One of the main reasons that I wanted to move my website to a new server was that I was never happy with the wholesale shopping cart on my current site. And since wholesale is about 80% of my business that was a BIG problem for me. The other reasons were all finance related….too many extra charges and a 1% fee for each transaction. When I sat down and actually calculated what I could SAVE by moving it…..I was thrilled…..at least a months worth of diapers and a few lunches out! Yoo Hoo!! My sister’s new client Webgem has gone out of their way to help me build a website exactly to my specifications. I want to share a few tips with you to help you create a website that is easy to navigate (= easy to purchase from) and with good descriptions and an easy shopping cart. I will announce my launch in a couple of weeks so will be sure to show you the new website and all the cool features!!
Your website represents your brand to the world and needs to be consistent with the look and feel you have worked so hard to achieve. Whether or not you sell your product or it is just an informational website (if you license it out and don’t sell it for example), your site needs to be easy to read and grab persons attention in 3 seconds.
Here are the key points that you can follow to make sure your site is well on it’s way to success.
1. Look and design – There are many different designs and looks out there so do some research to find what you like and use those to show your website designer, or to use on your own. I personally am annoyed by long loading pretty graphics so think about how that makes you feel before you choose to add that feature. Once your site is up, have some people test it out and give you feedback. You want to be sure that the “not so web savvy” can navigate your site easily and be able to make a purchase without becoming frustrated – that will only lead to them leaving without purchasing – which means less sales.
2. Managing the website – There are many ways to build a website these days. You can choose to hire a web designer or you can do it yourself with many of the easy to follow sites out there. You can also hire the expert to get the site up and then teach you to maintain it yourself. This can be very cost effective and easy if they use a template site-builder. Here is a list of a few DIY that colleagues and clients have used in the past.
3. Content – Content is all the written and visual material on your website. Obviously this is important as it will convey the nature of the products you are selling and what they look like. Think of the words as your virtual sales person. Write the content as you would need someone to explain the product to you to get you to buy it. Keep it simple but be sure to cover all the bases.
4. Sales – Obviously this is the most important part of your site. No matter how pretty or cool your website looks, selling is your ultimate goal.
5. SEO – Search Engine Optimization – These are a series of words and groups of words that when properly implemented can help improve the volume and quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. This is a very complicated and evolving methodology that is difficult to implement your self. There are lots of DYI books out there on SEO and you can give it a try – but as you have more money, you may decide that it is a better use of your time to hire a firm who specializes in this. These are some of the most important things to remember when building your site for optimum SEO on your own. This is only some basic stuff you could do on your own but for the major work….look into a VA or a vetted company to help you out.
Thanks for the tip Sara. It was very informative and helpful for someone like myself who isn’t very tech savvy. I will most definetly keep these tips in mind as I continue to work with my web designer on completing my bakerie’s site.
Great info Sarah! This a very helpful guide to the keys for website building.
Good stuff here Sarah, thank you. I am in the process of a website redesign so I wanted to see what you had to say on the topic. Thanks!
Great read and thanks for all the good tips. I recently had a ‘badge’ created for my website/product that my customers and followers from Twitter can easily cut & paste to their Blog. Wa La! Instant advertising in front of the audience theme I want.
Check it out!
Thanks again,
Lisa Illman, President The Kritter Kommunity, LLC http://kritterkommunity.com http://krittersthattwitter.com lillman@kritterkommunity.com 1-888-8KONDOS
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