In this climate of change, traffic drops and uncertainty, I can offer eCommerce merchants a fast, easy and effective way to increase search traffic and sales. Maybe you don’t believe you can effect your search volume and conversions without the assistance of a marketing or SEO firm? You would be wrong…. Much more than that, this method is historically effective and free.

There is one caveat, you need a good analytics program in place with at least 3 months of data to get started. In our example we will use Google analytics because it’s free. Ready to get started?

The term “low hanging fruit” is actually a double edged opportunity. You have low hanging fruits that convert well and have poor search traffic, and you have fruits which have good traffic and convert poorly. We are going to help you identify and improve both in this post.

Products Which Convert Well, But Have Poor Search Traffic

This is hands down my favorite opportunity! We can take a product we know people want to buy and make it more visible in search. Getting more people to a product which converts well will add to your sales. Sales, that is why we have eCommerce shops, right?

1. Open the account you want to work with in Google Analytics.

2. Select the time frame you want to work with (top right). Keep in mind that going too long or too short can run through seasonal trends and such, changing your results. I usually use 3 months.

3. From the left hand menu click on “Traffic Sources”, then “Search” and finally “Organic”

4. Next we want to see conversion data for these keywords. Click the “Ecommerce” link.

5. To the right you will now see a keyword list of your organic visits. In the bottom right change the rows to 500 so we have more data.

6. Now the old Google Analytics could do a killer weighted sort here, but the new one falls short. So, click on the heading “Ecommerce Conversion Rate” and sort it so the highest conversions are at the top.

7. As we look down through this list we are looking for pages which converted very well, but have low visits. The reason is simple, these obviously convert well, lets send more visits to them!

Here is a great example:

cemetery flag holder has only 20 visits but converts at 16.67%

We are looking for phrases that are pretty targeted. cemetery flag holder is good, but outdoor flag is too big for this task.

8. Click on your keyword to open the detail page.

9. Now click on the right where it says “Secondary Dimension” , then “Traffic Sources” and finally “Landing Page.

10. There may be more than one landing page. This is a mixed bag or good and bad. Good to have the visits, bad that Google, instead of you decides which page is best.

11. In a new tab open up your landing page(s) and lets have a good long look at them.

Things We Are Looking For

— The keyword which converts well is mentioned in this page, but overly mentioned

— The text is very descriptive, helpful and authoritative

— There is enough text in total for the product that the search engines never have to guess what this page is about

Things to AVOID

— Avoid lists and rather use natural text when possible

— Use proper word, Google knows the difference between holder and holders for example. You only look stupid to those who would give you money by using improper words for rank. If my description says “Our cemetery flag holder” are made in the USA… I’m an idiot! It should be “Our cemetery flag holders are made in the USA“.

— Do not overuse your keyword(s). The search engines will think your content sucks, you are a spammer and never send their clients to this page!

— Spell check! Enough said

— Do not inundate your product’s description with a bunch of bold text, meaningless heading tags and links!

12. Once you have fixed up the page so that it’s more search AND shopper friendly, then share it on your company’s Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter page. One, time…….

Good Traffic, But Converts Poorly

1. Do steps 1-5 above.

2. Click on the heading “Ecommerce Conversion Rate” and sort it so the lowest conversions are at the top.

3. As we look down through this list we are looking for pages which converted very poorly, but have good visit numbers. The reason for this is also simple, these pages are getting traffic, but not making me any money! You might have to look deeper than 500 and you will have a ton of “one hit wonders”, which are not the “pot of gold” we are looking for.

Here is a great example:

outdoor christian flags has 27 visits and converts at 0%

We are looking for phrases that are pretty targeted. outdoor christian flags is good, but outdoor flags is too big.

4. Click on your keyword to open the detail page.

5. Now click on the right where it says “Secondary Dimension” , then “Traffic Sources” and finally “Landing Page.

6. There may be more than one landing page.

11. In a new tab open up your landing page(s) and lets have a good long look at them.

Why Don’t These Products Sell???

— Is your price too high? Maybe you cannot compete on price…. Then make damn sure you are selling the best customer service, trust and authority! People do NOT as a habit buy the least expensive, but rather somewhere in the middle.

— The description is clear, description, understandable?

— The image(s) clearly show what the shopper is getting?

— Compatibility, batteries, parts, assembly, warranties… these things are included in the description as needed?

— Now add it to your cart. Not only do we want to make certain the page is working, but maybe the widget in $900 to ship!

— Make certain you have clear and easy to follow shipping and returns policies in place.

— Make sure your telephone number is prominently displayed on ALL pages.

— Spell check anyone?

These 2 methods of capturing the sweetest low hanging fruit cost you nothing, but a bit of the dedication you need to be a successful business owner anyhow. Now, get to work!