How to drive traffic and sales to new online business site?

[heartfelt1]

The title of this thread has been edited from the original: New Website

Hi Everyone

I set up my ecommerce website dec/jan it up and running and i have added it to google console and bing. My question is im still not getting views or still no orders. What else do i need to do to get orders coming in?

I have previously sold on Etsy with nearly 3000 orders and had orders every week with the same products.

I dont want to loose faith in my website and ditch it and go back to Etsy there costs are just getting to high.

Any help would be appreciated.

My website is www.heartfeltcreationalgifts.com

Thanks, Nicki 

[JTPets]

I will have to check that out

[techentires]

1. Leverage SEO & Content Marketing – Optimize your site with keywords, publish helpful blog posts, and share on social media to attract organic traffic.
2. Run Targeted Ads – Use Facebook, Instagram, or Google Ads to reach your ideal customers with compelling offers.
3. Engage in Email & Social Outreach – Build an email list, collaborate with influencers, and engage in communities to drive repeat visits & sales.

[JTPets]

I would advise that number 2 is the one that will take the most effort to get it right and to fully understand what you are doing. You can toss money into a fire pit and it will burn, but it will only generate real heat to warm you when you use a log. Ad spend is something people really need to consider and are some of the biggest mistakes in my business financially

[doc_choc · Accepted solution]

@heartfelt1 have to agree 100% with @JTPets on this.🔥

I also think targeted ads may work better for some products than others and you really need to know what you are doing, what outcomes you are looking to achieve and how much money you want to spend to achieve the outcome. You can burn a lot of money if you aren't careful. 

I think its tempting to use because there is a 'nice' Google or Meta UI, with a step by step 'how to add an ad' that its something that can be easily done in the comfort of your office to generate sales galore...tread carefully!

[Twpchair]

I agree 100% with you about boosting posts. Also, excellent advice about looking into how and when to boost posts. Not everyone is going to be a smash hit. If you read through for instance Meta they do a great job of breaking down your post and the targeted audience. They will recommend which one, how long, and how wide of a range. I lived and learned the hard way and went way overboard when I shouldn't have. Now, I look at my metrics on my Facebook page there first, and second Meta's numbers, and their recommended boost or reel. Big difference now, with a huge impact. The rest is regular and consistent posting on your social media platforms. A great example of how much and when is 100% spot on. Let or give AI be a great tool to use and help direct you along the way. Kudos on your response and everyone else. 

[Hardcore_Games]

Some spend a pile on social media but the economy is so bad many are not biting

[doc_choc]

@techentires just on the point of SEO, you may need to start looking at AI powered search, as search behavior is evolving. So brand language optimization for LLM is becoming more important. SEO hasn't gone but LLM are on the horizon so its kind of a grey, muddy interface of the two at the moment. It's unclear if AI driven search will dominate or if it will be a blend of the two going forward but LLM does play a role in search rankings and how websites are understood.

[mickPOWR]

@heartfelt1 I see a lot of comments and support for using paid targeted ads, which I don't disagree with, but there are tons of things to consider before you start chucking money into ads. I worked for an ad agency for many years, and the majority of clients we took on had tried to do paid advertising on their own without understanding the process or the math, and because of that, they did not have a sustainable ROI.

If you're going to do ads, they must be HYPER-targeted to increase your chances of conversions. I had a look at your site and your products are not very expensive, so you'll want to do the math to ensure you make more money than you spend.

Let's say, for example, that your average revenue per unit (ARPU) is $25, and you have $500/mo to spend in advertising. You have to sell 20 items, just from ads, to break even. Obviously, you don't want to spend ad dollars to break even, so a 2:1 ratio would be a good aim. So 40 items per month on a $500 ad spend is a good goal.

Next, you need to know how many site visitors you get per order placed. This will let you know how many clicks you need from ads to get 40 orders. Let's say for every 10 site visitors, you get 1 order (10% conversion rate). This would mean you need 400 clicks to get 40 orders.

Then, you need to know what your cost per click (CPC) will be, and to do that, you need to do keyword research. Google Keyword Planner is a good resource.

So for easy math, let's say the average CPC is $5. 400 clicks per month needed + $5 CPC = $2000. But, if you only have $500/mo to spend, 100 clicks will only net 10 new customers. So, that would mean you're spending $500 to earn $250.

Does that make sense?

[Candlestore]

@heartfelt1 

I went with an outside Marketing firm.  They looked at my website, edited some of my seo's and other information.  By doing this I am getting more traffice to the website.  They updated some other things that I am not familiar with as I am not up to date on how these Search engines work to find what people are looking for.  When you were on etsy, esty's search engine had this information built in based on your Items.  So people useing Etsy for there search found you easily.  Now the targetted ads would help when people are looking for similar items and an ad for your similar items shows up, so I also agree with this strategy.

[JTPets]

What was the cost for this service?

[Candlestore]

@JTPets ;

1st year they give a Discount, and Depends on How many Web Pages you want them to Edit to find in Search results.  So I used my Categories and not individual Items.  

[Subport]

One thing I noticed is you have a ton of category/collection pages. Those pages are gold for keywords. Find a cheap SEO software and get the lower keyword difficulty keywords and create content around those keywords. SEO will work great.

Let me know if you need keywords for some pages. I can provide that for free. I don't do marketing for others but I have been doing SEO for the last 12 years and can help you a bit.

[karawill]

Hey, I completely understand your frustration—it’s a big shift going from Etsy, where traffic comes more easily, to managing your own site. I had a similar experience helping with an independent site for estate agents in Ilford, and one thing we noticed was that just setting it up and submitting to Google wasn’t enough. What really started to move the needle was focusing more on content and visibility. Sharing helpful posts related to your products, getting active on social media again, and finding ways to bring in that early trust (like showing your Etsy reviews or testimonials) made a huge difference. Also, if you’ve built up a customer base on Etsy, try reaching out to them directly or offering a reason to check out your new store. It takes time, but your existing success shows there’s definitely a market—now it’s just about guiding that audience over to your new platform. Keep going, you’re on the right path.

[WST90]

Hey Nicki, don’t get discouraged! Etsy gives you built-in traffic, but with your own site you’ll need to drive it yourself. A few quick tips: point your old Etsy buyers to your new shop, make sure your product titles/descriptions match what people search, post often on socials (Pinterest is huge for gifts), and start building an email list. It usually takes a little time, but once it kicks in you’ll have way more freedom than on Etsy. You got this!