When it comes to building a website that will be used for eCommerce there are a number of best practices that always should be followed to ensure that the site garners as much attention and creates enough revenue to be viable. With that in mind here are 5 best practices that, if followed on your website, will safeguard that it is a money maker.
Place promotions in the sweet spot. What this means is different for every web page but, on the home page, the sweet spot is the spot where all of the eyes will be moving towards and, normally, is in the top left corner of the page where Americans are used to going whenever they start to read something. Of course if you think about it the center of the page is also a good idea but, whatever you do, don’t bury your promotions at the bottom of the page because some browsers might not show it unless scrolled and some people just don’t take the time to do that.
Use slideshows if necessary. Slideshows can be very powerful and allow you, without the help of a spokesperson or a lot of technical programming experience, to show your audience exactly what they need to know, in pictures and words, in order to make a purchase. If a picture is worth a thousand words a slideshow is worth 10 times that and can increase greatly your conversions and sales. It’s also something that someone can refer to if they recommend your company to a friend but don’t know exactly how to explain what your do or sell.
Include features of the product. If you’re using lots of pictures but few words to sell your good and services you may be selling your business short. Prospective customers need to know what the product can do for them and a great descriptions can also build a desire in the heart and brain that a picture alone might not be able to do, depending on what you’re selling.
Always provide nest action step. This is a best practice that everybody seems to break until they get smacked in the head. You really need to lead your customers to the purchase and, if you don’t have the next step written down for them or a button to lead them or a bell to notify them, they are going to stop dead in their tracks and never make a purchase.
Use action-oriented words. This is another best practice that is sometimes forgotten. If your product is the fastest, the strongest, the most durable, the softest or the most delicious you need to tell prospective customers that in the very same way. ‘Our chocolate is so delicious it will melt in your mouth’ is much better than ‘Our chocolate tastes good’, don’t you agree?
So, the next time you’re building an eCommerce Website, keep these 5 best practices in mind and the result will be a much more powerful eCommerce site that converts and sells much better.