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AVOIDING MISTAKES WITH
DESIGNING AN ECOMMERCE WEBSITE
Ecommerce websites walk a
thin line with their users. If the web
site is user friendly, easy to use,
products displayed well and attuned to
the audience then the conversion rate of
your ecommerce web site will be more.
But, most ecommerce web sites don’t have
good conversion rates because they are
lacking the basic features which help
build the trust that convert browsers to
customers.
Given below are some
features which are essential for the
success of an ecommerce site. If your
site is lacking these features then you
will be losing customers who expect a
specific level of service.
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Performance – Fast loading web pages
are liked by users. Sites which take
a lot of time to load frustrate
their users who quickly go for the
back button. Therefore, a website
has to load quickly. Don’t let cheap
companies host your site on their
overloaded servers. Before uploading
your site, it should be optimized
for quick download. In your shopping
cart application uncheck all those
features which are not useful for
your web site.
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Professional Design – A website that
is not designed professionally will
reduce customer expectations and
makes them to think twice before
purchasing any thing. Use the
services of a professional designer
so that your site will be user
friendly and attractive. Make sure
that all the images and colours are
properly distributed and are placed
in the right places.
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Call to Action – Any site which is
selling a product should have a
“buy” button or an “add to cart”
button. Display the products where
it is most likely to be seen and
promote them properly.
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Search Tools – There are several
ways for the users to find what they
are looking for. The minimum that is
expected by a user is a search tool.
Most users will not have the
patience to browse your site to find
what they are looking for. If your
site has advanced search tools then
it is even better.
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Duplicate content – If you have
copied articles or product
information from other sites without
their permission then you will get
penalised for duplicating content
without permission, which decreases
your page rank drastically with all
major search engines.
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Shipping Costs – High shipping costs
is the primary reason for most
number of shopping cart
abandonment’s. Don’t startle your
customers with high shipping costs.
They should know about the shipping
cost before entering their credit
card number. The best way to deal
with this problem is to buy a
shopping cart application which
calculates the shipping cost and
display’s it before the buyer enters
his credit card information.
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Use Promotions – Promotions or
additional offers entice people to
purchase. An offer like “Buy 4 get 3
free” or “0 shipping charges for
purchases above $100” will work
miracles for your business.
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The checkout process should be
streamlined – If your site has a
cumbersome checkout process the
customers will exit from the site
immediately.
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