The single most important thing to understand about effectively marketing jewelry is that your website is the heart of your business. It must be well-designed, engaging, and robust enough to meet your customer’s expectations. That’s not all. There are five website elements that are absolutely non-negotiable. You have to have them. Here’s what they are.

1. Mobile Readiness

   More than half of all internet traffic occurs via a smartphone, tablet or other mobile device. This percentage is only expected to increase in the years to come. How does your website look and function when viewed on these smaller screens? If the answer’s not “Absolutely Great!” your customers will move on quickly – and they won’t be back.

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2. Strong Calls To Action

   Believe it or not, customers need explicit instructions telling them what to do when they’re on your website. Using copy and call outs create those directions to buy now, place an order, schedule a custom jewelry consultation, have their watch battery replaced and so on. Bright bold design makes these elements stand out, resulting in higher conversion rates.

3. Lead Capture

   As a jewelry retailer, you want to know who’s visiting your website and what interests them the most. Your analytics can provide some of these insights (more about that momentarily!) but it’s always great to get the information straight from the source. Map your website out to determine the most natural spots for lead capture, and deploy either in-page or pop over forms that invite your customer to tell you more about themselves. Don’t be afraid to ask for some detail – for example, on your engagement ring gallery page, a form that asks when the visitor’s planning to pop the question can let you know how urgent their ring search really is. Live chat is another great lead capture tool!

4. Constant Change

   The images, offers and copy on your website need to change regularly for two reasons. The first is to maintain visitor interest. Today’s customer has an attention span of approximately 8 seconds. A website with static, unchanging content bores them quickly, and they’ll move on. The second reason to regularly change your content is to appeal to Google: their search engine ranking algorithm places a high value on new, original content and will boost your site ranking according to how frequently it appears. Best of all? New content gives you (& your customers!) something fresh to share on social media.

5. Regularly Referenced Reports

   The Google Analytics dashboard may not be the most attractive portion of your website, but it’s definitely among the most important bits. These behind the scenes reports tell you where your website traffic is coming from; who’s visiting your website, and what they’re doing when they’re there. (Not familiar with Google Analytics? Here’s a short set of YouTube videos to bring you up to speed) Check these reports regularly and use the information you find there to refine your marketing efforts – it’s the single best way to get truly impressive results from your digital marketing!