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Building Ecommerce Websites That Work - Part 3
By Richard Keir, Sat Dec 10th
Copyright 2005 Richard Keir An interesting eCommerce success factor that isn't preciselyoverlooked, but which is often thought about more in terms ofbeing a way of feeding the search engine spiders has to do withproviding content. In a very real sense the customer's job is toconsume. That's why you're in business. Think in terms of providing the information your customers needto do their job of consuming. What does that mean? Consider whatyou sell. The content on your site needs to focus on yourproducts - whatever they happen to be. Reviews and comparativeinformation on the items available through your web site canhelp focus and direct your customer to what they need, want andcan afford.
Too often eCommerce sites use only marginally relevantinformation as content - or content that may match the generaltheme of the site but has nothing to do with what's being sold,promoted, etc. That could be more or less adequate as spiderfood, but it isn't going to help your customers do their job ofconsuming your products. The better you combine these two goals - informing yourcustomers and feeding the spiders - the better you'll do atboth. Irrelevant search listings are pretty much a waste of yourbandwidth. What you want is highly targeted customers interestedin what you're offering and since the search engines lovefocused content and integrated sites, make that work for you. And I'm not suggesting blatant repetitive hyped up sales copy.You want to inform, compare, offer added information that willhelp focus your customers. Use your content to develop desireand provide comparative information on similar products atvarying price levels. Remember: desire not need. While we all need things - and while you may be convincedeveryone absolutely needs your product - we mostly buy based ondesire - because we want it. The better you do at turning thatneed into immediate desire, the better your site will perform. Again, not a fevered sales pitch. That's likely to turn off alarge number of customers. Examples, stories and carefullychosen (and real) testimonials can support the process, too.Using video and/or audio can have a dramatic impact. Let yourcustomers draw the obvious conclusions. Along with providing plenty of comparison and review data, goodsearch facilities are essential for a large eCommerce site. Thisalso means that if you use a searchable product database thatyour keys and descriptions must be well-chosen and the linksfrom search results to pages work smoothly and easily. While we've talked earlier in this series about the importanceof providing various ways to enhance the social aspect of yoursite, it's also important that customers be capable of using itwithout assistance. Never over complicate your site or yourprocesses to the point that it's no longer obvious what to do tobuy something (or complete whatever desired action you arefocusing on). A typical customer should be able to go from front page toproduct page to order page to thank you page easily and withouthesitation or confusion. The simpler and cleaner the process,the better for you. If you can manage it, test with 4 or 5 basically internetilliterate people. Watch carefully what they do, where theyhesitate, what seems to cause confusion - but don't talk
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or helpduring the process. Then go over everything with them in detailworking with your observations and their thoughts and feelings.Your site may be obvious to you, but is it obvious to anyoneelse? And when you think you've covered anything, a few pairs of neweyes (or checking out your competitors' sites) can give you awhole new to-do list. Your eCommerce site is an intentional business creation. Everyaspect should be organized around what you want the site to do,what kind of visitors you want and what you want them to do.Everything on your site should be there for a specific reasonthat contributes to your goals for the site. And everythingshould be tested to be certain that it actually does contribute. It's your site and your business so never take anything forgranted, never assume something works if it can be tested. Andnever stop testing. With careful attention to detail andon-going testing you'll be able to make incremental improvementsover time that will vastly improve the productivity of youreCommerce web site. About the author:Richard writes, teaches and consults on business presentations,eCommerce, site building and programming. Visit http://www.Building-eCommerce-Websites foreCommerce resources and links and check http://www.Building-eCommerce-Websites/blogfor opinion and ideas.
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