Website design Tips for ecommerce success

Some general tips from Dr Bob, famous driver of the Internet Tourbus:

In addition to publishing the Internet Tourbus newsletter and writing non-geeky computer books, I am also a student and practitioner of e-commerce. Since 1997, I've operated FlowersFast.com, an onlineflorist that I built from scratch using Notepad and Paintshop Pro.

Here are some of the things I've learned along the way.

SIMPLE NAVIGATION

Every page of your site should have a handy link or search box that lets people find the most important pages on your site. If they can't find the product they're after in one or two clicks, they'll leave and try another store.

CUT THE FAT

You can use graphics sparingly and still have a visually appealing site. If the home page takes too long to load, your handiwork will never be seen by impatient consumers who want information, not glitz. Once you get a high speed connection, it's easy to forget that there are still MANY people with 56K dialup access. If you slim down your site, you'll appeal to more potential customers and also avoid exceeding your web host's monthly bandwidth (total bytes sent) allowance.

MAKE IT EASY TO BUY

Ever try to buy something from a site and they start asking you to jump through hoops at checkout time? If you require customers to "create an account", "become a member" or cough up unnecessary personal information, you'll lose sales. Customers expect to enter their shipping address, credit card info and hit the button. If you want to know their shoe size and preferred deodorant, ask them AFTER the sale.

STAY AWAY FROM GIZMOS

If you use Flash, Java, embedded music, or anything else that requires your visitors to have the latest browser, a high speed modem or download a plugin, you will end up in the e commerce graveyard. Unless your target market is tech savvy geeks with hot computers, it makes no sense to place unnecessary obstacles in the way of potential customers.

INSPIRE TRUST

Many people are nervous about buying online, so it's important to let them know that your company is run by real people who will treat them right if there's a problem after the sale. Always include a contact phone number, physical address, and your privacy and return policies on your site. Offering a 100% satisfaction guarantee is also a real good idea, as is responding quickly to email inquiries.

Oh, and perhaps MOST important - put testimonials from happy customers all over the place. Browsers will turn into buyers if they know that others have been happy with purchases from your site.

Thanks Dr Bob, I couldn't have put it better myself...

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