2013 September 07 Archive - EXEIdeas

With more and more websites hitting the internet everyday, making sure that yours stands out is becoming increasingly important, especially if you want to use your site to sell products to the public. However knowing that your site needs to stand out and making it do so are two different things, and it’s not always easy to know where to start when it comes to web design.So if you want to transform your little visited shop into an eCommerce sensation, here’s what you need to do to make your website sing.What Is An ECommerce Website?An eCommerce website is pretty much any site that allows products, both physical and digital, to be sold. And though once upon a time this meant professionally built and managed online platforms, the advent of user friendly technology has meant that eCommerce can now be added to almost any website. eCommerce websites are becoming increasingly popular across the web…Keep It Simple:If you’re designing an eCommerce site yourself, the main thing to remember is to keep it simple. You may want to cram your landing page with loads of useful information about your company and products, but this will only overwhelm your visitors and could make them click off of your site sooner rather than later.So think carefully about what your landing page says and remove anything that’s causing clutter or is unnecessary. Then take what’s left and form it into a simple but elegant layout.Make It Beautiful:It’s all very well having a site that’s well built, but if it doesn’t look good then it won’t stick in your customers’ minds and can easily be forgotten.If you’re not too confident with web design, this might be the point at which you choose to hire some professional help. Even consulting with a designer can help to clear your mind and focus your ideas so don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it.Think About The User:Although, from your point of view, your eCommerce website is all about the products, if you don’t have customers using your site and buying from it, all of your hard work will be for nothing. So to ensure that your site is user friendly, test it out on some friends and family. Ask them if the site was easy to navigate, if information was easy to find and if the products were easy to understand. Once they’ve given it the ok, you should be ready to go.PayPal has opened eCommerce up to a whole new audience…Give It A USP:Just like the product that you’re trying to sell, your website needs its very own unique selling point, or USP. This is especially true if there are lots of other sites out there selling similar products. This could be anything from giving your site an interactive twist to offering free postage and packing, pretty much anything that will get customers coming to you instead of going to your competitors.Utilize All Of Your Media:One of the biggest mistakes that people new to eCommerce make is building a great looking website and then populating it with badly taken photographs.The pictures on your site are perfectly placed to attract attention and grab the visitor’s eye as soon as they land on your page, so make sure they look as professional as the rest of your site does, otherwise it could cause people to lose confidence in your company.Getting an eCommerce website spot on isn’t easy, but it’s not impossible either, so keep it simple, make it beautiful and don’t hesitate to hire a few professionals to help you out if you get stuck.#ath{background:#f8f8f8;margin:0 0 40px 0;padding:10px;border:3px outset #e8e8e8;-moz-border-radius:10px;border-radius:10px;overflow:hidden;font-size:14px;}.pro{background:#FFF;float:left;margin:0 10px 0 0;padding:4px;border:2px inset #e8e8e8;}.social{float:right;}About the Author:This article was written by Matt Harding, a guest writer at EXEIdeas. He works for Hallway Studios, a Hertfordshire web design company.Find Me On LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter