10 tips on getting an effective e-commerce website in 2010

Written by Bernardo Carvalho  | January 6th 2010 Be the first to comment

Creating an e-commerce website certainly isn't a strenuous job these days. There are 'off the shelf' packages you can buy complete with domain name and email facilities such as www.shopcreator.com. The problem with this approach is that your website will mostly look like all the other thousands of sites that have been created in the same way, and it will also have a long list of crippling limitations.

An e-commerce site's product pages are that site's lifeblood. These pages highlight products and offer shoppers the option to buy. They are your sites payoff pages: ‘the primary struggle of every e-tailer is driving shoppers to commit to a purchase’ All the hard work and money you put into making sure your website is seen and looks great comes down to the moment when a shopper lands on your page and decides whether to enter their credit card details or not. A well designed product page is critical to your e-commerce business.

So here are my TOP 10 TIPS on how to get a website that will work for your business, and the good news is, following this advice will not require you to re-mortgage your house. In fact getting a fantastic website should be an investment that brings you very significant returns. After all, your site is the face of your business and probably the first place people will look for information about what you are selling. So it is imperative that the visitor leaves with a positive impression, or even better: makes an enquiry or purchase there and then. 

1) Go Pro: Get your website designed by a professional agency. Do you get your haircut done by the grocery clerk that likes to do a bit of styling on his spare time? I didn’t think so.

2) Keep it Simple: Simplicity is key on a product page. Don’t overwhelm your customer with multiple products and images squashed onto one page. The most successful online merchants opt for one product per page. 

3) Keep it Together: All of the information for that particular product should be on the same page e.g. other colour options, prices, sizes. If you have a range of products with various options there should be a link to a category page where the customer can see all the variations of that product with a short tag line differentiating them.

4) Keep it Clear: On the product page there should be a picture of the product, a description, the price and the shopping cart. Make things as easy as possible for the customer to purchase. Ensure you are providing the right information to a customer, overloading them with technical specifications for a relatively simple product will put them off. However, a customer will not buy if they cannot find the information that will let them know if this electrical product is compatible with another, or if this toy is safe for a child of a certain age. You can always add an extra link labelled ‘technical specifications’ to help the customer towards their purchase.

5) Be an Expert: Adding Expert opinions to your site can be a seductive sales tool. However, be cautious as too many over-enthusiastic reviews or recommendations can work against you, making the site and your products look over-hyped and cheesy. Stick to independent reviews, preferably from a known publication or retailer. Always choose things that add to your credibility rather than detract.

6) Double Check: When your customer places a product in the cart you should double check with them exactly what they want. If the product has multiple order options you should get the customer to confirm they want this colour, in the size, or with this attachment etc rather than allowing them to order an incorrect option at the checkout.

7) Product Page Key Elements: have a clear and descriptive title and photo that can be found in search engines. Your SEO programmer can help with this. Have an option to enlarge the photo. Provide all the information the shopper will need and avoid jargon or industry specific language. State when the product will be available and the likely delivery date. Prominently display the ‘BUY’ button.

8) Show your credentials: Have a link to your websites guarantee policy. Think about offering a money back policy to build trust with your customers. 

9) Think about what you want: Only absolutely relevant material should be included. Product images should be of excellent quality, get a photographer. Try to keep the amount of text to a minimum; nobody wants to read pages of text on a computer screen. Keep it clear and simple.

10) Be consistent:   Watch out for the colours you want to use; these should match your logo and brand, and should have good contrast with the text to make it easy to read. Also check if these are Web Safe.

We advise that you get at least two quotes from separate web design agencies so you have an idea of what you are getting for you money.

Post site thoughts should cover consideration of utilising other technologies to go along with the site, such as Email newsletters, Twitter and Facebook to stay in touch with your visitors. But make sure on the website the user can get to your contact or the BUY NOW button without having to click more than once.

Finally you could use the free Google Analytics, which will give you detailed information on who is visiting your site, when, where and how.

There are some great packages such as Magento that your web designer can use to start with, so there is no need to create things like a shopping cart and payment processing system from scratch. That way you can save time and money.

Also when choosing you payment processing provider, don’t be shy to haggle they will often reduce payment processing and monthly costs to win your business.

Want to know more information on website design, email newsletters, e-commerce or corporate branding? Get in touch, the link is below. I will be more than happy to help.

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