important details about your products. It helps keep your store and ads up to date. If your feed is poorly managed, it can hurt your store's performance. Problems like missing product descriptions, ads for out-of-stock items, or wrong product information can make customers less likely to trust your products and lower traffic to your store.
Solution: Invest time in improving your data feeds to ensure they are accurate and up-to-date. Alternatively, you can use a tool to streamline and simplify the process.
No Call-to-Action
Without a clear call to action (CTA), customers may overlook your ads or promotions. As a result, they could skip your products and not engage with your store.
Solution: Try A/B testing different CTAs to see which ones perform best. This will help you encourage more customer engagement with your ads.
Without a clear CTA, customers may overlook your promotion and skip your products.
No social media links
If your Shopify store doesn’t have visible social media links, it could hurt your sales. Many customers like to ask questions or learn more about your products through social media. If they can’t find your social profiles, they may decide not to buy from you.
Solution: Add social media icons to your website that link directly to your profiles. Keep your social pages updated with posts that highlight your products.
No contact or information pages
Not having contact information or details about your brand can make customers unsure about your store. If they can’t reach you easily, they may feel uncomfortable buying from you.
Solution: Add a contact form or display your email address on your site. Also, create a simple "About Us" page to share who you are and what your brand stands for.
No return policy
A store without a return policy can make customers hesitant to shop. Without one, they may not trust your store enough to make a purchase.
Solution: Write a clear, fair return policy and make it easy for customers to find on your site. This can help improve the traffic to your Shopify store.
No navigation menu on the website
If your website doesn’t have a navigation menu, it can be hard for visitors to find products, causing them to leave. This results in lower traffic and fewer sales.
Solution: Learn how to set up Shopify’s navigation menus to make your website easier to navigate. Organize your products in a clear and simple way so visitors can find them quickly.
Navigation menu can help visitors to find products on your website more easily
Poor website design
A poorly designed website can slow down loading times, leading to frustrated visitors. This often results in them leaving the site before making a purchase.
Solution: Use Shopify’s themes to design a clean and visually appealing website. This will help ensure your site loads quickly and keeps visitors interested.
Conclusion
Learning how to drive traffic to the Shopify store is essential for growing your business. By using strategies like SEO, content marketing, and social media, you can increase your store's visibility and attract more visitors. If you are ready to learn how to drive traffic to your Shopify store, start now and watch your sales grow!
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