Having a website doesn’t mean that shoppers will automatically make it to your eStore. But there are a few steps you can take that will drive traffic to your site, therefore maximizing your return on investment. You want potential parts buyers to find your online store when searching for parts and you can actively drive customers to your site by doing some of the following:
Marketing your site
Let’s be honest, there’s a lot of competition in online parts sales, that’s why marketing your parts website is necessary. Whether you decide to hire a marketing company or do all the marketing in-house, keep in mind that a marketing campaign doesn’t have to be expensive to be effective. You can create a profitable marketing campaign that will reach your target customers and increase your ROI.
If you’re looking to jump-start your marketing campaign, Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is an option you should definitely consider. The benefit of PPC campaigns is that you’re only paying for the number of times that your ad is clicked on. And by trying different keyword variations using PPC, you can determine which keywords will send you quality traffic and which ones to steer clear of. This is all very helpful in boosting your organic search engine optimization (SEO). Both Google AdWords and Bing Ads have useful PPC platforms that can assist you in driving traffic to your parts website.
Email marketing is an economical and cost-effective way to strengthen your relationship with your customers. Whether these customers made a purchase, or simply visited your website in the past. Re-engage these customers, show them some love by sending out coupon codes, deals, and promotional emails. If you’re interested in setting up some automated email campaigns, below is a list of some popular email marketing online providers:
- MailChimp
- Drip
- AWeber
- Constant Contact
- Campaign Monitor
SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
SEO helps you increase the quality and quantity of the traffic on your site. It’s an incredible marketing tool, as this will help you boost your Google ranking and drive traffic to your site organically. Adding relevant content to your site will help improve your search-ability rate on multiple search engines.
Do some keyword research, get an idea of what people are searching for in the automotive world and make these phrases and keywords part of your content. Using keyword research tools makes creating relevant keyword lists a lot easier. There are some amazing tools out there that can help you pinpoint what parts customers are searching for when they visit your site. Google Analytics, for example, its free, easy to use and it helps you increase both the traffic on your website and your ranking on Google search by tracking and reporting the following:
- Phrases and keywords that are relevant to your business
- Your website’s traffic and allows you to see how visitors found your site
- The number of times that your website has appeared on search engines
- The phrases and keywords that you rank for
- Your average ranking for those keywords
- The number of clicks you got from that ranking
Also, take advantage of the Google Adwords Keyword planner to reach the right people with the right keywords and phrases.
Social Media
Social media is an extremely important component of any business’ marketing strategy. People are on Facebook, and Instagram all day, you’re going to want to target these people. These are big channels and great opportunities to drive traffic to your site and generate sales. Build your brand following organically by engaging and being a part of social media, follow big automotive companies and post relevant content regularly.
The idea is to engage new customers as well as re-target past customers that have already visited your website. With social media ads such as Facebook and Instagram ads, you can keep your brand fresh in your customer’s mind. And the good thing about Facebook and Instagram is that you can run effective ads that generate leads for your business on any budget.
No matter what route you decide to take, keep in mind that you’re not alone. Here at PartSites, we have the knowledge and experience to get your website ranking as well as producing sales that will increase your ROI. Contact our Support line and one of our representatives will happily connect you with the right person.