How to get free traffic for e-commerce websites. There are two types of e-commerce website traffic sources: paid and free. Today, we will talk about the 25 best ways to drive traffic to your store.
It's no secret that e-commerce sales are exploding. With more and more consumers shopping online, retailers are struggling to get consumers' attention.
But what if you don't have an advertising budget? How to drive traffic to your e-commerce store? How to promote your e-commerce website for free? How can you drive e-commerce sales without spending money on advertising? Are you doomed to disappear into the abyss of the web?
Absolutely not.
More than half of consumers prefer to shop online. That's great news for an online retailer like you, right?
However, with the rapid growth of online marketplaces and the vast array of items available to consumers, it can be difficult to drive traffic and revenue by capturing consumers’ attention.
Thankfully, you don't need a huge advertising budget to increase your e-commerce traffic.
I'll show you 25 ways to get more visitors to shop on your e-commerce site without spending a cent on advertising.
Is sound impossible?
Then you are wrong.
Can I really grow traffic without buying ads?
E-commerce is growing at an annual rate of 23% and will only continue to grow due to the proliferation of mobile devices and the Internet of Things.
Even better, e-commerce sales are expected to top $2.4 billion this year.
The thing is, it's hard to beat the competition without spending a fortune on advertising, right?
This is a common misunderstanding.
Big retailers with big budgets tend to throw money at their marketing problems.
By contrast, smaller retailers without unlimited marketing and advertising dollars may feel at a disadvantage.
Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to drive traffic and acquire customers without overspending.
How to drive traffic to your online store for free?
On the Internet, to sell something, you must first have users. For an e-commerce website, it is easier said than done to get traffic. After obtaining traffic, I hope to convert it into effective traffic.
Based on my own e-commerce website operation experience, the author shares several effective free traffic methods.
The big sellers are all madly advertising, and the effect of advertising is unquestionable. The problem is that those who are new to e-commerce do not have so much budget, and they dare not spend so much budget on online advertising.
It's really unbearable to spend thousands of dollars on advertising fees.
First of all: I don’t know if I can run out of the effect
Second: when I first entered the e-commerce industry, I found that there are too many places to spend money, and the limited resources must be allocated carefully
25 Ways to Get Free Traffic for E-commerce Website
1. Referral Marketing
If your e-commerce site doesn't already have a referral program in place, it's worth trying.
81% of consumers say a referral from a friend or family member heavily influences their purchasing decision.
This does not need to be elaborated.
Give customers an easy way to view reviews and testimonials, as well as recommend your brand to others.
The front end takes a bit of work, but here’s why it matters to you: The lifetime value of customers acquired through referrals is 25% higher than other customers.
This is true for Dropbox. Their referral program allowed them to grow from 100,000 users to over 4 million users in just 15 months.
He did it by inviting friends to get free traffic
Users who sell virtual users can copy
But most merchants sell physical objects, so what to do?
It's actually quite simple:
- Invite friends to get discounts
- Retweet to get gifts (do Giveaways through social platforms)
- Invite friends to help haggle the price
2. Buyable Pins
Pinterest offers a unique feature that allows users to search for products and buy directly on the Pinterest website.
Most social media platforms are paid when it comes to advertising or direct links. So far, this feature on Pinterest will not cost you anything.
Online retailers can set up purchase navigation for free, and consumers can easily search and find:
Think Pinterest is just for users to casually look at? Think again.
87% of Pinterest users have already purchased an item they selected using navigation, and active navigation users bring in 9% more revenue than inactive users.
3. Upsells
One of the most readily available sales weapons is overlooked by many smaller e-commerce stores: upsells
The so-called upsell is to let users buy more and increase the unit price through certain sales techniques
There are various methods, such as full discount, free shipping, buy 2 get 1 free, discount on top, etc.
In your current customer base alone, upsells can lead to an average 4% increase in sales.
It may not sound like a lot, but when combined with the total revenue, the effect can be seen.
Amazon's first year of upsells saw its sales increase by 35%
Add-on products for warranty or sales bundle recommendations, such as Amazon's example:
Now the cost of acquiring new users is increasing year by year, so how to increase the unit price of old users is a problem worthy of study.
After all, there is no cost to upselling these users
4. Content Marketing
I believe everyone is familiar with this
But there are not many people who really do well, because it is really difficult to persevere
Moreover, the so-called content marketing of Laogou is not using crawlers to catch some junk articles, because although these junk articles can bring traffic, most of them are invalid traffic.
