# Online Store and Traffic/Selling



## stackteesco (Aug 4, 2015)

I would like to find out if any other members sell their t-shirts online only, through their own website, and how it is working for them. What shopping cart do you use? What do you do for marketing? Does it work?

Our company is a month old and we only sell online. We work with a third-party SEO company to help drive traffic to our site, but we are not getting any sales. We are concerned about whether or not this is normal. Is it our products, our prices, something with the site, etc? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.


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## danslave (Jun 26, 2013)

You need to add your product to eBay and Amazon, not really for sales so much but to get some stray eyeballs on your product and generate some customers who you can then refer to your aite.

Getting ungated to sell apparel on A,azon is a chore and maybe not worth it, but at minimum get your stuff on eBay. Just trying to get traffic to your site is not good enough, you need to get out where people are shopping and make new customers there.

Dan


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## NBG (Feb 1, 2015)

stackteesco said:


> We work with a third-party SEO company to help drive traffic to our site, but we are not getting any sales.


The traffic just doesn't fit to your site!

What keyword do they use? "buy cool t-shirt"?


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## TeeBird100 (Apr 13, 2015)

Who is your target market? Are they buyers? Who in your target market do you think is most excited by your product? 

Answers would be surfers. Yes. teenage surfers wanting to look cool and cutting edge in California. 

I have done online marketing for over 10 years and this is an expensive answer to find. We create our shirts with these answers in mind, not create the shirts and find out who our market is. 

It is a combination of seeing what shirts in our niche are selling well, reverse google searches to see "who" wears the shirts, finding out where these folks congregate, and how best to trigger an emotional appeal. 

Truthfully, SEO is one of the last things I worry about, and I do it for a living. Figuring out the market via research and paid marketing as inexpensively as possible and then finding the right formula, increase your spend to maximize your return. 

Good luck.


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## stackteesco (Aug 4, 2015)

We have begun listing some items on Ebay. I need to get the rest of them out there. And yes, I did consider Amazon but as Danslave mentioned, it appears quite the process, but I'm not completely objecting to going that route.

Our SEO company has set up many keywords matching our products. We are currently targeting Southern California, since we came from there and are familiar with the demographic. However, as mentioned, the right buyers are not hitting the site. 

TeeBird100 - Could you please elaborate on the reverse Google searches? Is this through Google Adwords? If it is, the SEO company holds the login info for our account and won't provide it to us. Wish we had one, as I am aware there are quite the tools out there to use if you can.


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## TeeBird100 (Apr 13, 2015)

stackteesco said:


> TeeBird100 - Could you please elaborate on the reverse Google searches? Is this through Google Adwords? If it is, the SEO company holds the login info for our account and won't provide it to us. Wish we had one, as I am aware there are quite the tools out there to use if you can.


Two things, first, Do NOT be held hostage by the SEO company. That they will not give you the password to YOUR Adwords account is a red flag. 

Second, to do a reverse image search is as easy as right clicking in the Google Chrome browser and then clicking "Search Google For This Image". A little know but very powerful tool.


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## NBG (Feb 1, 2015)

Can we see your shop?

I doesn't make sense to give tipps when we don't know what you are offering...

It's still unclear if you have a brand with hq shirts or just a store with cheap printed tees (and random motives).


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## danslave (Jun 26, 2013)

It took me three different tries and almost a month on the final try to get ungated at Amazon. The nice thing there though is that you do not pay to list, but you do pay a higher fee when you close.

People also feel more secure buying from Amazon, which to the consumer is what it appears like. If you have a design that appeals to someone who is searching for similar items on Amazon, then this is a good way to go to get new people looking at your designs.



stackteesco said:


> We have begun listing some items on Ebay. I need to get the rest of them out there. And yes, I did consider Amazon but as Danslave mentioned, it appears quite the process, but I'm not completely objecting to going that route.
> 
> Our SEO company has set up many keywords matching our products. We are currently targeting Southern California, since we came from there and are familiar with the demographic. However, as mentioned, the right buyers are not hitting the site.
> 
> TeeBird100 - Could you please elaborate on the reverse Google searches? Is this through Google Adwords? If it is, the SEO company holds the login info for our account and won't provide it to us. Wish we had one, as I am aware there are quite the tools out there to use if you can.


