A HOW-TO GUIDE TO USING PAID AND ORGANIC GENERATION AND TRACKING STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE AN E-COMMERCE STORE'S WEBSITE
Brick-and-mortar stores are out, and digital storefronts are dominating the market. Sales at Mom-and-pop shops and department stores are going down yearly, with consumers shopping more and more online. An e-commerce business needs to capitalize on the online world and emphasize driving conversions, starting with targeting potential customers and getting them to visit.
Generating traffic is the only way to increase website sales. An e-commerce website must have a steady flow of visitors all day, every day, at a manageable and sustainable cost to be profitable. Becoming and staying profitable in e-commerce is more easily achieved by building a Traffic System.
The Importance of a Traffic System
Implementing a Traffic System enables owners to achieve goals by following practical steps. While no system is foolproof or comes with a guarantee, utilizing proven approaches can guide an owner to yield optimal results.
Systems help improve traffic by streamlining complicated procedures that can feel cumbersome and become a burden to many owners. There are generally two approaches to structuring a Traffic System. The first approach is paying for ads and tracing traffic, and the second is building traffic organically.
A Paid Traffic System
The paid route, using Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Meta ads, can become expensive and is a cost that can quickly eat into a new business’ profits. Established e-commerce stores looking to expand their reach usually benefit more from PPC and Meta ads than a new store that cannot allocate sufficient time to manage a Paid Traffic System.
1. Proper Organization and Research
When implementing a Paid Traffic System, e-commerce business owners need to take time to understand conversion rates and tracking clicks. Proper organization is vital when building a Paid Traffic System.
The more time spent researching, prepping, and tracking, the greater success an e-commerce business can have in driving traffic to its website. If an e-commerce business owner does not trace traffic, then marketing is a misuse of time and money.
2. Urchin Tracking Module (UTM)
The entry into Paid Traffic Systems for most e-commerce businesses is Google Analytics, more specifically, Urchin Tracking Module (UTM). UTM is a code placed at the end of a Universal Resource Locator (URL) to track search terms, emails, social media, and traffic sources.
If an e-commerce business does not use UTMs, there’s no way to determine where the website traffic originates, making it impossible to find what audiences are visiting. Thus, losing the opportunity to fine-tune strategies.
3. Conversion Pixels
Tracing the traffic is not enough. An owner needs to know the cost per sale, right down to the very last cent, which is easily achievable using conversion pixels. Pixels are a code on an e-commerce website’s landing pages that tracks visitors’ actions upon arrival from an ad. Pixels track and store visitors’ data, including clicks, dwell time, page interest, and total spending.
Paid Traffic Systems are very rewarding when done correctly, but unless an owner has an analytics specialist on staff or the time to learn and tend to the system adequately, it can become a costly nightmare. POLA Marketing can show e-commerce owners the beauty of designing a Paid Traffic System that converts to sales.
The Three Pillars of an Organic Traffic System
The second approach to creating a Traffic System is to use organic steps. This approach is not just for new businesses but also experienced ones. An Organic Traffic System involves search engine optimization (SEO), blog writing, and social media marketing. These three pillars are the key components that support an Organic Traffic System.
The three pillars are essential because search engines are the way most consumers research products and services. In the e-commerce industry, a business needs to be in the top half of the search engine results page (SERP) for applicable keywords consumers search for to generate traffic.
1. SEO Web Design
For an e-commerce site to get into the top half of the SERP, an owner must first use SEO tactics to optimize their website. A fully optimized website is interactive, easy to navigate, and responsive. Every landing page on an e-commerce website should load in under two seconds, and the website needs to be mobile-friendly, as consumers mostly search for information through their phones.
Human elements, like testimonials and team profiles, allow for connections to form between consumers and e-commerce websites. Visuals like professionally taken photos and videos also increase visitors’ dwell times on websites. Having interactive and engaging content can help establish visitors’ shopping experiences and create repeat customers.
2. SEO Blog Writing
The second pillar is SEO blog writing, which includes fresh, informative, keyword-heavy articles. An e-commerce blog must remain relative by regularly adding new written content. It’s a commitment, but if an e-commerce business consistently produces articles, momentum will build, and its SEO footprint will increase.
3. Social Media Marketing
Social Media Marketing is the third pillar of building a successful Organic Traffic System. The dominant social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Utilizing these platforms through written content, graphics, and video is essential to drive traffic to an e-commerce website.
Call in a Professional
At POLA Marketing, we understand that owning an e-commerce business is taxing, and implementing a Traffic System can become too time-consuming to maintain appropriately. POLA Marketing is a full-service marketing agency that creates Paid and Organic Traffic Systems with its talented team of experts.
