eCommerce Web Design Questions Answered

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Websites are compilations of interconnected web pages, pictures, text, videos, and any other online accessible content contained under a single URL (Uniform Resource Locator). Websites are visited and downloaded utilizing (HTTP) Hypertext Transfer Protocol. For websites that require privacy and secure information exchanges, HTTP is also available in an encrypted, secure form labeled HTTPS. Visitors access websites through the use of their browser. A browser reads and displays text and markup in a visual format on the website visitor’s monitor.

There are several different types of websites online; however, all websites can be lumped into two categories. There are websites for personal use, and there are websites for business use. Personal use websites do not require the same adherence to web design conventions, because the bulk of a personal website’s targeted website traffic consists of people close to the owner of the website. Pretty much anything goes, when it comes to the design of a website built for personal use.

Business or eCommerce websites should adhere to a set of web design rules. The main point or goal of an eCommerce website is to sell products and/or services. Always keep this goal in mind, when designing an eCommerce website, so you do not lose focus and begin throwing in personal elements that distract from the overall mission of the eCommerce website.

An eCommerce website has a very specific purpose … to sell a product and/or service. The home page of your website is built to greet incoming internet traffic. The home page also should reassure visitors that the website sells what they are looking for, and that they can purchase the products in a safe, secure environment. The contact page of a website is built to demonstrate customer support options and legitimize your business. The about page contains information about your business or company to help reassure visitors that there are real people behind the online business, who are there to take care of them. Other informational pages on a website exist to assist the customer with purchasing. The product pages of your website are the main focal point of the website. The product pages represent the products on the shelves in a traditional store. These pages serve one purpose: to allow customer to find the products and services they are looking for and buy them.

Website Technical Questions

Does each page load quickly?Does everything function properly? – People will leave if the website does not work properly.Are there broken images?Are there any links on your site that lead to a page that does not exist?Does the ordering process function properly?Do the payment and shipping options work correctly?Did you run spell check?Is the header the same and in the same place on every page?Is the navigation the same and in the same place on every page?Do you have a call to action?Is your text/ad copy succinct & direct? Does it lead to action? Is it focused toward your target audience?Are your images optimized for the web? Do they help or hurt the website?

Website Marketing Questions

Answer all of the question words (Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How):

WHO are you?WHO is your company?WHAT do you sell?HOW MUCH do the products cost?WHY should someone purchase the product?WHY should someone purchase the product from your website?WHY should someone purchase the product now?HOW do customers obtain the product?HOW do customers order?WHERE is your business located?WHEN do you conduct business?

Some General Rules

15 Second Rule – The 15 second rule states that a visitor to your site should be able to determine what you sell and why they should purchase from you within the first 15 seconds of landing on your page.3-Click Rule – This rule states that a visitor should be able to find and purchase what they came to your site looking for within 3 clicks.Multiple Ways to Navigate the Site – Since visitors to your site don’t always search in the same way, it is important that you design your site to provide as many different ways to search as possible.

eCommerce websites should adhere to a set of web design rules. The main point or goal of an eCommerce website is to sell products and/or services. Always keep this goal in mind, answer these questions, and follow the above guidelines, when designing an eCommerce website.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 19th, 2012 at 11:12 AM and is filed under eCommerce, Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

6 Ways That Web Design Will Maximize Your Online Success

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Your website is the hub of your online business presence. It is the online storefront that all of your marketing efforts intend to funnel people towards. Whether you buy website traffic, buy website visitors, or utilize free search engine marketing strategies, it is all in an effort to drive business and traffic to your website.

Why not let your website help itself? If you construct your website correctly you can improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. Here is a list of ways to structure and setup your website, so that it will contribute to your online success.

A Relevant Domain Name

Your website’s domain name is one of the first factors search engines and users use to identify and classify your website. Here is an example of why a useful domain name is important. If one domain name is bobsmith.com and the other is childrenswoodentoys.com, which website is most likely going to contain information and products about wooden toys for children? You get the point. Find a domain name that contains keywords related to your products and services. Keep your domain name as short and to the point as possible. A quality domain name will help search engines index your site more effectively and will be more memorable to human visitors as well.

Do Keyword Research

This point cannot be made enough. It is important to understand how people are searching for the types of products and services your business offers. For example: there is no success in making your website about automobiles, when the great majority of people search for cars, when they want to buy a car. The goal is to identify keywords that have significant monthly searches without significant competition. The Google AdWords Keyword Tool is a very effective tool for helping you narrow down your targeted keywords and keyword phrases to be use on your website.

Quality, Fresh Content

For search engines, especially Google, content is king. Search engines “read” words on web pages to help them classify and index a web page. Your website needs to do the talking for you, since you are not available 24/7. The content of your website should describe your business, your products, and answer as many customer questions as possible. The content of your website is your online salesman, so include as much relevant and sales encouraging content as possible. The more original content your can provide a search engine, the better your site will perform.