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## stackteesco (Aug 4, 2015)

NBG said:


> Can we see your shop?
> 
> I doesn't make sense to give tipps when we don't know what you are offering...
> 
> It's still unclear if you have a brand with hq shirts or just a store with cheap printed tees (and random motives).


Would love feedback. Our store is Stack Tees Company, LLC | Hilarious T Shirts | T Shirt Sayings | Funny T Shirt Designs.


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## NBG (Feb 1, 2015)

Ok let's start with some feedback (regarding to the store, not the shirts)...

This is what i see when i open your page:










Where are the shirts?!? Make the "free shipping logo" smaller and put the "popular items" on top instead of the slideshow.

Also the dropdown for the Catalog isn't very user friendly. What about a navigation on the left side?










As you see your products start in the middle of the page, the upper area is wasted with too big logo/navi/slogans.

The thumbnail pictures for the products are to small, it's difficult to recognize the logos/slogans on the shirts.

Also the presentation of white shirts on a white display dummy doesn't look good.

Try "t-shirt mockups" instead: 50 Best Free T-Shirt Mockup PSD Templates | Tinydesignr

Ok that's all for now


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## stackteesco (Aug 4, 2015)

Thanks for this awesome feedback and link! Had no idea this was available. We will get to making those changes!!


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## tippy (May 27, 2014)

stackteesco said:


> Is this through Google Adwords? If it is, the SEO company holds the login info for our account and won't provide it to us.


This is a HUGE red flag! NEVER allow a web developer, SEO company, etc to set up an account on your behalf and not provide you with the login credentials. I also work as a web developer, and have seen on way too many occasions where an SEO company had complete control over the domain name, facebook account, google account, etc, and refused to give it up without paying a ridiculous amount of money. Check your contract and see if you signed off on this.


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## Preston (Mar 21, 2006)

Ok, I will disagree with NBG on a few things.

Two things customer like more than anything.

Free Shipping
BOGO

I also think there is nothing wrong with the drop-down on the "Catalog" from the menu bar. Sure a left side would be nice but is not absolutely necessary. 

The main thing I see is the limited use of key words or terms in the source of your site. In other words there is really much there for the search engines to grab onto and use for placement in searches.

I do see a google analytics script which is good. I do not know if you control the UA number or if it is the SEO company you are using. Bad if it is them, good if it is you. I do know that the UA code on your site is not valid.

I would suggest you first fire the SEO company and save your money.

Next, start a blog and post tons of stuff about your eCommerce site and the products. Be sure and put links to the product page you are blogging about.

Start a YouTube channel and post videos about your shirts. Include the product name in the video Title. Like "How to look like a Geek. ACTIVE DIRECTORY GEEK T-SHIRT" and then repeat that in the video description along with a link to that product page. Make a video for each product and if you can, add a bit of entertainment in the video. Google loves YouTube (because they own it).

Find any forum or place on the web that will let you post an occasional self-promo. Like with the YouTube video's include useful key word info in the subject and then again in the content. I know of one, maybe two but cannot post them here.

Also be sure and include "Southern California" in anything you post. That also needs to be on your eCommerce site and it is not.

I have a few more tips but again, I cannot post them here.


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## NBG (Feb 1, 2015)

Preston said:


> Ok, I will disagree with NBG on a few things.
> 
> Two things customer like more than anything.
> 
> ...


But there is no need to waste 107 pixel in height for this:










BOGO? Buy One Get One Free? I can't find this deal on the site... or did you mean LOGO?



Preston said:


> I also think there is nothing wrong with the drop-down on the "Catalog" from the menu bar. Sure a left side would be nice but is not absolutely necessary.


Dude this isn't a "nice website"... it's a shop made to SELL shirts! So you have to make everything as easy as possible.



