How Do I Generate Organic Traffic to an eCommerce website?

Just yesterday I had a long discussion with a client regarding SEO (Search Engine Optimization), Marketing/Advertising, and other topics related to the subject of website traffic to increase product sales.

I started by pinpointing the fact that his website had no value to the search engines because of his light content selection and the lack of valuable information for visitors. Even though his main goal was to increase sales, it doesn’t mean he can’t use content to generate traffic and sales. It’s this method of increasing sales that I have found to be very effective. There is also always the option of advertising, but in this situation it wouldn’t have generated a good ROI. (ROI = return on investment)

“So what type of content can I add to my site? It revolves around my product; not content.” I responded to his question by giving him some ideas…

Start a Message Forum – Not only do message boards/forums generate unique content, but its an excellent way to get your visitors to keep coming back to your site. If your site sells purple widgets, then make a forum dedicated to the discussion of purple widgets!
Write Articles, FAQs, Help Guides – Get some quality, unique articles that are valuable to customers. Article topics can include Help Guides and/or information related to your products. You may even consider having professionals in your field generate articles discussing the value of your products.
Testimonials - Be sure to dedicate an area for customer testimonials. Even though you may think testimonials are small, they can add up to a great looking database promoting your products.

As you can see there are many ways to generate content; even for an eCommerce website. Along with properly targeted keywords, descriptions, and titles; your content will provide a winning combination for attracting visitors to your new and improved, valuable website.

-Smart Boy Designs