Ecommerce Advice - 10 tips for success

1. Map out a plan of your web site and shop, and arrange your different products and services into different departments for easy navigation. You may find this easier to do using pencil and paper, or a big sheet and some cutout shapes to layout so that you can move things around and get a feel for what makes sense before commiting to spending any money.

2. Decide how you want your shop to look. Make sure the text colour and the colour of the background work together - if the text is hard to read on the background, make a change. If your website may be used by visually impaired visitors then consider avoiding multiple shades of the same colours.

3. Different computers support different text styles. If you want your web site to look the same on everyone's computers, only use Arial, Verdana or Times New Roman, or some of the other "default" fonts often found on EVERY computer.

4. The first page of your Web site - your "home page" - is your welcome page. Make sure you mention who you are and what you're about. This may sound obvious, but many web sites fail to do it - and lose customers as a result.

5. Your home page will have links to the different departments inside your shop. Make sure this is obvious, so people can find their way around and dont leave strangers trying to guess what you do or what benefits your website has.

6. Make sure you include all your contact details, even a direct e-mail link from your web site to you. Missing details can make customers suspicious that you may be hiding something. Provide contact telephone numbers, postal addresses, and even email forms. The more you provide, the greater the level confidence that is built in purchasing from you.

7. Make sure your Web site is not overloaded with images and visual tricks, like a cheap radio with too many blinking lights. Gimmicks distract customers from the message you want to convey. Would you rather have visitors looking at your flashing christmas tree, and fancy borders, or looking at your actual products, prices and contact information?

8. Make sure pictures only have a small file size in kilobytes. The larger the file, the longer it takes to appear on people's computer screens and if it takes too long you will lose customers. If you must use a larger image, have a link to it from text or a smaller image (called a thumbnail) - then the customer will be prepared to wait.

9. There are several main internet browsers today: Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari and a few more not-so-common and your web site can look completely different in all of them if it is not constructed properly. Make sure your web site looks good at least in Internet Explorer, which covers more than 50% of the market. However good design and coding should create shops looking identical and good in both.

10. Most people now have computer screens with a resolution of 1024 x 768 or above, but you should en sure your web site is designed to look good in all different resolutions. If designed and structured for one resolution only, it may fall apart at a different lower resolution. Keep the visually impaired visitors in mind who may be using 800 x 600 screen sizes.

Shopping cart security >>

If you want a successful e-commerce business online then why not request an ecommerce consultation today!