E-commerce is exploding on the Web as more and more people do their shopping online. Some Internet retailers are actually outselling their brick-and-mortar counterparts. Take full advantage of your web site to get your share of the billions of dollars spent online every year. In this article, we will cover 7 ways to increase your sales and revenue with your ecommerce web site. You can put any of these suggestions into practice immediately. With these methods, you are likely to see a dramatic increase in your web site sales and revenue.

1. Introduce Your Business Well
   Have a brief introduction on the homepage of your web site. Your introduction should be concise, and should clearly identify the benefits for visitors shopping at your site.
2. Make Your Navigation Crystal Clear
   Your site needs clear and easy navigation, a visible search box on the top part of your web site, clearly organized content that’s easy to browse, an FAQ page that explains your shipping and returns policies, and any other information that’s important for your business model.
3. Offer Gift Certificates
   Having gift certificates available on your web site offers people a way to spend money at your site by giving gifts at holidays, birthdays, weddings, and other celebrations.
4. Reinforce Customer Loyalty
   Give your customers an incentive to come back and do business with you again. You can offer coupons and special discounts to customers who have already purchased something from you. Keeping repeat customers is easier than acquiring new customers – they already feel comfortable shopping with you. If your business model warrants the expense, you can add even more value to your website by providing live customer support.
5. Present Sales and Special Offers
   Devote a section of your website to your current special offers and sales items. If your specials and sale items are numerous, you can feature the most popular ones on a high level page, and then create another page displaying all of your sales items.
6. Make Checkout Quick and Easy
   Make sure that your visitors are always just one click away from checkout. Reduce the checkout process to as few steps as possible. Offer multiple payment options, such as credit cards, Paypal, online checks, and mail orders. When you no longer have a product in stock, either remove it from your site, or clearly mark it as “out of stock”. Unless an item will be back in stock quickly, it may be best to remove it. Customers may become frustrated if they check back only to find that the item is still out of stock, and their frustration may cause them to shop elsewhere.
7. Develop an Affiliate Program
   The most successful web sites have affiliate programs. With your own affiliate program, you develop an online sales force, but you only pay them when a sale is made. There is no risk, and it is cost effective.