Comparing with other industries, the e-commerce industry has not been around for a long time, so there is no clearly defined model for
building the perfect website. Luckily, there are plenty of resources online to assist in you in making
educated decisions on assembling your online store. Just know this: although having a well-designed site won't
automatically mean above average earnings at the end of the year, having a poorly designed site will make it
exponentially harder to earn profit.
Net Fact:
The average attention span of a customer online is 20 seconds? If your content can't catch the viewer's
eye within that time frame, you have lost a visitor!
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Know any tricks of the trade? Many of you future online entrepreneurs may not have web technical
skills, while others may be better trained. Irregardless of your background,
here are some guidelines that hopefully will make your site more appealing to
your prospective visitors:
- Keep the HTML simple, with the graphics small and compact. There is nothing in the online world more
annoying than waiting for a page to load because the size of the picture(s) is too large. Help your customers
cut down on the loading time and they will love you for it.
- Think carefully before deciding to use frames; if you do decide to use them then include a frameless
version as well. Frames can cause confusion in user navigation and have customers switching to another site
instantaneously.
- Flash Intros can be very cool and eye-catching, but be sure to include an option to skip it as well.
Customers will get tired and angry if they are subjected to the same flash intro every time they log on to
your site.
- Don't overload your customer's senses with an onslaught of information and choices. Keep the interface
simple and the navigation easy. Do not push too much data into your customer's face or else they will simply
log off.
- Think relevant, as in "who are your target customers and what do they like?" If you have an online pet
food store, then it is pretty safe to say most of your customers will be interested in only pet food while
shopping on your site. Would it be a wise business decision to suddenly start offering car engine parts on
your website?
Using tools and applications to create content for your site. If the recommended guidelines
listed above sound like a lot of work, we should inform you that they merely touch upon a wide range of
tasks and applications needed to develop a quality site. Fear not, as there are plenty of resources found
online designated to assist you in structuring your site's layout, integrating attractive site features, administering and promoting your site.
Designing Layout and Creating the Catalog
The heart of your website, these tools are responsible for creating the overall look and structure of your
online store. The design of your site is crucial because it will determine how your prospective visitors think of your site, especially on first sight. Think of a newly opened restaurant -- no matter how good the food may be, customers may be very reserved about going in if the place doesn't look too organized.
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Beginner
- Image Cafe
-- for the novice user who doesn't have time, get your own site designed in less than 10 minutes!
Tech Experienced
- HTML Works
-- webmasters, get online HTML tools right now
- Free Code
-- get free CGI scripts, web hosting tools, and HTML authoring
- GIF Optimizer
-- reduce the size of your GIF picture files so your pages can load faster
- Media Builder
-- get Java animation programs, button/banner-creating applications, and free font designs
- Cool Archive
-- free access to a massive collection of Clip Art
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Creating Site Stickiness
Many of you may be asking yourselves what "stickiness" means. When looking up a dictionary, you get a generic meaning, "having the quality of adhering or sticking to a surface." Now, in applying that general
definition to web terminology, you want your customers "stuck" onto your website. You want them consistently
coming back to your site, checking out all the new updates, and staying around longer. Provide useful features for your customers that
will constantly remind them of your site. This way, you are building brand equity as well as giving your customers
valuable information and services. Email accounts and chat forums are among the most popular forms of site
stickiness tools used by website owners to draw viewers in and keep them on their site. The resources below
are easy to integrate, for the beginner, but also highly customizable, for the tech-savvy.
everyone.net
-- they provide Internet applications, including email, search, chat, discussion boards,
and marketing solutions for small businesses.
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- Sticky Tools
-- free downloads to add value such as Internet Radio and Web News Feed
- aGuestBook.com
-- get free, fully customizable guestbook services for your site hosted by their server
- ForumCo
-- easy to install, no HTML required bulletin boards-free and hosted on their server.
Highly customizable with full management over the content and topics
- Extreme Polling
-- a free, customized web poll for your own website is only a few clicks away
- More Over
-- a free newsfeed service which allows you to have current news (over 1800 topics to choose from)
displayed on your website
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Administrating Your Site
Now that you've got a site that customers will want to visit, how do you make sure that their encounter
is a smooth one? Going back to the restaurant analogy, let's try to illustrate this point further. So you've got
a great menu and an appealing décor for your place. You have done enough so that people will be willing to come
inside and try out your place. Now that you've got them inside, you have to make sure the service keeps them
happy. How long did your customer wait in line to be seated or served? Are all the "Today's Specials" updated on the menu?
The restaurant analogy can also be applied to online store. You need to optimize your pages so that your visitors can have faster response. You also need constantly announce your new arrivals under "What's New" section so that your visitors are aware of newly arrived items. Besides, you need to be responsive in providing customer service. Issues such as this will determine whether a customer is satisfied or not with your website.
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Virtual Stampede
-- Wonder exactly how long your site takes to load? Are there any dead links on your site?
VirtualStampede.com can help you find out
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Net Mechanic
-- try and buy useful tools which allows you to find various website errors, from broken links to HTML errors
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Link Alarm
-- track all broken links and automatically generated reports at affordable rates
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Analysing the Traffic
A savvy businessperson knows two main things about his or her customers:
what they like and where do they come from. Knowing what sections or categories your customers frequent
the most can positively affect any business decision regarding the products offered on those respective pages.
Being aware of where your customers are coming from can also be extremely beneficial. The information can then be used to decide where to invest your dollars in advertising. Heavy promotional activities
should be initiated in areas of high customer interest and acceptance.
- See Hits
-- see which areas and pages of your site is visited the most
- stats4u.com
-- see where your visitors are coming from; keeps track of the top referring websites
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> > [STEP 4]
Placing Orders: Helping Customers Conclude their Transactions
