There are many ways to drive traffic to your eCommerce store. In fact, you can drive traffic for free by using a variety of methods, such as SEO, social media, email marketing, and more. By using these free methods, you can increase traffic and sales for your store.
In this article, I’ll discuss 18 different ways to drive traffic to your eCommerce store for free.
1. Use Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Search engine optimization (SEO) is one of the best ways to drive traffic to your eCommerce store for free. By optimizing your website for search engines, you can increase your visibility in the search results, which will lead to more traffic and sales.
There are many different aspects of SEO that you need to focus on, such as keyword research, link building, and more. The key is to find the right balance of SEO tactics that will help you achieve your desired results.
To get started with the basics of SEO, I’d suggest you spend some time reading and watching just about anything that Neil Patel puts out. He’s also got some great starter guides on his blog to help you understand how SEO works and where to start.
Keep in mind, that SEO is the long game, meaning it’s going to take some time to see the results, but it’s so worth it. I’d suggest you do this while implementing some of the other suggestions below.
2. Use Social Media
Creating a strong social media presence is another great way to drive traffic to your eCommerce store for free. By promoting your store on social media, you can reach a larger audience and increase the traffic to your website.
You can also use social media to build relationships with your customers and create loyalty so that when they are ready to buy what you are selling, they’ll already know, like, and trust you.
Remember, that there are many different social media platforms that you can use to promote your store, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more. The key is to find the platform that is most popular with your target audience and focus your efforts there.
You don’t need to be everywhere. You just need to be where your customers are spending their time. So do the research and make sure you are putting your efforts into the right platform.
If you are unsure how to do this properly, head over to my community on zindolabs.com, we can help.
3. Use Email Marketing
Creating an email marketing campaign is another great way to drive traffic to your eCommerce store for free. By sending out emails to your subscribers, contacts, friends, and family, you can promote your store and encourage people to visit your website.
If you choose email marketing as a viable option for your products, please start with adding value to anyone you are emailing. No one wants to just be sent messages saying ‘Buy My Stuff’. It’s important you respect your access to people’s email and use it appropriately.
There are many different platforms that you can use to create and send your email marketing campaign, such as Active Campaign, Mailer Lite, Constant Contact, and more. The key is to find the platform that best fits your needs, skill level, and budget.
4. Start a Referral or Affiliate Program
One great way to drive traffic to your eCommerce store for free is by starting a referral or affiliate program. With a referral program, you can reward your customers for referring new customers to your store. This will help you spread the word about your store and drive more sales.
In an affiliate program, you can have a partner send emails and announce your products to their audience. Should someone in their community or email list purchase from you, then you pay the affiliate/partner a percentage of the revenue generated. It’s a great win-win-win for everyone.
There are many different platforms that you can use to start a referral or affiliate program, such as ReferralCandy, First Promoter, and more. These types of sites can be used as stand-alone or integrated into your website. It all depends on what/where your site is built. But rest assured, there are tons of tools to choose from.
5. Optimize your website experience
One of the most important ways to drive traffic to your eCommerce store is by optimizing your website for your visitors. By making your website easy to use and navigate, you can encourage your visitors to stay longer on your website and buy products from you.
You can also use other methods to improve your website experience, such as providing helpful and informative content, offering customer support, and FAQs about your products.
Also, don’t forget mobile in this website optimization experience. According to Shopify,
So if you haven’t taken a look at how your prospective buyers are experiencing your site on their device, you could be leaving a huge amount of sales on the table.
6. Host a contest or giveaway
Another great way to drive traffic to your eCommerce store for free is by hosting a contest or giveaway. Contests and giveaways are a great way to generate interest in your store and encourage people to visit your website.
There are many different platforms that you can use to host a contest or giveaway, such as Rafflecopter, Gleam, and more.
7. Add a blog to your website
Adding a blog to your eCommerce store is another great way to drive traffic for free. By writing informative and engaging blog posts, you can attract new visitors to your website and increase traffic.
The focus should be to build relationships with your customers and create engagement.
This is also a great way to find out what other products they’d like from you, variations of the products you have, and get solid feedback from your customers.
It can be a bit of work at first but focus on writing just one article a week to get started. You’ll thank me later.
8. Add chat to your eCommerce website
Adding chat to your eCommerce website can be a great way to increase traffic and sales. By providing customer support through chat, you can help your customers solve any problems they may have and encourage them to buy products they may have been on the fence about.
Chat is also a great way to build relationships with your customers and create loyalty.
Think about the old brick-and-mortar days. When you walked into someone’s store… there was typically a salesperson to greet you, guide you, or answer any questions you may have. Live chat can do the same thing for a potential buyer.
There are many different platforms that you can use to add chat to your website, such as Zendesk Chat, Live Chat for WooCommerce, and more.
If you are looking for free tools, head over to zindolabs.com, post your question in the community, and let us know what your site is built on. We can make some suggestions from there.
9. Focusing on your product descriptions
When writing your product descriptions, it’s important to focus on the value that your products provide to the buyer, not the benefits of the product. By emphasizing the value of your products, you can encourage buyers to purchase from you.
It’s also important to be clear and concise in your descriptions. Don’t overwhelm buyers with too much information. Instead, focus on providing the most important information that will help them make a buying decision.
