If you can increase the time that the average visitor spends on your Web site's pages, you increase your chances of making a sale. Internet users tend to surf Web site, spending less than a minute on each site, so you need to act fast before your potential customer clicks away to another business. It is vital to design your Web site so that it persuades existing, potential and even former clients to use it in favour of your competitors' Web sites. Creating a 'sticky' Web site is a good step towards achieving this.
Here is a Top 10 of useful tips from Actinic Shopping Cart Software to keep in mind for your Web site.
1: Avoid the log-in brick wall Don't ask your customers to log-in or supply any personal details before they can look at your catalogue. This is a barrier and as instant turn-off for anyone that is just browsing.
2: Death by Flash Do not use Flash, large images, front-doors or other gimmicks. Ask yourself, do I need to impress technically or sell something?
3: Easy navigation Do make it easy to find your products and services. Don't rely on clever graphics or animations. Do not make it flash or blink - everyone will assume the rest of the site will give them a migraine.
4: A picture is worth a thousand words Have pictures of the sort of products that you sell in each category - some of your buyers may not speak your language, but they know what they want to buy. If you sell branded goods, use the brand logo (get permission) to reinforce your credibility.
5: Build a simple trolley Test your trolley system with a group of users and see if they find using it completely intuitive. If they don't, it's back to the drawing board.
6: Accurate searches are a must Provide attribute-based searches as well as keywords. If someone is looking for a four-door car on your site, they don't want to have to guess if you called it 'four-door', '4-door', '4dr' or something else obscure.
7: Keep your site fresh Keep your site up to date. If you have goods that go out of stock, take them off the site or mark them as 'temporarily out of stock'. Make sure that your terms and conditions explain what happens if you do run out of stock on items.
8: Don't over design Look at every element of your Web site, from the homepage to the product descriptions. Does each page clearly communicate to the customer? Does each of the product pages have easy buy now access to the trolley?
9: Make shopping easy Offer to keep the name and address of buyers - you can use a cookie on their browser to avoid security issues. This will allow your customers to check out without having to type all their details in again. They will appreciate it and it's an incentive to shop again.
10: Clearly state delivery and terms Make your promises and guarantees clear and unequivocal. Include them within the checkout process, even if they appear elsewhere on the Web site. You need to inspire confidence in buyers who have never met you.