Preston said:


> Also be sure and include "Southern California" in anything you post. That also needs to be on your eCommerce site and it is not.


Why should they do that? I mean they have no shop in SC and their shirts have nothing in common with SC (except maybe the "Straight Outta 562" shirt).


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## Preston (Mar 21, 2006)

NBG said:


> BOGO? Buy One Get One Free? I can't find this deal on the site... or did you mean LOGO?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


THE "BOGO" is Buy one Get one and I mentioned it because it is one of two things customers like, not that he had it on his site.

Why should he mention Southern California on his site and everywhere else he can post about his products? Because he stated that was his target market, that is why.

I guess it depends on what you call "Easy" to me the "Catalog" drop-down is easy, clean and very to the point. A left side would just clutter the site up in my opinion.

Why 107 px in height for the "Free Shipping"? Because it puts that selling point in the customers face. You have 1 second to grab a customers attention and that does it.


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## stackteesco (Aug 4, 2015)

> I have a few more tips but again, I cannot post them here.


Please feel free to email me directly at [email protected]. Interested in learning as much as possible from everyone.


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## NBG (Feb 1, 2015)

Preston said:


> THE "BOGO" is Buy one Get one and I mentioned it because it is one of two things customers like, not that he had it on his site.


But this only makes sense on "cheap" shirts, not on brand shirts.



Preston said:


> Why should he mention Southern California on his site and everywhere else he can post about his products? Because he stated that was his target market, that is why.


Maybe SoCal whould be his target market if he would offer such shirts:










But his shirts are "valid" for the whole world, not a special SoCal thingy.



Preston said:


> I guess it depends on what you call "Easy" to me the "Catalog" drop-down is easy, clean and very to the point. A left side would just clutter the site up in my opinion.


Every big online store has a navigation on the left 

And again: The store must SELL, it doesn't matter if the left navi "clutters" the site a little bit up.



Preston said:


> Why 107 px in height for the "Free Shipping"? Because it puts that selling point in the customers face. You have 1 second to grab a customers attention and that does it.


But this doesn't need 107 pixels  Even 30 pixel would be enough. Or something like this:


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## Preston (Mar 21, 2006)

NBG said:


> Every big online store has a navigation on the left


Yep, they do..


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## NBG (Feb 1, 2015)

Preston said:


> Yep, they do..


And what happens when you click on a product or open a deep link?


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## Preston (Mar 21, 2006)

NBG said:


> And what happens when you click on a product or open a deep link?


 Well I do not know about your browser but in mine they open a drop down.


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## NBG (Feb 1, 2015)

Preston said:


> Well I do not know about your browser but in mine they open a drop down.


No, a navigation on the left appears!


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## Preston (Mar 21, 2006)

NBG said:


> No, a navigation on the left appears!


Well enough of this back and forth. Lets just say I do not agree with you and you do not agree with me. And that is ok. I have only been using the internet since 1991 when it became public so what do I know.

At this point it is not relevant where the menu is or the size of the free shipping image on his site. What is relevant is he is not getting traffic or if he is, he has no way of tracking it and has to rely solely on the word of the SEO company he is paying. Yes there are a few issues with the look of his site but the menus and free shipping image are on the bottom of the list for anything that needs to be changed at this point.

If the SEO company is giving him traffic tracking numbers then they are lying to him. The tracking code on his site is bogus and there for cannot provide any tracking information. For all we know the SEO company is just taking his money, feeding him a line of BS and laughing all the way to the bank.

He needs to fire the SEO company, get his own analytics account, put that code on his site, redo the content to make it more relevant, do more with his blog, get on youtube, Use the heck out of the Pinterest button to his site and pin every product, find forums and other sites that will allow him to post about his products.

What I would do right now today is get my own google analytics account, setup his site in the account, get his code and then change the bogus code on his site to his code. This will allow him to start watching the site in real time and also build a traffic history that he can look at. If he does nothing else at this point it will tell him if the SEO company is doing anything at all.


