Tuesday, December 30, 2008

Putting Up an e-Commerce Website

By Ethan O. Tanner

With an increase in consumers using the internet to shop and perform business transactions, e-commerce has become the future of the online community. Benefitting completely from the e-commerce boom can be achievable. To keep consumers coming back, you need to create a unique e-commerce site, one that reaches beyond all levels of excellence. When designing your e-commerce website, you should have a welcome or introduction on your home page. This statement should establish the advantages of your site, and assure those visiting that they should be comfortable doing business with you. State your purpose, express your beliefs, and let the consumer know why business done at your e-commerce outlet is always secure.

A well done website has fluid navigation. Categories to skim through and prominent search boxes on the site are essential. Design a simple site with large, clear fonts and images that will load promptly. Make certain to have a page with common inquiries about some of your basic business policies, for example, shipping and returns. You may in addition want to have a link on your home page that directs visitors to a privacy insurance. This policy will guarantee to customers that you will never provide a third party with information they have confided in you. It is nearly intrinsic for all e-commerce shops to exhibit this announcement someplace on their site.

Just like during offline shopping, customers desire for checkout to be as quick and easy as possible when going to your online store. If your online store is equipped with a secure server, make your customers knowing of this fact. This will put them at rest and keep them coming back. Your checkout or "shopping cart" needs to be merely one click away so the customer can be in and out without a great amount of steps. Today, it is best to offer diverse payment options, including PayPal and other online payment sources, credit and debit cards, online checks, and money orders. Provide a contact phone number for customer support so the customer has confidence that they will have help if there are any issues with the order.

Set up a specific part of your e-commerce website devoted entirely to special discounts and recent sales. If you have a tremendous amount of sales items, make a separate webpage committed to the ones that are favored most , and have an additional page with a complete listing of all discounts. During the holidays, have a certain area of your website reserved for customers to buy gift certificates.

Producing a profitable, reputable e-commerce website can be a simple task with a well constructed site plan, some time, and patience. Take your time and design your e-commerce site to be user friendly, secure, and full of informative content. Taking full advantage of the e-commerce phenomenon, you can succeed in your business marketing dream. - 17944

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