Creating The Perfect Ecommerce Website


If you're thinking of jumping on the bandwagon and going into business with your own ecommerce website, you'd do well to look at a few examples before you start. Finding out what a good ecommerce website looks like will help you know what to include - and what to avoid - when you start to set up one of your own. Here are some of the things you'll find on the perfect ecommerce web site:

A good ecommerce web site sells something that people want to buy.

This is probably the most important fact of all. It's all very well to decide that you want to set up an ecommerce web site (after all, a lot of people are doing it, and doing it very successfully, too), but first of all, make sure you know what you're going to sell - and whether or not it's something people will want to buy. That means doing market research, and market research can be time consuming and boring, but you'll never create a successful ecommerce website without it.

The most successful online stores sell products that are high in demand and which fulfill a need.

Before you even think about starting an ecommerce website of your own, you'll need to work out which group of consumers you'll be targeting, and just what kind of thing they want to buy.

A good ecommerce website has a simple yet eye-catching design.

Never underestimate the importance of finding a great design for your ecommerce web site - but don't over-estimate it either. While your ecommerce web site design is one of the things your customers will remember you for, if you get things right, they'll be far more interested in what you're selling than in how you're selling it. Make sure your ecommerce web site is easy to use and navigate, and that your products are displayed to their best advantage.

A good ecommerce website makes it easy for customers to pay.

Have you ever found something you want to buy on an ecommerce website, and got to check out only to find that you need to make a phone call to the company in question to complete your transaction or, worse, print out an order form and send it through the mail? Frustrating, isn't it? Your customers will think so too. Install an easy to use, straightforward payments mechanism which allows your customers to pay safely and securely using their credit or debit cards - they'll thank you for it by coming back for more!

The perfect ecommerce website is easy to find.

Last but not least, make sure your ecommerce web site shows up on search engine listings. If it doesn't, no one will ever find it, and you may as well not have started it at all. Search engine optimisation (the art of getting your web site listed on search engines) can be tricky and time consuming, so if you're not sure how to do it, find someone who can - it'll be worth every penny you spend on it!

Amber McNaught is co-owner of Hot Igloo Productions Ltd, a website design and online marketing firm offering high quality designs at affordable prices.


More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More E-Commerce Information:

Related Articles

Is It Easy to Build An E-commerce Web Site?
--Online Commerce--E-Commerce website is all about selling products and services over the Internet. Amateurs may think that it is easy to build your own e-commerce system and our advice to you is to stay away from these amateurs.
Helping Your Visitors: a State of Mind
What does "helping your visitors" mean exactly?It means writing your sites, newsletters and emails in such a way as to help each visitor achieve his or her goal.That may sound like a simple task, but it isn't.
Ecommerce - Boost Your Business ROI
Did you know that over 90% of all online orders are processed by credit cards and that web sites that offer customers the ability to pay with credit cards can achieve up to 300% more sales than those that do not?It's a fact. Not only do more customers buy, statistics prove that customers actually buy more when given the option to pay with their credit card.
Mr and Mrs Smith Go Online, as Internet Technology Moves from Fantasy to Normality
According to NOP World, 48% of all Internet users have researched or purchased financial products such as insurance and loans on the internet, or used online banking facilities. In April, NOP World had already recorded estimates of 28 million people online in Great Britain, with 13.
Credit Card Merchant Account Basics
Knowing which credit card merchant account to get can be very confusing. There are thousands and thousands of banks, merchant account providers and third party sales teams that can offer you all kinds of incentives.
Using Credit Cards Securely Online
Nowadays, shopping online is a very common thing. Making your purchases without leaving your house is an attractive option for many of us.
Creating Legal Framework for E-commerce Taxation; non-tax statutes
We have to make amendments in existing substantive and procedural laws to make it compactable with changing technological advancement of e-commerce?Amending Contract Act, 1872I recommend the amendments in section 3 and 4 of contract Act 1872 so as to make the compactable with section 13, 14 and 15, of the electronic transaction ordinance 2002 related with attribute of communication, acknowledgement of receipt and time and place of the communication between the parties. Either additional section should be added for acceptance device of 'electronic communication', or words be added in matter connected with electronic communication relevant section 13,14 and 15 be evoked while interpretation of section 3 and 4 of contract Act 1872.
Stakeholder Analysis and Stakeholder Management
What is a Stakeholder?Try "define: Stakeholder" in Google and you will be surprised by the huge differences in the way this simple word is defined. It perhaps proves - in a way - just how confused people get about Stakeholder Management and how inconsistent the different approaches to it can be!My simple definition is "anyone affected by a decision and interested in its outcome".
Start doing online business using B2B Portals in Six Steps
I registered with a B2B site but what's next?This is a question many first time users of B2B marketplaces ask themselves. A few expect that the registration itself will bring them a number of new customers.
Expand Your Local Business Through the Internet
To obtain more local customers for your business, consider expanding your local business through the Internet. Here are some ways of doing so.
Online Payments Make It Easy For Your Customers To Buy
In the last column we discussed the process of credit card enabling your brick-and-mortar business. I pointed out that research has shown that accepting credit cards can help increase revenue and speed up cash flow.
Short Story: The Benefits of Shopping Online
Maria's new lifestyle: Short story about the benefits shopping on the Net has given to a dedicated artist.I've got this strange friend; her name is Maria.
How to Get Free Internet Merchant Accounts
This article will show small businesses how to get free internetmerchant accounts. If your business is to grow and succeed, itis essential to accept online credit cards.
Six Components Of A Good E-Commerce Site
Businesses, which are still sitting on sidelines and not doing business on the Internet, should think seriously about their position! If you are one of them, chances are there, that you have to pay dearly for your indecision as you might lose significant market share to your more proactive competitors in a very short period of time.Apart from the fact that e-commerce is growing at the rate of more than 25 percent a year, the use of online features can bring efficiency to virtually every aspect of business process, be it supply chain management or customer support management.
Web Store - Why Do You Need One?
Internet has opened a new era of business opportunities. Each day, thousands of new consumers are joining the Internet.
Shopping Cart Features to Consider
Often the simplest Web stores have the most success. But shoppers like special features depending upon the type of store you have, how you market and use them, and if you don't overwhelm the shopper.
eCommerce, How Much Does It cost?
Making profits with your existing website design or creating a new online store can be exciting, affordable and most of all; rewarding. Mmmm .
Accepting Credit Card Payments Online
Being able to accept credit cards and other online payments is crucial to the success of your business and profits. Your customers are more likely to buy from you if you offer them a secure and convenient way to order goods and services online at your site.
Internet Merchant Accounts For Innocents Abroad
If you want to sell on the internet, your need to accept credit cards. To accept credit cards, you need a merchant account, or access to one.
The Internet Challenge
In spite of the increasing attention on how the Internet is changing the business landscape, many small business owners are still struggling to understand its influence. But unlike the ceaseless blinking of the home VCR, the impact of the Internet cannot be ignored.