Establish Online Credibility

It is sometimes difficult for online businesses to establish credibility, especially if they do not have significant marketing budgets to spoon feed their brand to the public. It is imperative that online businesses establish a reputation of trust and credibility by providing, testimonials, reviews, guarantees, policies, customer support contact details, a list of endorsements, and more.

Interact Socially

The reality is a portion of almost everyone’s daily internet activity includes at least some time spent on a social media website. Facebook and Twitter are social juggernauts that attract people to them constantly. Setup a Facebook business page and a Twitter account and begin to interact socially with current and potential customers. Offer online giveaways and contests through your social media accounts to encourage interaction. Growing your online social presence is one way to increase awareness and credibility surrounding your website and drive traffic and visitors to your site.

Every Website Needs a Call To Action

A call to action is the main thing that you want people to do, when they come to your website. For an eCommerce site the call to action is simple … Buy our products. A website without a call to action is a website without purpose or reason for being. Your call to action is the reason you build your website. It is the reason you promote your website. It is also the barometer, by which you measure the success or failure of your website.

It requires some preparation and planning to build and successfully run a website. Acquire a quality domain name based on keyword research. Write fresh content and post it on your website and social media sites. Make sure you define and understand your websites call to action, so that you will maintain the vision of the success of your website. If you construct your website correctly, it can enhance and support your online marketing efforts and improve your potential for success.

Tags: buy website traffic, keyword research, social media, trafic to your website

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 at 6:05 PM and is filed under Web Design. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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Month in Review: February in Design

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Blame it on the final stretch of winter, but February had us yearning for warmer places and outdoor settings at Remodelista. Some stories took us around the world: we obsessed over an eco-friendly retreat in the high desert of California and longed to visit the summer in a quiet fishing village in Brazil. With the new season approaching, we also had our eye on clean spaces and spring colors. We found inspiration from a minimal and open box house featured on Design Boom, as well as from a light-filled New York loft documented on An Afternoon With by Michael Mundy. In terms of what's new and next, Yatzer took us to the world of color, giving readers a look inside the studio of designer Phil Cuttance and his FACETURE project, while Gwyneth Paltrow blogged about her day at the biannual home décor and furniture trade show Maison & Objet in Paris.

Like it or not, February marks the celebration of romance, and we enjoyed Valentine's Day stories across the blogging world; from the SF Girl By Bay's post on bold uses of the color pink to Design Sponge's tips on creating a romantic tablescape using vintage glass. Remodelista visited a retro workshop in Los Angeles that brought us back to our school days of creating our own handmade valentines.

Lastly, February brought the kickoff to the world calendar of fall fashion shows with New York Fashion Week. Designers, models, bloggers, editors, and the rest of the sartorially inspired gathered to show and take in all the new innovations in style. The week delivered a range of stories; from the "thrill ride" of Proenza Schouler as described by the LA Times blog, to the bronzed cheeks of the Rodarte models. And with the launch of Remodelista's Style Counsel earlier this year, our editors are also engaging in the dialogue of fashion, and will be divulging the "sartorial secrets of our friends in the design world" all throughout the year.

Guest post from the editors at Remodelista, the sourcebook for the considered home.

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Best of Design Blogs: Groundbreaking New Designers and More

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Whether it is a unique architectural tool, an individual's street style, or a memorable moment in a child's life, a lifestyle blogger likes to share what excites and moves them. Similar to how reporters and editors of online news sources use the web to deliver immediate and current information, those who blog in fashion, art and design use it to showcase a certain aesthetic, thus breeding inspiration in various forms. Driven by the annual Milan Furniture Fair, the desire to share design was certainly abundant on the web in April.VosgesParis described the luxury designs and vibrant life on the Italian streets. Justin McGuirk told a different story about this year's fair. In The Guardian, he wrote about the new iconoclastic designers who stole the show with their alternative means of production and design: "These were the geeks and hackers challenging the very notions of luxury craftsmanship and mass-produced furniture."

While McGuirk glimpsed into design's future, others noted what's hot in the present--and past. Emmas Design Blogg, known for consistently posting fresh interiors from a "Scandinavian prospective," paid homage to Est and Llamas Valley, two digital design magazines that are now a year old. Actor, director and tastemaker Diane Keaton devoted words to the rooms that contain them, as she blogged on Remodelista about the life found in a home library: "Sometimes it's startling; sometimes it seems to be subdued by shadow and light; sometimes it's filled with a sublime beauty." Keaton's words can almost be used to describe the unexpected and unique journey that Spitalfields Life has taken its readers over the years. Now a popular book launched this spring, the British blog began with a promise made by its anonymous "Gentle Author" in 2009: "Over the coming days, weeks, months and years, I am going to write every single day and tell you about life here in Spitalfields at the heart of London." The author kept his word and has continued to share stories that move him.

Guest post from the editors at Remodelista, the sourcebook for the considered home.

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