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 

[tranguyen]

Hey @heartfelt1, sorry we missed your post! 

Boosting online sales is definitely a popular topics and I want to highlight a couple of threads which you might find helpful:

• How to start making sales on Square
• Seeking Advice for Boosting Online Sales

I'm going to tag in a couple of our online sales wizards @DinaLRosenberg @rtfulk @Twpchair @JTPets to share their insights

[JTPets]

Hey Nicki, I totally get where you’re coming from. Rather than choosing one over the other, think about leveraging both platforms. You might continue selling on Etsy while integrating solutions like Square for your website. Expanding your presence across multiple revenue streams can really help—consider listing on Amazon, Walmart, or other marketplaces to reach new audiences.

Also, don’t underestimate the power of community and social media. Sharing your brand on Reddit, local Facebook groups, or Nextdoor can drive highly targeted traffic and boost credibility. Remember, building a sustainable business isn’t a get-rich-quick scheme; I always tell myself it’s more like a retirement plan—it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Lastly, why not explore AI tools? They can offer fresh ideas, troubleshoot challenges, and provide innovative strategies for business growth. Sometimes, just talking through your ideas with an AI can spark the next big breakthrough.

Keep experimenting, stay persistent, and best of luck with your new site!

[WoodCandleCo]

@JTPets has great ideas. I never thought about posting on local FB pages or Nextdoor app...definitely putting that one in the arsenal!

I'd recommend using ChatGPT (or similar) to help with SEO. It's usually added by default, but can be super generic. If you use AI, please, please read it first! I see so many times that people don't read what's actually generated. Sometimes it can be way off or not make sense. AI can be a great tool to help. I like it as a jumping off point...I'll combine a few ideas together and come up with something entirely new!

You can also run paid ads on Google, Facebook, etc.

[DinaLRosenberg]

Hi Nicki!

Think of it this way- you've just built a house and you plopped it in the middle of the countryside without any roads. How do you expect people to FIND you? Well- good news is you can point people to your website.

To start:

reciprocal links. Make sure you're posted on google business pages, yelp, bing, etc.  

Use social media to drive traffic to your website- post on Facebook, instagram and TikTok making sure all posts tie back to your website. I'd love to see more behind the scenes content of you making the items and more content if the items styled, worn and used in the home.

Email list – If you collected customer emails from Etsy, send a launch announcement and offer an exclusive discount for your first-time site visitors.

Influencer outreach – Partner with micro-influencers who align with your brand and might showcase your products.

As @JTPets  has said keep going on Etsy while you're building your website so as to not miss out on necessary revenue. ALL revenue streams need to be firing away!

[Twpchair]

First, take advantage of every free social media platform you can and a few integrations for messages nice and easy. Start with facebook/Meta business and get it going and growing then add instagram for free all messages flow through Meta. I don’t myself, but my husband post all time on Tik Tok and wow the amount of views and replies to my amazing. I’m retail furniture and I don’t ship, I do a small range of deliveries. Remember if you build it they will come. On the one you’re doing the most on now if you can boost a post for 3-5.00 a for a week do it. I do 3-4 times a week and sales up 55%’. Anything and everything is good for just spreading the word. 

[doc_choc]

Hi Nicki.

Websites are a hard slog initially until you build up some critical mass. Use the free tools like SM, although limited reached is attained by this unless you go paid ads. Then there is the free listing in the Google Merchant Centre, can take a bit of time to set up depending on how big your catalogue is. Looks locally with some PR through local groups in your area WI are always knocking on our door for demos, take your goods and promo leaflets and hand them out at the end of the demo, collaborations with like minded brands or companies with products that compliment yours. Don't forget once you have reached some customers look after them, its hard to find customer but a little easier to retain them through great customer service and quality of product.

[JTPets]

Google merchant center is a lot easier if you use my api catalog export with image uels and combine it with my Google drive inventory tsv export file from my git

[Twpchair]

You must be related to my son with his google docs! 😂 I am ok with it but I let him do his thing and works for him. I just tell him for what I do nothing social media related, I am old school and excel for crunching numbers and truckloads of furniture type thing. 

[JTPets]

I use google sheets because it connects to everything, it can access google drive for my google merchant center connection, it can run javascript, it can connect to square with api - and because i pay for the premium features with my email address hosting lol

[Twpchair]

Ahh, ok. I am not a tech-savvy person and I started with Excel and I stuck with it. I do love all the new or improved tools Square has added and I do take advantage of each of them that's geared towards retail. I am amazed at Beta the last couple of years it's like on steroids in there right now. I happily test and that's it! 😆 I run and set up all our social media platforms and when and how much to boost and that's it. 

[JTPets]

My wife posts on our social media, I havn't spent much on boosting or ads as I find the ROI very low - likely becuase i am doing it wrong

[Twpchair]

Facebook is our biggest one but I think it's clientele honestly. Our age range per Square and Facebook is 35-60-year-old women.  Instagram is 18-35 year ladies   Retail furniture and decor is not a guy thing until it comes to paying or picking out his recliner and back to the truck they go. 😆 

[Twpchair]

I just saw that you're from Canada 🇨🇦. We're neighbors, kind of. I will have to check out your page and see what kind of pets you have.

[JTPets]

Yeah we love visiting New York State on a regular basis, and michigan on occassion - have to keep you in mind for a visit when we are next over - Sadly it won't be likely in the next 4 years with your Cheeto in Chief's current talking points 🙂

Frankenmuth is nice!

[Twpchair]

We are probably I am guessing 30-40 minutes from Frankenmuth. From I-75 cut over to US27 like you were going to towards Traverse City. Our town is at that 3-interstate connection to head up North over the bridge or west or conjunction with 75. We are the last exit before about 40 miles so we see a lot of highway traffic. 

[Twpchair]

I already followed you! Pet food and supplies. I did comment on of the dogs. I have a Shih Tzu and her name is Isabella (Izzy) that little dog is my whole world. I just love her. 

[JTPets]

I saw your reply, beautiful pups, sorry for your loss. I made my dogs into my logo, I am not sure what it will be like to look at when they pass someday

[elliottmurphy]

Driving traffic and sales to a new online business requires a mix of SEO, content marketing, social media engagement, and paid ads. Optimizing your website for search engines, running targeted social media campaigns, leveraging influencer marketing, and using email marketing can help. Have you tried any specific strategies so far?

[AndrewAussie]

That's a perfect summary. It really does take a mix of everything.

I've found content marketing and email campaigns to be a game-changer for me. Have you had any luck with paid ads yet? I'm still trying to get the hang of those.

Thanks

Andrew

[Minion]

Some solid advice here from many other sellers.  I would also like to add Moz Local .  They offer a bunch o free and paid services along with a bunch of different resources  that can help with your rankings and build your audience.