5 Ways to Get More High Quality Traffic to Your Jewelry Website

After 18 years of building online shops, I know that the key to growth is fairly simple:

1. You need more high quality traffic to your site
2. You need to make more sales from that traffic

But just because the answer is simple doesn’t mean the process to get there is easy or obvious. Luckily, I’ve discovered that there are 5 main ways to grow your traffic and 5 main areas to improve your website to boost sales.

Let's talk about getting traffic. Getting more traffic is great. But take some time to consider the quality of your traffic. Keep in mind that your conversion rate (the percentage of visitors that convert to purchasers) will be high when your marketing efforts are targeted to your perfect customer. Conversions will go down if you advertise in the wrong places. Getting 30,000 new visitors from a motorcycle enthusiast website isn’t going to help a jeweler (unless your jewelry is motorcycle related).

You want visitors to your site who understand the type of products you sell. It’s easier to distinguish yourself by not appealing to the masses, and instead speaking to your own group of like-minded people.

For instance, consider a business that creates wearable mermaid tails. You can’t just tell a random person on the street about the products and expect them to break out their wallet. Advertising someplace for everyone to see will likely be a waste of this business's ad dollars. Advertising in places where they know mermaid tail lovers are hanging out will pay off well, such as a sci-fi/fantasy conference where people dress in costume, or a mermaid-loving Facebook group.

Your business doesn’t need to be wildly unusual to want targeted traffic. Most readers of a blog like Apartment Therapy, for example, are interested in interior design, so a business selling design-oriented housewares would much prefer the targeted traffic of an Apartment Therapy editorial post than a mention on a website that caters to an audience that doesn't value design.

Keep reading to discover the five things you can do to reach a targeted audience that works for you, and then download my guide, Get More Traffic, Make More Sales, for a more in-depth look.

#1: Search Engine Optimization

Search engine traffic is great. For one thing, people on search engines are looking for what you sell—they can be very motivated customers. Search engine visitors are, by nature, searching for something.

For another thing, once you get some momentum with search, it feels like free traffic. You've done the work optimizing your site and creating content, and now search traffic just comes to you steadily.

Take a look at what people are searching for to find you. If it's mostly the name of your business or the name of your products, that tells you that your search traffic is people who already know about you. Ideally, you'd be getting a lot of traffic from people who haven't heard of you, but want what you sell.

Have a strategy for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and getting ranked highly for your most important keywords on Google. You will want to target niche keywords; the ones your very best customers would use to find you.

"Hand painted jewelry" is a much easier keyword to rank highly in Google than "jewelry," for instance. And people searching for "hand painted jewelry" are much more likely to buy your hand painted jewelry than people who were searching just for "jewelry"—they may have had something else in mind. Check out a few resources below to learn more about SEO.

• Check out Shopify's video course about SEO
• Learn more from Google
• Set up a Google Search Console account
• Using SEO to Market Your Jewelry Business

#2: Online Press and Publicity

This is any time someone with an audience of their own is talking about you. There is a lot of buzz about "influencers," and an influencer is a person with an audience.

Maybe they have a blog with a readership. Maybe they write a popular newsletter. Maybe they have an Instagram or TikTok account with a high following. If they can influence a large group of people, they're an influencer.

It is hard to grow when you keep to yourself. Communicating with your existing audience can only take you so far. Having influencers link to your website is an effective way to expand your reach and introduce yourself to new potential customers.

Get editorial features, do giveaways on social media, or guest post on blogs that you know your perfect customers are reading.

Pitch your business to niche publications. You want to find just the right people when you reach out like this, so make sure to focus on influencers who have an audience that is a good fit for your product.

One single mention isn't going to catapult your business (unless it's something like a just-right Oprah-style mention—and even then, you'll need to keep momentum going). You'll find that attention online fades rapidly, so having a plan for repeated exposure to new audiences is key. Build on your previous publicity.

#3: Social Media

There are two ways to attack social media. The one that comes to peoples' minds first is setting up social media accounts and posting regularly yourself. This is an important thing to do, but also consider making the content on your website easily shareable, too. Let your customers do some of the work for you.

If your customers and fans share content from your site on their own social media profiles, you expand out of your own circles and meet new people. Make sure to encourage social sharing from your site.

Don’t forget online communities, such as Facebook Groups. You can start one of your own, or join appropriate ones. Most groups like these discourage selling, so you’ll want to use it more for networking purposes. With your own group, though, you’re the boss, and as long as you’re providing value, your community may welcome being sold to in an authentic and helpful way.

When marketing on social media, make sure you are on the platforms that your ideal customers are, and that you're sending a message that resonates with them.

#4: Offline Press and Publicity

Create general brand recognition by promoting your business offline, in print publications, at in-person events, and/or your own brick and mortar store. This could include TV appearances, podcast ads or interviews, or any publicity that isn't clickable straight to your site.

This is one of the trickier methods. Getting people from print or TV over to their phone or computer to type in your URL or to Google you is a lot to expect.

When you do meet customers in person, be sure to have marketing materials to direct them back to your site. This could be a postcard or business card, or a newsletter signup sheet. I consider this to be brand recognition rather than a direct method of driving traffic. This tends to be more about people having heard of you. They may not take action at the time, but if you appear on their radar more than a time or two, they will feel familiar when they do finally interact with you online.

#5: Return Visitors and Word of Mouth

Bring in return visitors by making good use of your mailing list and providing a great customer experience. This is absolutely vital for an ecommerce business. When we analyze our clients' stats, their repeat visitors nearly always have a higher conversion rate than any other stream of traffic, and they often spend more. In many cases, a brand's most loyal customers will spend huge amounts of money over many years.

The first step to customer retention is to make sure that your customer's experience is worth talking about. This means the ease of use of your website, the email follow-up about orders, the speed of shipment, the unboxing experience, and the product itself.

Once your customer has made a purchase, you're not done! Your relationship has just begun. Stay in touch with your customers by using a mailing list, offering special incentives, and showing that you value them. Always be approachable and engaged with customers on social media. You may want to share customer photos on social media or your website.

If you exceed your customer's expectations, they're not only likely to come back to order again, but they may tell their friends. A word of mouth recommendation is golden, and you should strive to be remarkable.

What's Next?

Now that you’ve armed yourself with the tips above and are getting a decent amount of high quality traffic to your site, you'll want to make sure your website is in tip top shape. Without an optimized website, you are losing sales every day.

I’ve put together a guide, Get More Traffic, Make More Sales, that includes the advice on getting high quality traffic, as well as 10 more things you can do to make your business work online. This includes information on calculating your conversion rate and setting goals, optimizing your site for sales, and getting more publicity for your business.

For More on Creating a Successful Jewelry Business:

Jewelry Marketing Tips: Understanding Your Customers

Using SEO to Market Your Jewelry Business

5 Tips for a Successful Jewelry Business