by Charles Pobee-Mensah, Director of Digital Marketing
Pouring money into ads can be nerve-racking. It's hard to know which platforms will give you the biggest boost and whether they're working. But what if you could multiply the effect of your ads? Well, with your website, you can.
Here's How It Works
When you run ads, people hear about you. If the ad does its job right, people will want to know more. For most people, that means checking out your website. If your site does its job, it will give that visitor (that you've already paid to reach) everything they need to feel comfortable to come in and buy.
Four Areas To Look At
We can break it down into a few different sections.
Enough Content
Having enough good content on the site is a big deal. We encourage jewelers to, over time, create large "cornerstone pages" for each main area of their business on their site. These pages are filled with pictures, information, buttons with a call to action, and even contact forms.
Also, every important page on the menu should have at least a paragraph written on it, even if it's a gallery. This allows you to set the tone and speak to the customer. It also gets some good SEO attention from search engines.
Updated Gallery
People like to see an accurate representation of inventory. If they feel that what they see on the site matches what they see in the store, you've got a winner on your hands. Seeing a mismatch here can lead to bad first impressions and bad reviews. If you have categories on the site that look barren, people will wonder if it's worth coming into the store.
Accurate Information
This can be anything from social media links to messaging across the site. As visitors navigate your website, they will draw conclusions about who they're dealing with from the quality of the information on the site. This is no different from the judgments they make from seeing your store in a presentable manner. Treat it like that and you'll do well.
Good User Experience
If your website is easy to use, you'll be rewarded for it. This included having clear menu navigation, a site optimized for mobile, and strong calls to action.
The Journey from an Ad
Because it's easy to research anything before buying, people will visit your website before deciding to make a purchase. This can happen one of a few ways.
- Direct Click - For online ads, they might click and come directly to the website.
- Search for You - If your ad did its job, they may think of you later and do a search for your website.
- Search for Jewelry - If your ad goes to someone who is later looking for jewelry, there's a great chance that they'll recognize your name among the choices and click to go to your website. This is why it's so important to have great content on the site. Google will be more likely to show pages like the "cornerstone pages" we mentioned above to searchers.
- Direct Traffic - A small number of people will remember the name of your website, type it in, and get to the right spot on the first try.
It's not likely that someone will come to your store without visiting the website. Fine jewelry is a large enough purchase that it's almost always worth the minimal effort to at least take a look. But the impression you give them by showing them good content, an updated gallery, accuracy, and good user experience will multiply the effects of the money you spent to get them to the site in the first place.
