Five Ways To Make Your Visitors Buy Now!

To make your visitors buy from you right there and then, you have to first make it easy for them to buy. This is one of the key elements of closing the sale that is often neglected by marketers online.

Payment options. If you are neglecting this one factor, then the countless hours spent on working on your site will still boil down to nothing.

How do you make it easy for visitors to buy instantly?

1. Credit card payments.

Since 90% of all Internet payments are made by credit card, your first priority should be to get yourself set up with this payment option as quickly as possible. Many businesses increase their sales by as much as 400% right after they gave their buyers this convenient way to pay.

Face it. The entire mentality of the Internet is “instant” access to information, products, and services. If your potential buyers have to stop surfing and free up their phone lines, call in their orders or hunt around for their checkbooks, envelopes, and stamps, your order process will discourage all but the most hardy shoppers.

Accepting credit card payments builds credibility in the minds of potential buyers, makes it easy for buyers to make impulse purchases and provides you with a fully automated payment collection and tracking system.

And this means no more trips to the bank, bounced checks to deal with or hours spent manually processing orders and accompanying paperwork.

2. Accepting checks online.

Note that “traditional” checks are used for 11% of all online purchases.

Since these online shoppers are willing to go through the hassle of mailing checks, offering them an option of paying by online check through your web site should be an instant profit booster for you. This is provided you have a special section on your site explaining how online check payments work and that buyers’ personal information is secure.

Online checks, also called e-checks, are virtual checks that allow consumers to pay by check through the Internet.

The buyer fills out a form with his or her banking information, date, and amount, and then clicks the "send" button. That information will then either go to your computer or to a transaction service.

3. Accepting debit cards.

When a payment is made through a debit card, the funds are immediately withdrawn from the purchaser’s bank account.

The advantage to the site owners is that they will know the buyer has the funds to make the purchase and that it will not be charged back to them.

The advantage to consumers is that purchases are paid for right away, so there is no “credit card shock” when the statement arrives in the mail.

While debit cards are still not widely used by online shoppers who prefer to protect themselves with the $50 liability limit offered by most credit cards, this payment method is gaining popularity.

4. Person-to-Person E-mail payments.

Person-to-person (P2P) e-mail payments allow individuals to use their credit cards or bank accounts to pay through e-mail. This process is similar to sending a greeting card over the Internet.

For example, when you send a greeting card, you select a card, add a personal message, and then e-mail the link to the recipient to let him or her know where the card can be viewed. You don't actually send the card through e-mail.

Likewise, with P2P, you do not send the payment through e-mail. Rather you send the link where the recipient can redirect the funds to his or her bank account or credit card.

If you have been hesitating to accept credit card payments online, the good news is that, as soon as you give your customers this option, you should see a noticeable jump in sales.

Making it easy for your potential customers to do business with you is an essential ingredient to your online success. You do not need to offer all the payment options but it is a good idea to match the payment choices you offer to your type of online business and customers.

You will make your visitors buy now and gain a real advantage over your competitors by offering your buyers easy simple and secure options for giving you their money.