E-commerce needs high-quality traffic
Then this puts high demands on the content we output
For example, you have your own unique insights and ideas in the content, or find the differentiation of your own products and highlight them in the article
Let's look at an example of a stripe
The value proposition is clear in the content, he sells value, not product
Friends who are affiliates should know the meaning of angle
That is to say, the introduction of a product must have a unique angle and selling point
There is an example in the advertising industry that is worth learning from
A person wrote an advertisement copy about car GPS. His copy started from the perspective of installing GPS on his wife's car, and the sales volume increased greatly.
So what if you can't write, and even if you can write, but can't write in English?
There are many freelance websites where you can find someone to ghostwrite, and the price is not too expensive
Alas, when it comes to freelance outsourcing, there are many ways to make money by relying on poor information and going back and forth between domestic and foreign countries.
Really, making money in this society is really simple. To put it simply, there are two points: brain and hands.
If you say every day that you can't make money, then you either don't like to use your brain or you don't like to use your hands
About how to make money through foreign freelancers, Laogou will write an article in the future
5. Pay attention to your website speed
Prospective clients that are hard to come by at a great cost
As a result, the website opened too slowly and left it, are you angry?
Now Shopify is also aware of the importance of website opening speed and has specially launched a website opening speed prompt
Click on the picture in turn, you can see the speed score of the website
answersrates.com site has not been optimized, and the speed score is relatively low
How much is your own station rating, you can reply below
If your website takes longer than three seconds to load, you could lose up to 50% of your visitors
And when they go, they may never come back. Nearly 80% of visitors who are disappointed with a site's load time will never visit again.
If the website is not built with Shopify, we also have other ways to test the website opening speed
Google Page Speedtest
The mobile station opens the speed test, which is also Google's
So how do optimize the low-speed score?
Pay attention to answersrates.com, I will publish a special article "How to optimize the opening speed of e-commerce websites"
6. Add Product Reviews
The importance of product reviews is believed to be unknown to anyone in e-commerce. It is an unspoken rule in the industry to spend money on reviews.
Good product reviews can greatly increase conversion rates
Product Reviews on Amazon Product Pages:
Express Watches increased conversions by over 58% by using product reviews:
After all, no one wants to be the first person to eat crabs or to be a guinea pig.
Users want to get the most realistic description of the product through product evaluation, not the self-selling and boasting of the merchant
At this time, all we need to do is to install a suitable review plugin on Shopify.
There are many review plugins for Shopify, and the better ones are charged, and the charges are really not cheap.
In the future, answersrates.com will add a Shopify review plugin evaluation, please look forward to it.
7. Optimize mobile pages individually
Generally, sellers do not pay special attention to the mobile terminal of the website.
They are all optimized on the computer side, and then try it on the mobile phone. If you can open the effect, it will be OK. In fact, this is far from enough
60% of users buy goods online from a mobile device. Whatever you do, don't forget to optimize your site for mobile shoppers.
So how to optimize it?
This picture clearly describes the importance of each function on the phone
We can use google's mobile usability test tool to test Enter your web page address at https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly to see the effect
8. Strategic SEO
We all know SEO is important, but sometimes we just go along with it instead of giving it the attention it deserves.
93% of web traffic comes from search engines, and less than 5% of web searchers land on the second page of search results.
So, all we have to do is, go to the home page!
Pay attention to the product keywords you should use.
But just using a tool like Google Keyword Planner is not enough
For information on SEO optimization, you can see another article by the answersrates.com
"Free keyword research tools", want to send it?
9. Do your research
When someone visits your website, do you tell him at a glance how to fix his problem?
More than 75% of online shoppers say their first impression of a website has a significant impact on whether they buy from the site.
Don't have to be a long list, try to make your product features jump out of the way, like Warby Parker's example
Sleek, easy-to-use navigation designs your entire website to be easy to use and intuitive. Apple excels at this:
10. Sending Abandoned Cart Emails
I believe that many people have such an experience, the customer did not pay after adding the product to the shopping cart
Fortunately, we have a remedy. In fact, almost 30% of abandoned carts are recovered using the abandoned cart email feature.
In Shopify, there are countless similar plugins
And once they return to the site and make a purchase from the restore cart email, the repurchase rate of such users is much higher than that of users who buy directly
11. Test your CTAs
What does CTA mean? = call to action = call to action or imperative word
If you don't have a clear call to action on your website, you need to create some.
In fact, 70% of small B2B sites lack CTAs
Only 2% of web traffic leads to sales on the first visit, so capturing email addresses via CTA is critical.
