If you’re working with clients who want to capture a bigger share of the online market, they need to attract attention during the holidays. This year, an increasing number of consumers will shop for holiday gifts online. And they’ll be tempted to do business with the companies that have secured a position on the first page of search engine results (SERP). It’s not easy for a company to appear on the first page of search engine results. But that’s exactly where your clients should be.

How to Attract New Shoppers

Every retailer knows they are up against the giant Amazon. That company swept up a significant percentage of new online shoppers last year by promising perks, like free shipping, in exchange for Prime membership.

How can your clients compete? First, they should learn the reasons behind a shopper’s decision to make an online purchase. According to the Nielsen Digital Shopping Fundamentals Study, consumers click the buy button when they get:

• Free/​reduced shipping 31%
• Product deal 36%
• Subscription service 5%
• Novelty 26%

Once a retailer scores a sale with a customer, they’ll find it easier to convince them to make another purchase. In fact, 58% of repeat buyers make a purchase simply because they’ve bought something from the site before. When your clients make this kind of offer and focus on their SERP position, they'll see revenue rise.

Your clients will likely object to any action plan that includes components such as free/​reduced shipping. They face a big challenge maintaining profit ratios when competing with Amazon. One way to get around this issue is to offer free shipping only when a specific basket size comes through. Messaging that encourages a customer to place one more item in their online shopping cart to qualify for free delivery can be extremely effective and preserve margins as shipping costs are distributed over a large order.

Another way to succeed in the online universe is to sell a unique product. Whether your client uses their own site for e‑commerce, or sells through a few trusted partners, the unique product strategy puts the volume competitors at a disadvantage. In addition, unique product listings can improve SERP position.

SERP

When your clients fall off the first page of search engine results, their clicks and sales drop. AudienceSCAN data, available at AdMall from SalesFuel, shows that about 20% of consumers never click past the listings on that first page when they are searching online. Sell your clients on a digital marketing services package that helps them improve their SERP position.