There is a lot of wonderful advice here (and I have seen two websites
David designed up close and they are excellent), but I would add one
more point:
*The website designer and you have very similar interests, but they
are not exactly the same. The more they sell you on, the more they
make. And while they may know a lot more about the Internet than you
do, they don't necessarily know more about your business than *YOU
*do, so bear that in mind!
I can only wonder how much my annual sales would currently be if I had
taken the advice of every website designer I hired or talked to over
the years (some of whom have moved on to other professions).
On Wed, Jan 1, 2014 at 4:14 PM, David <shadow....@gmail.com
<mailto:shadow....@gmail.com>> wrote:
Hi everyone, best wishes for 2014 to you all
As well as building websites I have spent a fair amount of time
surfing them too, the two do go hand in hand and despite what you
might think there is a science to a website design and how to keep
the consumer interested, here's not the place to discuss all that
fun stuff, besides it will likely bore most of you anyway! I
wanted to add to some of Ari Kahan's accurate comments.
So again, I have jotted down a few notes (ok maybe not a few!),
there's a bit to read so maybe grab a coffee first...�;-)
So, it's one thing to get them to your site, but then you have to
try to get them to come back. Different things work for different
types of sites, but just like the old movie serials of our youth
the basics of any consumer experience should be to leave them
satisfied at the end but leave them wanting to come back for more.
Amazing customer service, speedy deliveries, first rate contact is
frankly what the consumer ALREADY expects but they also expect a
surfing experience that is not filled with annoying speed bumps
along the way.� If there is one thing you should bear in mind when
it comes to website (design) specially when it comes to a webshop,
there is no need for you (or your web designer) to be cute! Being
so different from almost every other standard webshop out there
just makes your site annoying to use. No it's not fun, awesome or
clever to be so different (even if you think it is), purchasing
things for money is not rocket science so please don't make your
consumer need a degree in it when they visit your website.
Now sure, you've done it on the cheap because a friend did it and
it looked great so you, your wife and your cousin's nephew Cletus
have slapped together a website with letters that blink (because
you learnt some html back in 1998), massive banners all over it
(because you've got a free program on your computer so how hard
can it be), and purple on black with green text is your favourite
colour so use it everywhere. "And new website? Pfffft! Your
home-made design has worked all these years so why change it now,
besides this is not face to face to selling like the good old days
(love that phrase), and it's not like the real world (well
actually it IS the real world) and besides you have great stuff
that everyone wants so design shouldn't matter that much..."
Well maybe you shouldn't read on because to be honest the consumer
today has way different expectations for their surfing experience...
* TWO CLICK purchasing is very important, however these days
there is no real need to have to force the consumer to
'sign-up' first either. We both know why you do it (so you can
get their email to direct market to them), but why not let
them make the purchase with the least amount of things to fill
in as possible - as soon as they have committed to pay they
will happily hand over ALL their details.
* CONTACT PAGE if it has a form to fill in, try to make it with
as little information required as possible - do you really
need to know the writer's mother's maiden name or their dog's
DNA just to allow them to ask you a question? Develop the
relationship during the email exchanges not in the contact
form. Also, if you are going to take money off me then I
really think it's fair that I know your postal address and
contact phone number.
* DO NOT HAVE 'Under Construction' on any part of your site,
either: your entire site is down for some brief maintenance or
it is a current website, the fact it needs some work done on
it should never be pointed out (but should be fixed
immediately anyway!).
* ABOUT ME/US PAGE - have one, make it interesting and to the
point - it's not a diary of your life we want to read just
what qualifies you to sell me stuff.
* BE CURRENT - it's now 2014, how many of you have updated your
website to say (c) 2014 Joe Bloggs Posters? Actually, and this
is the scary thing....how many of you have updated your
website's copyright date, EVER?!
* SITE COUNTERS - I don't care how many people have visited your
site before I got there, none of us do - only you do - keep it
to yourself because site counters are so last century!
* GOOGLE ANALYTICS - the best site counter out there, it's free
and a MUST have, how else do you know your website is going?
* MENU - if I click on an item on your menu and it takes me to a
page that is either not there or 'Under Construction' then
why-oh-why is it ON the menu?!
* FIFTY FONTS - unless you think books and newspaper publishers
got it wrong then you should try to restrict the number of
different fonts you use on a website to maybe 2 or 3, and
don't be too cute with the font type just because it looks
pretty...
* DO NOT force my browser to open new tabs every time I click on
something I want to read on YOUR website, but...
* DO force my browser to open new tabs every time I click on a
link to some OTHER website (allowing the client to leave your
site by closing the connection to it is just a NO-NO!)
* DON'T write content or articles but scan it as a picture to
load on your website to be read.
* TEXT SIZE - get it right because I've got money and if I can't
read about what I am buying you can't see my money.
* CROSS BROWSER FRIENDLY - yep, there is more than one out there
and they all don't 'render' (display) websites quite the same.
* FASHION SENSE - most of you leave it up to your wife to choose
the colours when it comes to decorating the house, picking the
furniture or even choosing the right tie for that function
tonight, so why is it you suddenly develop a sense of fashion
when it comes to web colours?! Again, there is a lot of
science that goes into what colours best combine with what...
* NEWSLETTERS - Absolutely! Keep your existing members up to
date with a newsletter (which MUST have an opt-out option - in
almost all countries this is law), but for goodness sake, make
them interesting and keep them BRIEF! Screeds of writing
appeals to no-one (except you), throw in a few images too.
