"Why can't I get a sale?"

[BusinessAdviser]

Entrepreneur.com answers a question I keep seeing here.

Why can't I get a sale?
After four months, an online clothing entrepreneur hasn't had one customer. FSB diagnoses the problem.

(FORTUNE Small Business) -- Dear FSB: I have an online clothing store specializing in bohemian apparel for women. It's been four months already and I haven't gotten any sale. What am I doing wrong?

- Belissa Cipreni, Miami, Fl., Zabeshop.com

Dear Belissa: Opening an online store can be tricky: You have to stand out among thousands of women's apparel websites. "You need to take advantage of every opportunity to increase traffic," says Brent Birch, the director of FLEX360 Web Development. "Most importantly, ensure that it's search-engine friendly."

When Web surfers search for your company name, your site should be the first to pop up. The blurb describing your site reveals little information to intrigue and draw viewers in. Try rewriting the meta tags (descriptions, keywords, titles - anything that helps define a page), so that the search engine can pick up on them more easily.

Once that's fixed, you'll still face the dilemma of attracting customers. Solution? Contact other websites and blogs where your potential customers may already be aggregating. Offer to reciprocate links to drive additional traffic to both your site and theirs. In turn, both websites will receive a higher search engine ranking.

And don't neglect the appearance of your site. Consider redesigning the homepage with fewer photos and more text. "By using all graphics, there isn't search engine 'spider food' for search engines to index the site's content," says Birch. Plus, a site with less images will load quicker - a must for impatient shoppers.

One crucial part of the website is making sure the customers can pick out and buy an item with just one click of the mouse. Right now, customers who click products can see enlarged versions of them but don't have the option of purchasing. Your "Order Now" button should be placed next to each of the product images and descriptions and should lead directly to an order form. Also, to ease navigation through the store, Birch suggests showing store specials on the homepage.

Once the website design is set, market like crazy. Make sure every piece of material, from business cards to flyers to press packets, has the Web address on it.

[dfveteran]

It's good to see someone paying attention to detail. It's remarkable all the mistakes someone will make and then ask questions like; why can't I get a sale?

Great post, I love to write about this stuff. You hear stories like this all the time