Imagine you are walking down the street and a street peddler offers to sell you a Rolex for 50 percent of its retail value. You have wanted this watch for as long as you can remember. You aren’t sure if it is real or not, but the gliding second hand makes you think that perhaps this could be the real deal.

Now imagine you can buy that same watch from a jewelry dealer in town. This jewelry dealer has been in business for 30 years and has won numerous awards. They are charging a whopping 60 percent more than the peddler on the street, but you don’t have to worry that someone was held up so you could purchase this item. You also know that the store owner has something at stake if that Rolex is fake.

Now which one is going to get your business? If you are buying one online, can you even tell which one is which?

Telling your customers who they are buying from is just as important as showing what you sell. You can put up a website with cheap prices or spend a fortune on an amazing design, but unless you tell your customers who you are, they won’t know if you are that street peddler, a jeweler with years of experience, or an outright fraud just trying to pick off consumers who don’t know any better.. If that person walks into your brick-and-mortar store, they can shake your hand, talk to you, and assess if you are worthy of their business. An online consumer does not have this luxury and so you must somehow indicate why they should trust you.

According to a study done by MarketingSherpa, a personable "About Us" page boosts sales up to 30 percent on ecommerce websites. What is "personable"? According to Bryan Eisenberg at ClickZ, a good "About Us" page:

1. Shows the personality of your company. Are you a fun-loving company? Are you driven? Involved in your community? Share this with your customers so they can get a sense of what you are about.
2. Lets your customers "inside" your store. You don’t have to go as far as the video game company Bungie by setting up webcams in your office, but be sure to establish a sense of familiarity.
3. Tells your story. Creating a timeline is a great way to highlight achievements without bragging. See Dave and Buster’s “About Us” page.
4. Shows your passion and what motivates you. This motivation does not have to restrict itself to just your online store–it could reflect your core philosophies. See Nike’s “About Us” page.
5. Reiterates why this history, passion, and personality helps you serve your customers.

Remember, the "About Us" is valuable real estate, so do not use it to ramble. If you are having a hard time pegging what you are all about, Eisenberg suggests considering the following questions visitors may have:

1. Why do you do what you do?
2. Who are the people behind the company?
3. What kind of people will I be working with/buying from?
4. What does your company stand for?
5. What does your company stand against?

Are you a peddler on the street or a highline retail store? Putting some thought into your "About Us" page can help your audience theoretically shake your hand and understand what makes you tick and more importantly, why they should buy from you.

Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
michelle_greer(at)volusion.com
http://www.volusion.com

Technorati Tags: About Us, About Us Page, Brand Identity, Conversion Rates, Improve Conversion Rates, Increase Conversion Rates, Branding, Ecommerce Tips, Online Marketing Tips, Volusion, Sell Online, Ecommerce Software, Shopping Cart Software

Bookmark to:

No matter how many sales reps you get, those salespeople will never be able to close as many sales as a good website. They cannot be as accessible or offer as much information in as little time as a well executed online store.This being said, your homepage acts as your display window and the front door to your online store. Here are three cues to consider that were taken from A List Apart, one of the most referred to design sites on the web:

1.) Answer the question, “What is this place?” It is important to show new users what it is you are all about. Usability studies show that when users do not understand a website or application, they tend to blame themselves as the idiot rather than the designer or the developer. Should your visitors be made to feel like idiots because you have not made it clear to them what the purpose of your website is? A List Apart’s writer Derek Powazek has a summary of this process. “Don’t be afraid to use good old fashioned text to say: ‘This is who we are, and this is what we’re about.’ Then link to a more verbose about page or tour. That way, the people who need that help have a place to go to find it. And make sure the text you use is excited and positive—and makes the reader feel important.”

2.) Don’t get in the repeat visitors’ way. You can get so carried away in attracting new customers that your existing customers cannot just enter your site and find exactly what they need.

3.) Show what’s new. This is the easy part, since new products appeal to both new and existing customers. Don’t be afraid to tell your customer exactly where to go to see your latest additions to your site.

Being mindful of these three important factors ensures that all your visitors will feel welcome and ready to buy upon entering your store.

Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
http://www.volusion.com

Technorati Tags: homepage design, homepage tips, ecommerce homepage, online store homepage, design online store, a list apart, ecommerce design, design to sell, design conversion, design usability, volusion

Bookmark to:

Imagine you are strolling through the mall and stop to look at your favorite department store’s window. Instead of seeing the usually up and coming trends displayed or a sign that marks an annual sale, you see a barrage of everything that the store sells, from furniture to mens, childrens, and womens clothes, to shoes and accessories. Every bit of space in the window is cluttered with some product or another in an effort to ensure that every passerby knows everything that is offered in that store.

