Plan your Site
It sounds cliché, but before you begin designing your site, think about the image you wish to portray. What does your company do? What is your mission? A successful design will answer these questions through the "look and feel". If shoppers view a defined, coherent website, it shouts professionalism, unity and clarity.
Post Contact Information on Every Page
Customer service is the leading reasons for customer loyalty. If you run a business make yourself accessible for your customers.
Broken Links Scream "Mom and Pop"!
Broken links on web sites are a quick way to lose credibility. Click here to check for broken links on your website.
Keep your Site Fresh
By updating your site frequently, customers have a reason to browse your site (don't you hate it when a site features a "winter special" in the dead of summer?). Search engines also provide points for updated content. The more fresh content you post your site site, the more frequently Google's FreshBot will spider your storefront. Most search engine marketers and specialists agree: adding one page of content per day (an article, a product feature) will signifigantly help your long-term traffic.
Use one Font
Should your e-commerce shop be stuffy and pedantic? Maintain consistency with one type of font (Ariel and Verdana are cool fonts) and keep the site clean. You'll convert more sales in an uncluttered, consistent shop.
Keep your color scheme under 4 main colors
Using a lot of different colors can create a very busy design. Keep the colors simple so that your visitors are not overwhelmed and to properly theme your site. For example, dollarshirts.com really sets the tone of their site with a consistent pallet of greens. The design is very simple, and all of the graphics match the color scheme of the logo with occasional reds to draw attention to special deals.
Link to the Homepage from Every Page
If your customer loses their way on your site, provide the opportunity for them to shoot back to your homepage.
Limit Pop-up Windows
Pop-ups were the "in-thing" five years ago. Now, pop-ups are seen as an annoyance. Plus, Google's and other companies' Pop-Up blockers will destroy the pages before they "pop".
Fast Loading Sites Convert the Most Sales
Host your site on a fast server and limit the number of graphics. Online consumers like speed and so do search engine spiders. You can never error on the fast side. Try to keep pages under 100K. |
