As much as they say “content is king” rings true, form and function must be balanced to create an effective website. This balance is even more critical when it comes to creating an effective e-commerce website for your business. Based on a survey of U.S. shoppers conducted by interactive marketing solutions company Sheep (http://questus.com), web design plays a key role in determining whether they choose to act on your online store. Below are five main web of factors that can make or break your online selling efforts:
1) Visual designVisual design includes the arrangement of the contents, and the use and consistency of colors and images on your site. Colors and images that can be used to highlight your company’s online image, give customers the impression that your company is professional, reliable and trustworthy. Arranging of images and information in a clean and consistent manner throughout your web pages may well increase the odds to transform your website visitors to online customers. Therefore, using components such as Flash animations, audio clips, and other bandwidth forms of multimedia as ever so sparingly. If you use these fancy components does not add to improved site usability or greater understanding of your product, like, avoid using them at all costs.2) Site navigationMake sure that your product navigation links is the first of your on-line users will be able to concentrate on when they visit your site. Site Navigation must be clear and user-friendly, it requires fewer clicks and links to follow to your customers to find products or other information. Other than that online users feel that it is difficult to find the information they need when there are too many links in your site. If you feel that you need more than seven links in your site navigation, believe the group navigation links in different groups. This will help un-clutter your navigation details and create “zones” to help your clients to focus better when they browse on your site. For example, links pointing to the company’s information, contact page, press releases and site map can be grouped together, while the product categories can be in a completely different navigation group from your campaigns and special offer links.
3) Check-out processThe check-out will start as soon as your customer chooses a product of his or her basket and choose “Check out now” or “Buy Now”. Your customer will need to review the so-type shipping and billing addresses, provide payment information, and confirm the purchase. Experts recommend that you make this information in simple steps on three or less. Even the location of Internet / Buy Now button to be conveniently placed in each product page. In addition, you can include the user registration to allow faster check-outs to customers who often purchase from your e-commerce so that they do not need to enter their details. But do not make a habit of making registration mandatory for all buyers, since one in every five shoppers prefer not to register and give out too much personal information.
4) Product descriptionProduct description has to do with more than just paste in a picture of your product and add a few lines of words on it. It also has to do to help your clients understand your product to the point where your client can visualize the dimensions or the benefits of your product, also “taste”. You can use your product description as a place for your on-line customer to experience your product enough to want to buy it. One of the drawbacks to shopping online is that we can not use all of our five senses, and must rely on just our sense of sight and sound. It is this section is a place in your e-commerce site where multimedia can play an important role in improving your online customer experience. Instead of just putting up the specifications such as size, weight and colour, some media worthy example would be to: - A large-scale picture of your painting or hand-painted object (a photographer, painter) - 3-D view of a sculpture or doll (artist, toy maker) - Color tweaking abilities where your product that changes color based on the customer’s choice (t-shirt retailers, textile manufacturer) - Product samples and the users’ comments or opinions (record store, book seller infotailers)
5) Online catalogThough closely linked to the check-out process and the product description, the online directory factor has more to do with how easy to search and browse for products. A well-designed online directory should not only contain useful product description, but also have a product search engine and organized groups of products. This allows your customers to find your product quickly and give your online customer a sense of control over what he or she is trying to look for. Step up a notch by providing features such as: - Flexible search on the product, such as brand or color-Recommending similar product that fits the customer’s product of choice, such as a tie that matches the shirt-elected Specification comparison, which is especially useful for electronics and travel packages
Keep in mind that your e-commerce site design must support your own and objectives, but most importantly your customers’ needs. Based on web design factors above and by understanding your customers, you can design your e-commerce site so that your customers will have a pleasant and free visits to your online store.
If the author
Cybernet Sabah (http://cybernt.net) CEO and founder, Lorna is a graduate of the University of Alabama, United States, with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Management, and a minor in Computing Technology and Applications. Her passion for IT and the Internet helped her land her first job as Webmaster (and later as a Web Unit Manager), which was to administer the sites for a network known as Sabah.Net. As she continued freelance drive to flourish, Lorna left his job to pursue a full-time position in Cybernet. Lorna is also a part-time tutor with the Open University Malaysia, teaching IT and e-commerce issues for diploma and degree-level students.
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