Think of your newsletter like that daily online newspapers you
now read, NONE of them will have the full article on the
homepage (unlike most real newspapers), all have a title (some
with an image) and then intro text with a link to further
reading. Rule of thumb: your entire monthly Newsletter
(emailed to your member) should be able to be printed on a
standard piece of printer paper (and still be readable), if it
is more than that then I will use a four letter word: EDIT.
You have nothing to say that is so important half the Amazon
rain forest needs to be culled...
o I would recommend using a professional newsletter delivery
company, these are a cheap and very professional options
that will allow you to use one of their (many) excellent
templates, deliver your newsletter to your mailing list
and provide you with feedback, such as how many were
opened, what articles were clicked on etc etc - you might
think you know what your customers like to read but stats
don't lie...
* DISCOUNT CODES - (not to be confused with GIFT vouchers, also
very good, but not as popular as you think). These are great
way to bring people back, they're instant, can be
time-restrictive (valid until...) and dependent on the site
design can also be restricted to certain categories (e.g. 30%
off 3 sheet posters this week-end etc), these codes can often
be included in your Newsletters too. They work by allowing
your client to type in the special code at the check-out and
it deducts the value automatically - excellent!
* OUT OF STOCK - Displaying lots of products for sale that is
also mixed in with products that are actually sold is simply
poor design and is extremely annoying for the consumer
(despite all your logic, pop along to Amazon etc and look at
all their sold outs they display).
* PAYMENT OPTIONS is a hard one, ideally offer as many as you
can but reality is many can't afford all the costs that go
with setting that up - something like PayPal takes care of
that, they take major credit cards and they don't require your
client to sign up - your cost is deducted at purchase, there
is no transaction fees, no minimum monthly costs, no bank fees
there is no annual SSL fees and so on. Sure, if you have a big
enough turnover then it is cheaper the other way, but for most
small dealers it is not - but you need to work that out on a
case by case basis.
* FLUFFY DICE AND NEON LIGHTS - if you run a webshop then please
don't let your web designer try to convince you to add all
those extra little bells and whistles because it's the latest
most current design trend - the basics of a retail experience
hasn't changed: you have what they want and they have what you
want - so try and exchange those things as quickly and as
easily as possible. Far too many web designer over complicate
things because a basic design website isn't as much fun or
expensive as the geeky one he wants to build you.
* EXTRAS offer more than just product, maybe have articles,
info, industry news etc etc - it brings them back, it can
makes your newsletter interesting (ergo they click to go to
your website) and, is very VERY good for SEO (Search Engine
Optimisation). I've gotten to chat with people over the years
who have some great information in their head but it would be
even better on their website.
* TRUST YOUR WEB DESIGNER because once you've checked them out
and committed then maybe let them do what they do best. Of
course there are some out there that will remove as much as
possible from your wallet as possible, this can be a rogue
industry no doubt about it. But there are some who care about
the client as much as the design, they will take care of you,
it will be a personal experience for you well worth paying the
dollars for. Obviously check them out first because sure, you
can get a website for $399, but honestly it's a commercial
website for $399 - but really, what did you expect, ongoing
support, care and attention..?
* STOP being a cheap-ass! I understand your site is a
hobby/semi-commercial website and sure you don't have tens of
thousands of dollars to spend (nor do you have to) but you
charge a pretty penny for your product and won't spend a few
dollars on a good modern website/shop? Personally I love
seeing $500 items for sale on a $50 website, always fills me
with confidence to buy...
* EVOLVE! The internet is evolving fast, as is design...you
could at least make an effort to try and keep up a little
better than you have been. Today's consumer/surfer is smarter,
expects a whole lot more and is far less patient than 5, 10 or
15 years ago, home-made and/or bad design just doesn't cut it
any more. Sure you can keep your old design and be happy with
your lot, eventually your client will move on to better and
easier places to shop (in some cases they already have). If
you are happy being that corner hardware store and sit there
with old Bill, reminisce and chew tobaccy every Saturday along
with your old wooden drawer where you keep the week's takings
then that's great...but the bell on the door doesn't ring as
often as it used to does it does it, specially since that
whipper-snapper opened his shop with clean shelves, no clutter
on the floor and one of those new new fangled lectric money
thingamajigs, and yep, he is smart enough to know he has to
offer great personal service too...
I hope the above was food for thought, it's just one man's opinion
in a room where everyone including the client, has an expert one.
I probably struck too close to home about some of your sites (none
were specifically in mind when I wrote this) so I apologise if I
offended, but you probably would cry if you knew how many people
gave up on your site as the result of the design or difficulty it
was surfing/buying something from it.
Good luck in 2014
David Rew
Alan Adler did previously state on 1/01/2014 3:46 AM:
Dear Mopos WHO BUY FROM websites!
We've shared a great thread on the pros and cons of building and running a
website.
Now, would any mopos and mo-pros who spend time surfing - or even better,
actually buying - from existing websites, be willing to share their thoughts
and experiences.
What makes your favorite sites, your favorites?
What are a site's must-haves or things you dislike about sites you've
visited?
What would your dream site be like?
Thanks in advance for your time.
Alan Adler
Museum of Mom and Pop Culture
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site atwww.filmfan.com
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