Your homepage acts as the shop window for your website. It gets people in the door. If you cannot find the pair of slacks you want in the display window, you do not assume it is not there. You shouldn’t assume your customers will leave your site if they can’t find what they want immediately.Here are some tips for choosing what to put on your homepage:

1.) Include a one to two sentence pitch of what you are all about. Customers have limited attention spans. They don’t have time to scan all of your products, but they will stick around if they know what your angle is.

2.) Include a homepage graphic with either key or new products, or even a link to a sales page. You don’t have time to waste the expensive real estate on your home page. Rather than including a large seasonal graphic or a picture unrelated to your products, make sure your graphic appeals to its audience and lets them know what you have to offer.

3.) Do not ask your customers to do to much too early. Are you asking customers to watch a video as well as click to view all of your inventory and make a call to a salesperson? You would not ask someone to do this in real life, and you shouldn’t do this with your website. Prioritize the top two things you want customers to focus on when first entering your site and stick with those.

4.) Take design cues from the best. Internet Retailer picked their Hot 100 Retail Websites based on progressive design and ease of use. Pick out your favorites and infuse some of their cues with your own style and story.

So sort through the clutter of your homepage and use it to entice people to enter your site. The value of your products and services should do the rest.

Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
http://www.volusion.com

Technorati Tags: Ecommerce Conversion, Web 2.0 Design, Ecommerce Design, Homepage Design, Online Store Design, Ecommerce Usability, Ecommerce Homepage, Online Store Homepage, Apple Design, Volusion

Bookmark to:

You have your designer on speed dial. She makes sure that she has four to five hours to devout to you each time you call. You have had splash intro pages, cascading graphics announcing your next sales, and gorgeous models sporting your latest gear. Now your website is interactive with various cool clubs and that clean, Apple-esque design.Your website is pretty, but did you remember to put your pretty in the right place to get people to buy?The Nielsen Research Group sought and actively seeks to debunk the theory that graphics and colors convert visitors into buyers. In an eye tracking study that measured both the places users viewed and the

intensity of their gaze, Nielsen researchers found that users could not find the population of the United States on the U.S. Census site even though the answer was clearly marked in bold red text with a marketing gimmick tied to it.

Why could 86 percent of users not find the answer? It is in the right column and away from the navigation section. 57% of people in the study were “Search Dominant Users.” When looking for the population, these users turned to the navigation areas at the top and at the left. The “Population Clock” marked in red was nowhere on their radar.

Not convinced that pretty put in the wrong place can take away from your sales? Check out Bryan Eisenberg’s SEMMY award winning post on how a pretty face can push visitors away. How can a girl like the one in this post take emphasis off your products? By looking at you, the viewer, rather than the product itself.

Pretty is not enough. Use pretty to guide your customers to certain behaviors and then watch your conversion rates.

Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
www.volusion.com

Technorati Tags: Ecommerce, Sell Online, Start Online Store, Usability Studies, Ecommerce Conversion, Increase Online Sales, Usability Ecommerce, Volusion

Bookmark to:

Although Anne-Marie Kovacs started the concept for The Succulent Wife 17 years ago, she was getting into something completely new by opening an online version with Volusion’s online storefront in 2005.Kovacs saw the increase in number of online shoppers as an opportunity to expand her business of promoting the work of women artists. When she started thesucculentwife.com, Kovacs featured the works of two artists on her site. Since then, she has featured the works of over 80 different women. The Succulent Wife features an array of unique gifts such as hand-crafted jewelry, beauty and spa items, home accents, stationery, and even men’s and children’s gifts.

Kovacs sought to improve her business by focusing on bringing legitimacy to her site. “You can’t get away with the ‘mom and pop’ look anymore. Sleek is the order of the day”, she says. Rather than trying to improve the style of her site by herself, Kovacs hired Debi McKerchie of www.webtillerdesigns.com to improve the design and usability. “Debi was there from day one and helped adapt all my fancy custom design. I could not have gotten anywhere without her.” McKerchie also implemented Kovacs’s site redesign that was launched just this past month.

How did Kovacs decide on her improved look this season? “I have listened to many webinars and read much on the subject of etailing. From these lessons, the usability of my store has improved bit by bit. The hardest part was letting go of some design elements because they contributed nothing to functionality, or even hindered it. That was the case with my latest homepage redesign.” Kovacs’s store now runs on Volusion’s Version 5.

The Succulent Wife’s latest homepage redesign includes “Shop by” buttons to make finding the perfect gift even easier.

How does Anne-Marie Kovacs prepare each new artist to sell online? “I always preface any discussion with any new artist with ‘the web is not a place where the “build it and they will come” thing happens.’ You’ve got to work at it from all angles, traditional ones included!”

You can see Kovacs’s improved design and holiday gifts at www.thesucculentwife.com.

–Michelle Greer, Marketing Specialist
http://www.volusion.com

Technorati Tags: E Commerce Designer, Improving Usability, Increase Site Conversions, Online Store Designer, The Succulent Wife, volusion

Bookmark to: