Online store marketing: how to get more visitors and more sales
An online store can work perfectly from a technical standpoint and still hardly sell. Sometimes there is simply too little relevant traffic coming in. Sometimes there are visitors, but they drop off on product pages or in the checkout. And sometimes revenue grows while profit lags behind because ads are too expensive or customers only order once.
That’s why good online store marketing doesn’t start with the question of which channel you still need to add. Start with the question of where your online store gets stuck today. Only then do you choose SEO, Google Shopping, ads, email, social media, or another approach. That prevents you from putting money and time into more traffic while the real problem lies somewhere else.
The core Online store marketing has four tasks: attract relevant visitors, get more of those visitors to buy, increase the value per order, and bring customers back. Anyone who knows which of those four is currently the biggest problem can much more easily choose the right marketing action.
Where is your online store getting stuck today?
| What you see | Likely problem | What you look at first |
| Few relevant visitors | Reach / acquisition | SEO, Merchant Center, Shopping, ads, content, partnerships |
| Many visitors, few orders | Conversion | Product pages, trust, price, delivery, mobile, checkout |
| Orders, but little margin | Profitability | Ad costs, margin, average order value, returns, discounts |
| Customers buy only once | Retention | Email, repeat purchases, service, loyalty, post-purchase |
The diagnosis seems simple, but it changes your entire approach. An online store with too few visitors gains nothing from twenty A/B tests on a checkout page that almost no one reaches. Conversely, extra ad budget is a waste if hundreds of visitors are already dropping off because shipping costs only become visible at the very last moment.
1. Start with product and category pages that can be found and understood
SEO for an online store is not just about putting product names in titles. The structure of your store determines which pages Google can find and how clearly categories, subcategories, and products are linked to one another. Google advises that products should be reachable via regular internal links from category and subcategory pages. Products that can only be found through an internal search function may be harder to discover.
Therefore, create category pages for real search queries and purchase intent, not for every filter you can technically create. A category like “waterproof hiking shoes women” can be useful if people search for it and you have sufficient assortment. A combination of ten filters that leaves only one product usually does not deserve a separate SEO landing page.
Product pages should then remove the doubt that sits between visit and purchase: what exactly is this, who is it for, which variant fits, what does delivery cost, when will it be delivered, can I return it, and why should I buy this product from this online store? Original product information is more valuable than the same supplier description that appears on twenty other stores.
2. Use Google Merchant Center, even if you don’t want to advertise right away
Many online stores think of Google Shopping only in terms of paid ads. Through Google Merchant Center, suitable products can also appear for free across various Google surfaces. Google mentions Search, Images, Lens, YouTube, Gemini and the Shopping tab, among others. For Belgium, correct shipping information is also part of the requirements for free product listings.
That is why the product feed deserves the same attention as your website. Titles, images, price, availability, brand, product identification and variants must match what is on the product page. A feed that technically “works” but contains messy product names and outdated stock limits your chances and can cause frustration.
Do not see Merchant Center as a separate marketing channel, but as an additional distribution layer for product data. Google also advises online stores to make product data available both via the site, for example with Product structured data, and via Merchant Center when relevant.
3. Only turn on ads once you know what a sale may cost
Google Ads, Shopping and social ads can generate traffic quickly, but revenue is not the same as profit. Before you scale your campaigns, you need to know how much margin remains after product cost, payment, packaging, shipping, returns and discounts.
From that follows how much you can pay at most to win a new customer. If you sell a product for 100 euros with 20 euros of real margin, then an acquisition cost of 25 euros is not a success just because the ad platform shows a nice ROAS. The calculation has to start from your own margin.
Start with a limited number of campaigns around products or categories for which price, margin, stock and the product page are in order. That way you learn more quickly which search queries and audiences actually generate revenue with a healthy margin.
4. More visitors is not always the answer
Suppose your online store already has 5,000 visitors per month but almost no one places an order. Then buying another 1,000 visitors is often not the smartest first step. First look at where people drop off.
Check on mobile whether product photos are clear, variants can be selected easily, the price is complete, delivery and return conditions are visible in time, and the cart leads to checkout without surprises. Reviews, clear contact details, and standard payment options can reduce doubt, but only when they are genuine and relevant.
A technically slow store can lose customers even before they reach the product information. If WordPress or WooCommerce responds noticeably slowly, address the root cause first instead of only adding marketing budget. Moonbeetle also has a separate guide for that on speeding up WordPress.
5. Increase the average order value without irritating your customer
Growth doesn’t have to come only from more orders. Sometimes there is profit in a higher average order value: a logical bundle, free shipping from a realistic threshold, a relevant add-on, or a benefit when buying multiple units.
The difference between helping and pushing is relevance. A suitable maintenance kit with a product can be useful. Five random pop-ups with “others also bought” mainly make the experience busier. Use your sales data to see which products are actually bought together and test changes on margin, not only on revenue.
6. Make email marketing part of the customer journey
Email is especially strong because you don’t have to buy ad space again for every next touchpoint. That doesn’t mean you should send the same discount email every week.
Think in moments: a welcome after signup, useful information after purchase, a reminder when a consumable product is normally needed again, relevant new products, or an abandoned cart when you use a valid and appropriate setup for that. Make sure signup, tracking, and consent are set up correctly for your situation.
The best emails are an extension of the shopping experience. They provide information at a moment when that information makes sense, instead of only bombarding customers with promotions.
7. Use social media where it benefits your product
Not every online store needs TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and LinkedIn. Choose a channel because your target audience looks for product inspiration there or because your product lends itself well to demonstration, not because a marketing checklist says every business has to be active everywhere.
Visual products can benefit from demonstrations, before-and-after content, usage scenarios, and customer images. With more complex or more expensive products, explanation, comparison, or expertise may be more important. B2B commerce often requires a different mix again.
Organic social media is also not a replacement for your own store. Use platforms to build attention and trust, but make sure the final product information, checkout, and customer relationship on your online store are strong enough.
8. Create content that helps before someone is ready to buy
Not every potential customer immediately searches for an exact product. Someone may first compare, look for inspiration, or want to know which size, version, or solution fits. Content marketing can help an online store with that.
Buying guides, comparisons, sizing advice, maintenance tips, and honest explanations about differences between products can attract traffic and remove doubts. Link from such content to relevant categories and products. That way, a blog is not a separate magazine next to your online store, but a route to a purchase.
Only publish topics that match your assortment and expertise. Ten superficial articles per month are less useful than one guide that properly answers a real purchase question.
9. Reviews and trust work before checkout, not after
A visitor who doesn’t know your brand looks for signals that ordering is safe and predictable. Reviews can help with that, but so can clear company details, reachable customer service, transparent delivery and returns information, and realistic product photos.
Place proof close to the moment when doubt arises. A review about fit is more useful on the product page than hidden on a generic testimonial page. Information about returns should be available before someone reaches the final checkout step.
10. Measure the entire funnel, not just traffic and revenue
Online store marketing becomes much easier when you can see where the funnel is leaking. Google Analytics 4 can measure e-commerce interactions such as product views, add to cart, and purchases, but those e-commerce events must be sent correctly from your online store; they don’t appear automatically with every installation.
Per channel, don’t look only at sessions and revenue. Also review product views, add-to-cart, checkout start, purchases, average order value, and returning customers. That way you can see whether a channel is underperforming or whether the traffic is fine but the online store then drops the ball.
Use numbers as a diagnosis, not as decoration in a monthly report. A falling mobile conversion rate calls for investigation. A campaign with lots of revenue but hardly any margin calls for a different decision. And a product with lots of search traffic but structurally no stock perhaps shouldn’t be central to your campaign.
11. Start small: choose one growth problem for the coming month
| Situation | Focus for the next 30 days |
| Too few visitors | Improve 3 key categories + Merchant Center/feed + one targeted acquisition channel |
| High traffic, low conversion | Analyze mobile, product pages and checkout; fix the biggest friction first |
| Growth is too expensive | Calculate true margin/CAC, stop unprofitable campaigns, improve AOV or your channel mix |
| Few repeat purchases | Build a relevant post-purchase and email flow around your buying cadence |
That approach is less spectacular than launching five new channels at once, but it gives much faster insight into what really works. Once one bottleneck improves, you can tackle the next.
Promoting an online store with a small budget: where do you start?
Anyone who wants to promote their online store for free or with a small budget should mainly choose activities that don’t disappear after one day. First improve category and product pages, set up Google Merchant Center and free product listings correctly, ask real customers for reviews, and create content for purchase questions your target audience already has.
After that, you can use communities, collaborations, newsletters and organic social media where they make sense. “Free” does mean you invest time. Therefore, even with free promotion, measure which efforts generate visitors, sign-ups or sales.
Frequently asked questions about online store marketing
What is online store marketing?
Online store marketing is everything you do to bring relevant people to your online store, help visitors buy, and get customers to come back. That can be through SEO, Merchant Center, ads, email, content, social media, partnerships and conversion optimization.
How do I promote my online store when I’m just starting out?
First make sure your product pages, delivery, returns, payments and tracking are correct. Then work on one organic channel, such as SEO and Merchant Center, and optionally test one paid channel with a small budget. That way you learn what works without spending money everywhere at once.
Should I start with SEO or ads?
That depends on your situation. Ads can quickly generate data and traffic, while SEO usually builds more slowly but can deliver longer-term value. For many online stores, a combination works, as long as product pages and margin are good enough to make use of the traffic.
How do I get more visitors to my online store?
Improve the findability of category and product pages, share product data via Merchant Center, create useful content around buying questions, and use paid or social channels where your target audience actually is. More visitors is only useful if they are relevant visitors.
Which numbers should I track?
At minimum: traffic per channel, conversion rate, number of purchases, average order value and revenue. To steer for profitability you also need margin, acquisition cost, returns and repeat purchases.
Can Moonbeetle provide technical support for online store marketing?
Moonbeetle can mainly help with the website side: online store structure, SEO, technical improvements, speed, tracking, content pages and ongoing webmaster work. If your online store still needs to be built, first read the guide about starting an online store in Belgium.
Conclusion: choose the channel only after you know the problem
Online store marketing is not a collection of tricks. An online store grows when you understand where potential revenue is being lost and improve exactly there: more relevant visitors, better conversion, a healthier order value, or more returning customers.
Resources for further review
- Google Search Central — best practices for e-commerce
- Google Search Central — e-commerce structure and internal links
- Google Merchant Center — free product listings
- Google Analytics 4 — measuring e-commerce
Do you want to know where your online store is missing opportunities technically or in terms of findability?
Moonbeetle can review the most important pages, structure, speed, and measurements via the webmaster services. If you are still in the start-up phase, start with the guide about starting an online store in Belgium.