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## NBG (Feb 1, 2015)

Preston said:


> Well enough of this back and forth. Lets just say I do not agree with you and you do not agree with me. And that is ok. I have only been using the internet since 1991 when it became public so what do I know.
> 
> At this point it is not relevant where the menu is or the size of the free shipping image on his site.


Sorry but i don't care how long you're using the internet 

Just ask yourself why all big sites have this navi on the left and the cart button on the top right side 

They apply all those rules because it's the best user experience.

Learn from it, don't discuss such basics!


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## custeez (May 23, 2009)

Here's my $0.02. Take it or leave it:

1. Fire your SEO company yesterday. SEO is a scam and anyone who tells you otherwise is either selling you SEO or wants to. No matter how much you spend, you aren’t going to rank near the first page for “geek, funny, etc.”.

2. $7.99 and Free Shipping screams CHEAP to me. And those product photos aren't helping any.

3. You say your market is Southern California, but then you have geek, funny, etc....is there some sort of connection I am missing?

4. Move this here. Move that there. This is too big. That is too big. Blah blah blah...all opinions of things that don't matter by people who aren't prospects.

5. Never send traffic to a general page. Always send traffic to a targeted page....a product page or a category page at the least.

6. Be about a specific something. Or many specific somethings. Don't be a generalist. You can't win on general. General = Geek. Specific = IT Engineer. I saw a shirt the other day that was in this niche. Pretty funny. It simply said "I'm here because you broke something". Now, I'm not at all in that niche but I can see how that would work.

As for what do I do/use...I run 3 Shopify stores and use Facebook advertising. I generate about $1K in sales per day between the 3 stores.


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## Preston (Mar 21, 2006)

Now I totally agree with custeez


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## Tshirt Coach (Aug 27, 2015)

I agree with custeez too. Great points.


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## NoXid (Apr 4, 2011)

custeez said:


> ...As for what do I do/use...I run 3 Shopify stores and use Facebook advertising. I generate about $1K in sales per day between the 3 stores.


Thanks for including that detail. That's some context for what one means by FB ads working for them.


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## ghippleh (Aug 24, 2015)

So glad I stumbled on this post...

I was browsing the weather channel last night and your banner ad was at the top! I'm geussing I was targeted since I search for t-shirts a lot. 

Anyway, I actually ended up clicking on your ad (what got me to click was the large font Price you had)

I thought that your price was way to low and I wanted to see what you all had going on. I like your alls site.... I actually get your alls jokes (I'm a server admin myself during my day job). 

Anyway, I noticed you had free shipping on orders over $25 and given the price point on your t-shirts I'm surprised you all make much of a profit? You could definitely afford to bump up prices a bit I think but that is a whole separate issue. 

As far as design ... some of your prints seemed to have really small text. Given I was probably your target market since I'm an IT guy (except for location) I could see myself wearing one of those shirts if the design was larger on the shirt... it seemed to me that no one would be able to see it if I was wearing it. I seriously considered buying one but again... I had concerns the print was too small. (e.g. the active directory shirt)

Also, on a brighter note... you and I both started our sites at almost exactly the same time. I also haven't had a sale so maybe it is normal. I'm not necessarily glad you haven't had sales, but I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one that is frustrated. I'm sure it will just take time. One success that I had was advertising for likes on facebook. That seemed to generate a lot more traffic for the $ than google. You may only get a few 'likes' but a ton of people will click on your website link to see if they like it.

Hope this helps.


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## stackteesco (Aug 4, 2015)

Thank you all for your feedback and suggestions. Some of it is hard to hear but that's how you make it better! We are definitely considering your input and have already begun making some changes to our site, product pics, etc. We are also getting set up on other avenues to sell outside of our site, so hoping for some good results!?


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## kingwoo (Mar 22, 2013)

Leading the traffic to your website really needs a lot of time. Be sure the key words that can be accurate for matching your products and aimed customers. Optimize your website structure( or maybe call it layout) in order to deliver your sale strategies and stimulate the customers' purchase desire. Hope your business blooming!


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## kingwoo (Mar 22, 2013)

Preston said:


> Yep, they do..


Just like t-shirtforums. Lol.


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