Remember, they are looking for your product to solve something for them. Does it get them the result they are looking for? Write about that.
10. Add User Generated Content
Adding user-generated content to your eCommerce store can be a great way to drive traffic and sales. By providing customers with a platform to share their own content, you can encourage them to visit your store and buy products from you.
Also, keep in mind, that user-generated content is a great way to build relationships with your customers and create loyalty. There are many different platforms that you can use to add user-generated content to your store, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, and more.
If creating content is tough for you, this could be a quicker solution to building up valuable content on your site.
11. Add social media buttons to your website
Adding social media buttons to your eCommerce store is a great way to increase traffic and sales. By allowing customers to share your products and content on social media, you can reach a wider audience and encourage people to visit your store.
Social media buttons are also a great way to build relationships with your customers and create loyalty.
There are many different tools you can use to add social media buttons to your website, depending on what platform your eCommerce store is built on.
Unsure which tool is right for you? Share what you are looking for in zindolabs Community and we’ll make some suggestions as to where to start.
12. Offer Free Shipping
Offering free shipping is a great way to encourage buyers to purchase products from your eCommerce store. By providing free shipping, you can eliminate any barriers that may prevent buyers from buying products from you versus, say, Amazon.
There are many different ways that you can offer free shipping, such as through a loyalty program, minimum purchase amount, or subscription. The key is to find the right method for your business and an offer that will work best for your customers.
But the important thing to remember here, is buyers are used to getting free shipping. Think Amazon Prime as an example.
So I’d suggest you find a way to add it into the price, use companies like UPS Ground, etc., and then shop the rates until you get a winning combination.
13. Upsells and Cross-sells
Creating the opportunity for upsells and cross-sells is a great way to increase sales for your eCommerce store. By suggesting related products to buyers, you can encourage them to purchase more products from you at once.
There are many different ways that you can create the opportunity for upsells and cross-sells, such as through product recommendations, bundles, and more. The key is to find the right method for your business and an offer that will work best for your customers.
This is also where your Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) is established. If this is the first time hearing about LTV, here’s a great article from Hubspot explaining it all.
14. Create a sense of urgency
Creating a sense of urgency is a great way to increase sales for your eCommerce store by providing buyers with a limited amount of time to purchase a specific product.
There are many different ways that you can create a sense of urgency, such as through flash sales, countdown timers, and more. The key is to find easy ways to implement this strategy in your store, in your content, and on social media.
15. Offer discounts and coupons
Offering discounts and coupons are a great way to encourage buyers to purchase products from your eCommerce store. By providing buyers with a discount on their purchases, you can eliminate any barriers that may prevent them from buying products from you.
There are many different ways that you can offer discounts and coupons, such as through a loyalty program, return customer promotion, or special first-time buyer discounts.
The key is to find create discounts or promotions that you know will continue to bring in buyers at the top of the funnel so you can sell them more as they move through your sales funnels.
16. Launch new products
If you want to increase traffic and sales for your eCommerce store, you need to consider if launching more products is a viable option.
By adding new products to your store, you can attract new buyers and encourage them to purchase existing products from you. In addition, launching new products is a great way to build relationships with your existing customers.
There are many different ways that you can launch new products, such as through social media, email marketing, and more. The key is to create products your customers want.
And a side note: I don’t typically suggest my clients launch new products until their current product has generated one million dollars in sales. That’s typically when you know your market, product, and audience well enough to add the next product.
17. Use influencers
Using influencers is a great way to increase traffic and sales for your eCommerce store. By having influencers promote your products, you can reach a larger audience and with their endorsement, encourage them to purchase products from you.
There are many different ways that you can use influencers, such as through social media, email marketing, and more. The key is to find the right influencer that has an audience of your buyers.
Just because you may know a person of influence, doesn’t mean that the community they have would buy what you are selling. So it’s more important that they have the ‘right’ audience for your product.
18. Understanding who your buyer and what they want
And my last, but most important tip.
Understanding who your buyer is and what they want is a key part of running a successful eCommerce store.
By understanding your buyer, you can create products that they will be interested in purchasing. In addition, understanding your buyer is a great way to build relationships with them and create loyalty.
There are many different ways that you can understand your buyers, such as through market research, social media, and more. The key is to do the research BEFORE you ever launch a store.
If you’ve already launched, that’s ok, it’s not too late to do the research and make sure that your product is solving a need your buyer has. So dig in, do the research, and remember it will evolve over time, so don’t get hung up on where you are starting.
The important thing to remember is to start, listen and adjust as your buyers’ needs evolve.
Conclusion: eCommerce Store Tips
What are your favorite tips from this list of 18 eCommerce recommendations? Which ones will be most helpful to you? Do you feel like you’ve got some solid ideas to implement in your online store?
The most crucial thing to remember is that you don’t have to accomplish everything at once; all you need to do is gradually put them into action in order to start seeing results.
I’d suggest you identify the quickest and easiest first, by analyzing where the opportunities with your eCommerce store are.
Perhaps you need to up your social media engagement or enhance your checkout process. Most of the updates may be made in a few days or over a couple of weeks. So start there and let me know if I can help.
What are some of the ways you’ve gotten the best results to increase traffic to your eCommerce store, I’d love to hear them.