The role of e-mail in e-commerce is really too important. It is very different from the fact that Chinese people don't pay attention to e-mail. Foreigners' e-mail is very important. They often check their own e-mail.
And through email, our FB ads can also create a more targeted audience
So, be sure to use all means to obtain emails from users and prospective users
See the following example from HubSpot:
Which one is better, we need to keep testing
Tested by way of an A/B test, they found that the conversion rate of the red button is 21% higher than that of the green button
In this example, you should also consider personalizing the CTA like Square
They include not only the benefits to the buyer but also an explainer video after the CTA. These extra elements of personalization for your target audience can increase conversion rates to 42%
12. Send promotional emails
You've been working hard to build a robust user list. Now, what do you use it for?
Try testing it out with promotional emails.
do you know? Repeat customers spend, on average, 67% more than new customers.
Promotional emails build customer loyalty and keep customers coming back for more. Make your "best customers" more attractive than others.
Check out this example from Birchbox.
Discount for customers, which is a repeat sale opportunity. Everyone is a winner.
61% of marketing experts believe that email marketing is one of the best tools for marketers to engage with their audiences. Use it often, but use it wisely.
13. Simplify the checkout process
I believe that even you will abandon the shopping cart because of the cumbersome checkout process
Know why a certain Alipay launched face-scanning payment and why it launched password-free payment
It is to maximize the simplification of the payment process. The shorter the process, the higher the conversion rate.
Because many people spend on impulse, the checkout is too cumbersome and the checkout time is prolonged. The result is: the hothead cools down
take a look at the data
Has your store been optimized according to the above steps?
Optimization tips include:
- Eliminate unnecessary text, buttons, and navigation
- Enable express guest checkout
- Make the process mobile-friendly
- Offers a variety of payment methods
It's a hassle to adjust, but it's really worth it
Again, a lot of people are "lazy"
Then we will give you a little motivation
Clean Program increased conversions by 76% by cleaning up the checkout process.
14. Offer Rewards Program
80% of your future profits will come from 20% of your current customer base.
In other words, 20% of your future sales support 80% of your revenue from your current customers.
PS: The twenty-eight rule is the twenty-eight rule again. Always try to do 20%
One of the most famous examples is Amazon Prime
It is well known, widely trusted, and growing at a rate of 38% per year.
Amazon Prime provides enough value for plan members that they can even charge an annual participation fee and customers are happy to pay.
Of course, answersrates.com is not suggesting that you charge a membership fee, but the Amazon Prime model is undoubtedly ideal for you.
Its meaning is to always serve 20% of your high-quality customers first.
On the basis of serving existing high-quality customers, expanding new customers
15. Try using retargeting
Retargeting (not redirects) is a smart way to collect data about your visitors
Here's how it works, in a nutshell:
This is a real-world example where Mazda has tested that users who come using redirects convert 53% more than the control group.
They use smart ads to retarget shoppers most likely to go to a specific Mazda dealership in their area and match inventory information to those buyers.
Retargeting is effective because it matches known shopper behavior with specific marketing messages. When done right, it can increase ad response rates by up to 400%
Isn't it good to get traffic for free, how to advertise and promote...
Well, in fact, retargeting your customers does not necessarily have to be through advertising. After collecting customer emails, you can search for customers through FB for manual retargeting, you know.
16. Make a sense of urgency
Visitors who leave your site without making a purchase, planning to come back later, rarely actually make a purchase.
Therefore, it is particularly important to create a sense of urgency when customers visit. Again, give customers a reason to buy.
For example "Act now! Quantities are low!" "Buy now for free shipping!" or "This is a limited-time offer!"
You can use it from a variety of angles, as long as your visitors have a "don't miss" feeling.
Take a look at this example from American Apparel:
They're there to warn shoppers in a red font that they're about to sell out.
Content that increases urgency has a 14% higher click-through rate, a 59% higher click-through rate for deals, and double the conversion rate of other marketing emails.
17. Integrated Live Chat
83% of shoppers need help at some point in the buying process.
Chat has become the channel of choice for customer service.
51% of customers say they are more likely to make a purchase from a site that offers chat than one that doesn't.
Can't support 24 hours chat? Try a chatbot, such as Driftbot's chatbot.
Chatbot's interface and functionality have been optimized for a long time since its inception. They save time, provide answers to frequently asked questions, and are an easy way to expand your customer service capabilities.
18. Sell Price Not Features
Consumers buy things to solve problems.
