Website Conversion Rates

[Matt989]

So, ive got my website, ive got it looking fairly nice, im sure you'll say if you disagree and ive got my content. Ive got the views coming in, all be in mainly from family and friends, flickr, talk photography backed up by the very occasional googler....

My problem is I tend to get quite a few views from each visiter but have yet to have anyone click the "Buy" button.....not even in interest, i.e. prices etc!

Anyone have this problem and better still, anyone had any success and sold via their site? I was thinking some images of some of the prints would help?

My site is www.matthirdphotos.com - suggestions on how to improve are always welcome!

 

[Jambo_84]

Its not like your prints are expensive so it cant be down to price. maybe your getting most hits from fellow togs who are unlikely to buy and just want to have a look. have you done any SEO work on the site?

 

[purpleclouds]

How are you tracking your visitors? I use Google Analytics..it is great for finding out where, why and how people have visited! I can do it with my webspace but it's quite hard to digest, whereas Analytics is laid out really easily.

 

[glitch]

So, ive got my website, ive got it looking fairly nice, im sure you'll say if you disagree and ive got my content. Ive got the views coming in, all be in mainly from family and friends, flickr, talk photography backed up by the very occasional googler....

And how are these people finding you? What are you top 20 referrals?

My problem is I tend to get quite a few views from each visiter but have yet to have anyone click the "Buy" button.....not even in interest, i.e. prices etc!

Let's turn the question back on itself. What makes you think that you're going to persuade someone who has found your site through a Google search to part with their money, irrespective of how nice your photography is.

Would you put your credit card details into a website you've never heard of?

Anyone have this problem and better still, anyone had any success and sold via their site? I was thinking some images of some of the prints would help?

It wouldn't hurt but I can't see how it would help either. Your problem is one of trust. Why should I trust you with my money?

How do I know that what I'm being told I'll receive is what I'll actually receive. Or if I'll even ever get it?

 

[Matt989]

Thanks, Some great point here, im in work now so cant discuss to much at the moment but id say they are all pretty valid, especially the point on trust and the point on where the referals are coming from.

Talkphotography is a big one then bebo, shots I have done for friends have created a bit of a stir within their circle friends when ive supplied a low res shot for bebo, however, I take your point, that isnt going to creat landscape photo sales!

I guess I should aim to get my site further up google rankings, im on the first page for "Scottish Landscape Prints" all be it at the bottom. But say I start getting a steady stream of unique views from google how do you allow people to "trust" you enough to buy from me?

By the way, im using google analytics to look at traffic and starting to get the hand of the custom features....

Thanks again for your input, its appreciated!

 

[Trev Rich]

Im sorry, this is off beat but when i looked at the link, I read it as "Mat third photography"
Nice images on site and it looks clean, but I think its going to be hard to sell images, for anyone really, unless its of a specific nature, I use my site to promote my work, show my quality (or not lol), and only sell the motox ones.

 

[Matt989]

Ive had the Mat Third thing before....its a little irritating but hopefully when people see the site and the "Matthew Hird Photography" they will, like you, twig what the actual name is.

I know your saying about it being hard to sell through a site, again, just speculating and guessing but that part of the trust thing....and to answer my own question about trust its all about being known and building a name for yourself.......

If someone sees your work displaid in a shop of a cafe for example and make the effort to google you, then the changes of converting that into a sale are much higher than if joe blogs from anytown stumbles across your site on google.

Short term, probably an advert for any portrait work I may get my way but long term it may well be possible to sell from my site depending on how aggresivelly I market myself!

Alot of this is me just thinking out loud, and its starting to make sense.....just because you take good photos doesnt mean someone is going to give there hard earned cash to buy them, there is more to it that sticking some photos on the web and a "buy now" link!!

 

[SimonTALM]

There is a sales technique called A.I.D.A. where the initials relate to the hurdles a client has to jump before they part with their cash.

A - Awareness: The client being aware of you and your product. This can be achieved through advertising, SEO, word of mouth etc and is one of the easiest things to do but can be costly if not done well. Basically I see this as marketing rather than sales.
I - Interest: Being interested enough to actually look at your product. This is really the start of the sales process from my point of view and if your potential client is already thinking getting photography, has googled and come across you then you have got past this stage. If not, your marketing materials need to create sufficient interest for your potential client to to pick up the phone.
D - Desire: Wanting your product over your competitor. Your potential clients need to see that you are better than your competitors, this is where your website needs to make the most impact, showing that they should buy from you. This is the main part of the sales process and also takes in to account any client meetings.
A - Action: Actually agreeing to buy and making the steps to buy. Usually very easy to jump this once the desire is there. However, a poor website sales solution or something going wrong at this stage can really screw it up.