November 2008 Archives

Tips and Tools for a Thanksgiving-Themed Website Redesign

While cornstalks, turkeys and pilgrims set a festive decor for millions of homes and brick-and-mortar businesses across America, you may be wondering how to bring the feel of Thanksgiving to your ecommerce website.

If you are looking to dress up your site and brand for the holiday, it is important to remember that you don't need a full website redesign -- in fact, industry experts agree that a redesign just for a holiday is likely to confuse regular visitors to your site.

To see the full story visit: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/design/article.php/3784171

Your website represents you and your entire company to any person who views it.  If your website is sloppy or unprofessional a potential customer may conclude that your business is sloppy and unprofessional as a whole.  A customer's decision of whether they may make a purchase from you is made within the first three seconds of viewing your site.  Therefore you must understand the 7 key decisions that will turn your website into a salesperson.  Of course, your website actually has the power to be a complete sales force and that is why choosing the right web design company  is so vital.

In fact, choosing the best web site design service is the first key decision you must make to turn your website into a salesperson.  A design company like 7 Strategy understands the importance your website design has on the impression you make to viewers and they know how to help you turn "traffic" into customers.  By creating web solutions that fit your business and a website design that is eye-catching, unique and functional, your web design company is the most vital part of turning your website into a salesperson.

Your professional web design will incorporate the other 6 key decisions into your website to help it become your ultimate sales force.  Key decision number 2 is choosing the right headline for your page.  Split testing has shown that both the text and font used for your headline can have a dramatic impact on your conversion rate (the percentage of viewers your website turns into paying customers). 

Key decision number 3 is your color scheme.  Your design company will be crucial in helping you understand how the color scheme sets the tone for your site and influences a person's decision to purchase from your website.

Images can create a strong impression that leads to a purchase decision and that is why key decision number 4 is what images to place on your website and where to place them.  Having an image that compliments your headline close to the top of the page can increase conversion rates much more than you may think.  Your web site design service will be able to determine the right images and placement for your business' needs.

Take for example these Award Winning Web Designs:

The landing page is key decision number 5.  Your landing page aka sales page can be a place where you focus on selling one particular item or you may focus on selling them the idea of buying from your website.  Either way, the sales page is designed to get the viewer to take an action either by clicking a link to your full website or hitting the "buy now" button.  Professional web design is a must for getting the most out of your sales page.

Key decision number 6 is your content.  Your web design company can help you determine where to purchase custom made SEO articles for your website to maximize your search engine exposure and encourage your viewers to become customers.  The design of your site is created to get the viewer to read your message and the message compels the viewer to take action i.e.: purchase your products.

Finally, key decision number 7 is understanding what products to include on your website.  Your web design company can help you develop a strategy that will make the most of your website and turn it into a super selling machine.

Despite the recent, sharp downtown in the economy, many experts say now is not the time to cut back on search engine marketing (SEM) and search engine optimization (SEO). In fact, with online shoppers saying they plan on cutting back on spending this holiday season, now may be the perfect time for you to optimize your site to attract every prospective customer you can -- and keep your current customers coming back for more. Best of all, optimizing your site, giving it a pre-holiday facelift, needn't be expensive or time consuming. And the return on your investment could (and should) more than offset the cost.

To see the complete story visit: http://www.ecommerce-guide.com/solutions/design/article.php/3782591

New study finds that as customer expectations rise, online businesses neglect user experience at their own peril.

Online shopping is more popular than ever, but a new study has concluded that many ecommerce web sites provide a poor user experience, causing many customers to abandon their transactions and head to a competitor's site.

The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive, was commissioned by Tealeaf, a web company that provides Customer Experience Management (CEM) software to online merchants.

Of the 84 percent of online adults who shop online, nearly nine out of 10 said they have had trouble completing a transaction. Forty-one percent of the people who reported having problems said they either navigated to an alternative site or simply abandoned the transaction altogether.

To see the complete story visit: http://www.internetnews.com/ec-news/article.php/3771711/Online+Shoppers+in+Search+of+Better+Service.htm