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. Visit their website at http://www.hotigloo.co.uk

---

A Beginners Guide To Setting Up A Successful Online Store

A beginner's guide to setting up a successful online store... Read More

Are You Making These E-Commerce Excuses? (part 2)

Last time, we started to take a look at the... Read More

How To Start An Internet Business ? Content, Content, Content

When it comes to e-commerce, the time-tested cliché is, "Content... Read More

Top 5 Dot Com Myths Debunked

Most people who get into business know what's involved. They... Read More

How To Sell Your Products Online?

E-commerce is gaining pace! Research firm eMarketer predicts that 2003... Read More

E-marketplaces from Sellers Perspective

What is an E-marketplace anyway?E-marketplace is a business to business... Read More

Conducting Business through B2B E-marketplaces

Businesses, which are still sitting on sidelines and not doing... Read More

Shopping Carts and the E-Aisles

Have you ever gone to the store and thought you... Read More

Developing a Winning e-Commerce Strategy

One bright spot on the economic horizons around the world... Read More

Cyber Banking

The use of electronic cash as a means of transacting... Read More

Online Customer Service - The Cornerstone of a Successful Online Business

Online customer service is still one of the most frequently... Read More

Electronic Commerce Tax Jurisdiction and Principles of Permanent Establishment

The principle of "permanent establishment" is very important for avoidance... Read More

Building eCommerce Websites That Work - Part 1

You want to succeed at eCommerce? Welcome to a very... Read More

Online Credit Card Processing - How to Accept Credit Cards - Ecommerce 101

Back in 1998 (through 2000 or so), I worked for... Read More

12 Easy and Effective Ways To Create Reports

1. Combine a few of your articles into a free... Read More

Pitfalls of Doing Big International Brokerage Business Online

Nothing has helped international brokerage business more than the internet:... Read More

Drop-Shipping ? A Great Way of Making Money Online

Using the Internet to sell products and services to ever... Read More

Why This Is The Perfect Time To Start Charging For Website Subscriptions

If you're a writer, researcher, subject matter expert, enthusiastic hobbyist,... Read More

Is Your Business Afraid of the Internet?

My Business is Afraid of the InternetBill Gates, CEO of... Read More

Intranet Portals ? Collaboration through Team Rooms

Knowledge Management for beginnersKnowledge Management (KM) can be defined simply... Read More

What is SSL (the little padlock)?

SSL ("Secured Socket Layer") is a protocol used to... Read More

How To Prevent Your 3rd Party Merchant Account From Suspension

What would you do if you were sent an email... Read More

Distinguishing Features of E-Commerce

E-commerce offers customers the chance to eliminate many stages in... Read More

How To Implement E-Business Solutions Successfully

Pitfalls of E-business solutions installation processA large distribution company has... Read More

Accepting Credit Cards For Your Online Business

Did you know that one of the best ways to... Read More

Online Lead Generation: Can it Work for My Business?

Business-to-business service providers have a wide range of tactics they... Read More

Something new in e-commerce: the Echo System Build

How four partners build and manage an exclusive art posters... Read More

When Do You Ask For A Refund?

Have you ever asked to have your money refunded after... Read More

Is ECommerce Right for Our Business?

If your business features products or services for sale, undoubtedly... Read More

Accept Credit Cards Online Without a Merchant Account

There are two major ways to accept credit cards on... Read More

The Webmasters Assistant

There are many tools available to a webmaster to analyse... Read More

Getting Started in ECommerce - Part One

In 2004, Enquiro.com conducted a study of the search behaviors... Read More

How to Receive Payments for Your Online Sales

Once you decide which products you are planning to sell... Read More