Selling online can be a fantastic way to boost sales and reach new audiences, but many small businesses experience disappointing sales because they mistakenly assume that selling online is like selling face to face. This simply isn't true.
With live selling, you can adapt your message based on real-time feedback you receive from your prospect, such as facial expressions and body language. This personal interaction is lost when selling online. However, there are advantages to selling online, provided you follow these guidelines.

1. Identify your ideal buyer.

Many businesses focus so much on themselves when selling online that they forget about the most important factor—the buyer. You've got to know who your ideal buyer is so that you can create products and sales strategies that appeal to them. Most especially, you've got to know what their pains and problems are, what causes them anxiety and what keeps them awake at night. This will allow you to create products and services that appeal to them.

2. Tailor benefits for your audience.

Once you've identified your ideal buyer, clearly state and reinforce the benefits of your product or service as it relates to your buyer. Talk about how your product will ease their pains or help them accomplish their goals. If your product or service is a commodity, make sure to talk about the benefits of your solution over the competition's.

3. Create great product descriptions.

Product descriptions should be clear and exact. They should always go beyond a mere description and focus on what the product will do for the customer. Their job is to persuade someone to buy and to make that product irresistible.

4. Include sharp, high-resolution images.

If people can't clearly see what they're buying, they're not going to buy it. Use detailed, crisp, high-resolution pictures taken by a professional photographer. If you can, provide multiple views of a product to provide as much detail as possible for your shoppers. Depending on the products you're selling, a video demonstration might also be useful. The advantage of a video is that it gives buyers a better view of the product in action than a still photo can.

5. Write compelling sales copy.

Great sales copy is really an extension of getting inside your customer's head and addressing what's in it for them. If you don't understand your customer and what's in it for them, you can't write great copy. You've got to persuade your customers to buy in a number of different places:

• Your homepage should immediately speak to their pain
• Catalog descriptions should always emphasize the benefits and solutions
• Catalog copy should imply or state how you'll solve their problems
• Testimonials on the catalog pages and in the shopping cart should emphasize great solutions and excellent customer service
• Guarantees throughout should make it risk free for buyers to take action

6. Use social proof to inspire confidence.

Some buyers won't buy from you if you don't look reputable enough. You can inspire confidence by displaying trust logos from organizations such as the Better Business Bureau, industry associations, partners, influencers in your space and customers. Use testimonials to prove the reliability of your products and cite any research that has been done on the successes of your products.

7. Handle purchase anxiety upfront.

Despite the convenience of online shopping, some people avoid it if they can't find information upfront about shipping options, your return policy and more. Handle these concerns upfront, even before checkout, in a really obvious way. For example:

• Make your return, refund or replacement policy easy to find and understand.
• Include a FAQs list about purchases and policies.
• Include a variety of ways to order, including via phone or fax.
• If your product is a commodity, make it clear what happens if they find a better price somewhere else.

When applied, these strategies will help you convert more sales online.