20% of non-purchases are caused by poor product descriptions that brag about the product rather than offer a solution.
An easy fix? For each feature listed, consider the associated benefits to consumers.
Take a look at an example of Gillette's 5-point feature on Amazon:
Your customer can be anyone, and give visitors a reason to believe that your product is the only one that will solve their problem.
In fact, sometimes the reasons why users buy products are really unexpected.
So how do you tap customer needs?
- Quora
- Product-related review sites
- Check user reviews of shopping platforms, such as Amazon
- discount site
- Industry Forum
- Facebook-related groups
19. Add a video to the item
43% of consumers want to watch more video content.
To learn more about a product, 67% of YouTube viewers want to see product reviews that help them choose a product.
An easy way to connect video to your e-commerce site is to consistently publish instructional content to drive visitors to your product pages. Hootsuite does a great job.
Consumers look for video content. YouTube has 1.5 billion monthly viewers, and all you have to do is upload a video.
But to be honest, the threshold for making videos in the industry is a little high. If you need to show your face, the face of the yellow race is definitely not very good.
But it's fine to just shoot the product, and then add the description text without dubbing.
If you still think it's too difficult, we will teach you a nirvana. You can use the product image to generate a video. The Quik app can achieve this function.
In addition to Youtube, Tiktok can also be reversed to self-built stations, but now Tiktok in the United States seems to have no way to survive
20. List Your Bestsellers
There are too many possibilities for online shopping, and too many temptations can influence the choice of tourists
Listing the best-selling items on the page is very effective to help consumers choose.
answersrates.com has said more than once that customers need a reason to spend money first, and then they need a choice
Therefore, both of these points must be done well. Customers have difficulty in making choices, so you should try to help customers make choices as much as possible.
Amazon really does a good job at this
It's just a hint (or inducement): in reality, they don't have to be your best-selling products. You can add anything to your list that you want to help your visitors buy.
21. Optimize Your Product Reviews
70% of customers look at reviews or ratings before deciding to buy. Plus, review pages are also easier to get to the top of search results than product pages.
Zappos is a company known for its customer service, with prominent reviews on every product.
Honesty is the best strategy when it comes to reviews. 68% of consumers trust reviews only when there is positive and negative feedback.
That is to say, the comments cannot be all about how good the product is, and there is also a technique for counterfeiting. I believe everyone can understand this.
22. Know your customers
If you don't have customers, how can you possibly sell to them?
47% of leading companies in each industry maintain and update their customer positioning on a regular basis
If you are interested, you can check out saasquatch.com, they can provide this kind of service
Before starting his own independent station, Laogou also made user portraits for users.
Knowing who your customers are is very important
23. Build trust
19% of shoppers abandon a purchase because they don't trust the security of online payment systems.
So it's really important to have the security badge prominently displayed on your site.
Depending on your target audience, you may want to research which icons work best for your target audience.
24. Free Shipping
52% of consumers add a lot of items to their carts to qualify for free shipping, while 47% of shoppers say they would abandon their carts if shipping wasn't included.
All of these metrics point to the same fact: consumers are reluctant to pay for shipping, and you have an opportunity to take advantage of that.
See how 2BigFeet increased conversions by 50% by simply offering free shipping on orders over $100
You can never satisfy all users. Remember the twenty-eighth points that Laogou has emphasized before, you only need to try your best to satisfy your 20% of users.
25. Collect data
If you want to build an email list and target repeat sales, you need their information.
Gather information via email, wishlist, and inventory notifications - ask for it anytime.
72% of consumers prefer to communicate with companies via email
Conclusion of free traffic acquisition for e-commerce websites
If you've read through the case studies and examples in this article, you should rest assured that you don't need a massive advertising budget to be successful in e-commerce.
These 25 items are not all ways to obtain traffic but maybe more to retain users and increase conversions.
If traffic comes and you can’t keep it, or if you keep it but don’t convert it, what’s the use of your traffic?
It is necessary to be creative enough to attract and retain customers
Know your customers and take advantage of some of the free tools and strategies we've listed in this article.
Put the consumer at the heart of how you build your website and write your content. Are you solving a problem or touting a feature?
Don't forget to perform regular status checks. answersrates.com has to check the website consumption process once a month
Of course, different commodities must adopt different strategies, and answersrates.com can only attract others.
If it doesn't bring in a ton of new conversions right away, try another strategy and you'll always find the way that works best for you.
In fact, I don't dare to say that I have done all of the above 25, let alone all of them. We are always optimizing and working together.