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May 18, 2012

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You are here: Home / Archives for E-Commerce Websites

How to keep your website fresh and appealing to viewers

July 4, 2011 By

A new website is truly a thing of beauty. The user interface and style have been determined and the information is fresh and up to date. You may find that if your site is properly search engine optimized that you will end up with a large number of viewers. Many of these will be new to your site and repeat customers may be fewer and farther between than you might like.

Keeping your site fresh and appealing is important in order to ensure that you keep getting a high rate of return visits. It is these return visits that will likely lead to you  selling your goods or services online. Here are some tips on how you can do so.

Get a content management system and use it
You need to make sure that your website has a content management system built into it. This allows you to alter text and image portions of your website. Because you are able to make changes you can alter the content on your website on your own schedule and without waiting for your website development team to get around to it.

Many people have a content management system built into their website and do not take advantage of it. They let information that may be incorrect or out of date sit on their site because they feel they are too busy to update it. This can be frustrating for your customers and may result in them going elsewhere to purchase products or services. This can be a problem if you are trying to sell merchandise on an e-commerce website.

Ensure that your photographs are up to date
Nothing says “stale website” the way outdated photographs and information do when they are posted on a website. If you cannot even bother updating your website your customers may feel that you are equally careless about the way you handle your merchandise or deal with your customers.

This also holds true for images of the items you are selling as well. If you leave pictures of products that you no longer sell up on your website it can be a problem for your customers. Nothing is more frustrating than looking on an ecommerce website and finding that most of the items are either discontinued or look different from their online images.

Consider using a dynamic website
A dynamic website is one that changes its content in response to user input. Because the content changes with every visit it may make it possible for you to use the same content longer. It can also be helpful if you have a section of your site where users can input their own information. This is because your visitors will feel like they are involved with the company and that they are leaving a lasting impression on the website. By using visitor input you also will not need to generate new content as your customers will be doing that for you.

By ensuring that your website looks current and up to date you may find that the revenue it brings you will be at a level that you are comfortable with.

Filed Under: E-Commerce Websites, Website Design, Website Development Tagged With: , ,

Top Three Mistakes Companies Make with ecommerce Website Design

November 25, 2010 By

Many companies are turning to website design that incorporates ecommerce functionality. It seems like it should be fairly simple. All they need to do is decide which products to sell and put up a few pictures and then they can sit back and watch the revenues come in. Unfortunately, this has led to the failure of many ecommerce sites. Here are some of the top mistakes that companies make when it comes to ecommerce website design.

They do not make their site easy to navigate

Many companies make it very difficult for customers to find their products. They either do not have a functioning menu that allows customers to find specific products or they make that menu very difficult to find. If customers do not have a clear path to the items that they are looking for they are unlikely to spend a lot of time looking for them. This means that you will end up losing potential customers to your competition and this can lead to the failure of an ecommerce site much more rapidly than you may think possible.

One possible fix for this problem is to include a search feature in your website design. By providing a way for customers to get directly to specific items you will make your website design much more efficient and this can help you get the kind of revenue you have been hoping for.

They do not have a fully functioning shopping cart or payment solution

When trying to entice customers to purchase goods online your website design has to include a fully functional shopping cart and payment solution. There is nothing more frustrating than trying to select products and finding it impossible to do so. It can cause you to lose customers very quickly and again, this can cause an ecommerce website to fail. You also need to make sure that once the customers have found the products they are looking for that they can check out and pay as quickly as possible.

If you ensure that your shopping cart and payment areas are easy to find, simple to use and functioning properly you can quickly increase the amount of revenue that your site is bringing in.

Customers cannot get a clear idea of what the items look like

Customers want to be able to tell what they are purchasing before they are willing to pay for it. You need to make sure that you are using a combination of clear, crisp photographs and descriptions that give your customers a clear idea of what they will be paying for. Be sure to include measurements and any options that a customer can choose from. Consider grouping like items together to make them easy for customers to compare.

In the past, when digital photography was just getting established it was more acceptable for the images to look grainy or unclear. This has changed. Digital photography has progressed so far that there is no reason why an ecommerce website design cannot include high quality photographs.

By addressing these three top mistakes relating to ecommerce website design it becomes much more likely that your site will be a success and generate the kind of revenue you have been looking for.

Filed Under: E-Commerce Websites, Website Design Tagged With: , , ,

How to tell Which Kind of Website Design is right for Your Company

October 22, 2010 By

If you are planning on designing a website for your company you may wonder what kind is right for you. There are many different styles of site online and they can range from very simple sites that were created with the use of a template to extremely complex sites that may incorporate multiple areas and advanced functionality. Here are a few things to consider when deciding which kind of website design is right for your company.

Are you creating an online portfolio?

If you are creating an online portfolio or are using other static elements you may find that you can get away with a website design that is very simple and straightforward. These can often be some of the most affordable website designs around because they may have fewer pages and may not require a lot of task-specific programming. You may be interested in a website design that can be expanded easily because you may have more work that you want to showcase in the future. As well, you also need to make sure that your site includes a content management system that will allow you to add new images or entries yourself rather than needing someone to do this for you.

Will you be using it for ecommerce?

