Posted by zoli in The purpose of an ecommerce website is to lead an individual visiting the site to make a purchase online. Web designers thus have to keep in view various facets of online marketing and selling doctrines prior to designing one. While some of them may be quite common and seem logical, it is still worth examining them to try and understand in better detail as to what exactly makes for a successful ecommerce website.
You may be wondering as to what sets apart an ecommerce website from a normal one. While the usual standard requirement of an attractive design and color scheme that jells with the spirit of the website is common place, certain other elements bear mention such as:
- The website must provide the user with a unique and pleasant shopping experience.
- Ease of use and minimum transaction time should be the unique selling proposition which will be beneficial to both the user and you.
- Certain information as to the pedigree of the website so as to infuse confidence in the user will be worth its weight for a long term business association with the user and also to get further references.
The above tenets or doctrines are not totally unknown. The challenge however is to translate them into action such that visitors throng to your website as you would have noticed people rushing to the bread stand placed strategically at the supermarkets. There the marketers use the olfactory senses of the visitors to draw them to their stand by utilizing exclusive air ducts to ensure that the smell of bread reaches the visitors.
You have a similar challenge. A clear definite path needs to lead a visitor to your website to the display page and then make him purchase. Unlike the example in the supermarket, you do not have the luxury of using any sensory organs to pull your visitor. Here, the exit option is just a click away for the visitor and your potential customer and that is why it is very imperative to keep him engrossed and his attention centered on the contents of your site. You thus have the ironical situation of being able to put a lot of products and display them easily on the website, but will find it difficult to sell them as the potential visitor can easily get distracted through any link and find himself very far away from your site with just a click.
In this regard, the layout of the website is of vital importance. Studies have revealed that the user is most likely to concentrate his attention towards the center of the left side portion of the site followed by the actual center portion of the page. This can be considered as that leading path which needs to be designed by your web designer such that the visitor is kept interested and is motivated enough to proceed further on the website and make the purchase.
The number of clicks has their own part to play in leading visitors from one page to another and it has been found that a visitor should not have to click more than two times to get to the page he desires and this must definitely be one of the considerations to be kept in mind by your website designer.
Other techniques involving personalization technologies can also be implemented and this can improve the popularity of your website manifold. One example is Amazon.com and all of us are aware of the tremendous strides made by this site over the years.
