How to get more traffic to your WooCommerce store

This is part 10 of 30 in a series on improving your WooCommerce Store. If you're just arriving at this site for the first time, you should know this post is part of a WooCommerce series. Here are the first 9 posts to catch you up.

  1. WooCommerce Product Comparisons
  2. WooCommerce Product URLs
  3. Wishlists for Guests
  4. Affiliate / Recommendation Programs
  5. Funnels & One-Time Offers
  6. WooCommerce Category Pages
  7. WooCommerce Recommended Products
  8. WooCommerce Product Reviews
  9. WooCommerce Payment Gateways – Amazon

But today we're talking about traffic. And I want to help you get more traffic to your site.

Want to get more traffic to your WooCommerce store? The answer isn't sales and promotions

Of cour,se you've probably tried promotions and/or coupons, and while you'll see an uptick in traffic, many store owners notice that the result is simply a shift in when purchases were made. Worse, you end up training your customers to wait for the sale they know is around the corner.

I'm not against sales and promotions, but I don't think it's the magic bullet that solves all your issues of traffic.

And I know you're about to say there is no magic bullet, but I think there is. I actually think there is an approach that will bring you consistent traffic.

Embrace your buyer's journey

The reality of the situation is that few people are going to know the name of your product and do a search that lands them directly on the product page. Maybe you're Apple and are selling an iPhone. But most of the folks I work with aren't.

[tweet “How can you get more traffic to your online store? Focus on content.”]

So if that's the case, how can you get more traffic to your online store? You focus on content. Because people who are searching, learning and figuring out what they want to buy (or how much to buy, or how much it might cost), do a lot of searching before buying. And writing content that answers those questions will bring a constant flow of traffic to your store.

Let me walk you thru a simple example: buying a television.

If you want to buy a television, and haven't done so in the last five years, you may not know what to look for other than price or size. But the world of TVs has been changing. So you might need to ask a few questions:

  • Should I focus on the best value or the best picture?
  • What's the best television under $1500?
  • Should I purchase a 4k television?
  • What makes a good TV?
  • How big a room do I need for a 60″ TV?
  • How many HDMI inputs should I have?
  • Is Ultra HD really worth it?
  • What kind of tv can I get for $500?

Notice that these questions focus on what a buyer considers long before landing on the product page to make a purchase. It's how a person gets educated and starts filtering all the various options down to a nice TV like the Samsung 55″ 4k Smart LED.

The answer is content

The answer to the question of getting consistent traffic is content. You need more than your store pages. Most importantly, you need a variety of different content:

  • Buying Guides to help people understand their needs and wants better
  • Comparisons to help people evaluate their options
  • Beware Tips to protect people from silly mistakes
  • Decision Criteria to help people with lists of things to evaluate
  • Lists to help people find the best option based on their interests
  • Getting Started advice for the initial post purchase moments

And that's only the textual content you could spend time developing. You can also create decision guides and lists as infographics that can be placed in other spots like Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. All of these visual guides are easily shareable and will also bring folks back.

Are you ready?

At this poi,nt you might think that there's nothing “magic” about this. But the good news is that most of this content will be easier to update than to create, and it will pay dividends long after you initially create it. That's what will make it worth it.

If your store focuses not only on being a great store but also being a great educator of your prospects—in other words, a great content engine—you'll have no problem in your effort to get more traffic to your store.