If you are selling products online you will need to make sure that it is set up properly for ecommerce. This means that you will need a virtual store front, payment functionality and a shopping cart that works properly. That way you can find it will be much easier for your customers to purchase goods from your company using your website. You want to make sure that your customers can find the items that they are looking for and that they are able to get a good idea of what the items look like through the use of multiple images. A virtual storefront can be quite simple or it can also be very complex. It can be a good idea to look at the sites of other companies that are selling the same kinds of things you are. That way you can talk to your designer about any elements that you like and ensure that your site is superior to those sites belonging to your competitors.

Members’ only areas

Some websites also include password protected areas that are available only to members. This can be a fantastic function as it can help build customer loyalty over time. Your members’ only area may include blog posts, a different virtual store front than is available elsewhere on your site or it may also have forum functionality that can be used by your customers to communicate with you and with each other.

These are just a few examples of the different functions that can be built into your website. By thinking about how you want to use your site you can work with your website design team to ensure that they are all included and that you are totally satisfied with the site that you are paying for.

Filed Under: E-Commerce Websites, Website Design Tagged With: , , , ,

How to Structure your Website Design for eCommerce Purposes

October 22, 2010 By

Using the internet to do business is becoming incredibly common. There are an increasing number of websites that are set up for ecommerce. However, not all website design is as well-suited to ecommerce as it could be. Here are a few tips that you can use to ensure that your website design will work well for ecommerce and that it is as easy as possible for you to conduct business on line.

There are a few elements that you need to ensure your website design includes. They are:

  • Search engine optimization so that your customers can find you much more easily
  • A virtual store front
  • Logical flow that makes it easy for customers to find the items they are looking for
  • A shopping cart
  • Billing and payment software
  • Site analytical tools so that you can monitor your traffic

The importance of good images

If you are structuring your website design for ecommerce use you need to make sure that you structure it in such a way that it can incorporate images as easily as possible. Images are particularly important when you are trying to sell items as people do not like to buy items that they cannot visualize properly.
It is a good idea to design your site so that you can use more than one image of a specific item.
This is because your customers will be able to see items from more than one angle and this may be just what you need to close a deal.

Site mechanics are very important

Although it is important for your site to look good it is also important to make sure that the mechanics of the site are important as well. This means that your shopping cart and payment options are working properly so that you customers can actually make purchases and your site can generate the kind of revenue you are looking for.

Site analytical tools are also important. You need to make sure that your website design includes analytical tools which can allow you to find out information such as which areas of your site are getting the most traffic, how many visitors are new and how many are return visitors, and the percentage of visitors that are actually purchasing items from your site. That way you can fine tune your site over time and make it more appealing to your customers. When this happens you will find that the same site can make you more money than you may think possible.

Search engine optimization is especially important for ecommerce since you want to attract potential customers to your site and prevent them from clicking on the sites of your competition. Because of this you want to make sure that your site will appear as high as possible on any search engine results.
Good SEO that has been built into your site properly can definitely help with this.

Good website design is about more than just a virtual storefront. It is also about many things that cannot be seen but which can work together to help you do business online as efficiently as possible.

Filed Under: E-Commerce Websites, Website Design Tagged With: , ,

How to Structure your Website Design for eCommerce Purposes

October 11, 2010 By

Using the internet to do business is becoming incredibly common.
There are an increasing number of websites that are set up for ecommerce.
However, not all website design is as well-suited to ecommerce as it could be.
Here are a few tips that you can use to ensure that your website design will work well for
ecommerce and that it is as easy as possible for you to conduct business on line.

There are a few elements that you need to ensure your website design includes. They are:

  • Search engine optimization so that your customers can find you much more easily
  • A virtual store front
  • Logical flow that makes it easy for customers to find the items they are looking for
  • A shopping cart
  • Billing and payment software
  • Site analytical tools so that you can monitor your traffic

The importance of good images

If you are structuring your website design for ecommerce use you need to make sure that you structure it in such a way that it can incorporate images as easily as possible. Images are particularly important when you are trying to sell items as people do not like to buy items that they cannot visualize properly.
It is a good idea to design your site so that you can use more than one image of a specific item.
This is because your customers will be able to see items from more than one angle and this may be just what you need to close a deal.

Site mechanics are very important

Although it is important for your site to look good it is also important to make sure that the mechanics of the site are important as well. This means that your shopping cart and payment options are working properly so that you customers can actually make purchases and your site can generate the kind of revenue you are looking for.

Site analytical tools are also important. You need to make sure that your website design includes analytical tools which can allow you to find out information such as which areas of your site are getting the most traffic, how many visitors are new and how many are return visitors, and the percentage of visitors that are actually purchasing items from your site. That way you can fine tune your site over time and make it more appealing to your customers. When this happens you will find that the same site can make you more money than you may think possible.

Search engine optimization is especially important for ecommerce since you want to attract potential customers to your site and prevent them from clicking on the sites of your competition. Because of this you want to make sure that your site will appear as high as possible on any search engine results.
Good SEO that has been built into your site properly can definitely help with this.

Good website design is about more than just a virtual storefront. It is also about many things that cannot be seen but which can work together to help you do business online as efficiently as possible.

Filed Under: E-Commerce Websites, Website Design Tagged With: , , ,