The main components to successful ecommerce web design:

1. Creating the right design (layout, color scheme, navigation, etc.) for your industry or market.
2. Constructing the site with search engine friendly code & cross-browser compatibility.
3. Making sure the site contains the right information, usability, call-to-action areas, product layout, images, and is easy to navigate to generate sales.
4. Make sure to keep it fresh, up-to-date, and listen to customer feedback.

Now, let’s look at each of these areas in closer detail:

Creating the Right Design
Because our clients have such a wide array of needs when it comes to corporate image and interactive features, it’s best to have a custom website design created for your online storefront. This allows ecommerce web design specialists to create a design by incorporating special requirements that are unique to your business and online goals.

The layout should represent the company brand and image while keeping the graphics simple to minimize distractions. After all the goal of an ecommerce website is to generate sales not to wow customers with distracting graphics.

The ecommerce web design specialists should incorporate a primary navigation, a category navigation and a subnavigation. The primary navigation should include links to a company introduction, contact info, customer service, and others. The category navigation should include links to main categories with all products belonging to a main category group or a subcategory within a category. The subnavigation should include links to a privacy policy, return policy, term of use, and other minor areas. All navigation links should be simple and easy to read allowing the user to quickly find their areas of interest.

Search Engine Friendly Coding
In terms of effectiveness and search engine guidelines, there is a right and a wrong way to develop an ecommerce website. Websites have a unique code structure which defines how the user will view the page and interact with the page features. The web page can be designed with sloppy, excessive code or with clean code written in a format that favors search engines. Honest and well experienced ecommerce web design specialists are likely to design web pages using clean code. This allows the page to load faster and rank well in the search engines which in turn typically results in more visitors and increased sales.

You should know there are many levels of what different developers consider clean code. Some developers are absolutely overexcited about it while others could care less. For the most part when we talk about “clean code” we mean most of the “decoration” code is off the page. The code is included in an external file such as a cascading style sheets or CSS. The same applies to some of the functionality code such as mouse over effects and form functions as this code should be in an external javascript file.

The Right Information
When choosing an ecommerce web design specialists, know what to look for. Your website must contain the right information (text and images) to educate and sell to your customers. Locating categories and products easily is primarily based on comprehensive and easy-to-use site navigation. The harder it is to locate products or information the greater chance you have of loosing that sale. Your website should also include a call-to-action (i.e. Buy Now, Call Today, Order While Supplies Last) and it should be consistent throughout the website. This is an advertising and marketing concept, a request/direction to ‘do something’ – often the next step that a consumer could take toward the purchase of a product or service.

Be aware that very few online development professionals are really good in all areas of development. Many developers are not ecommerce web design specialists and only specialize in one area of website development, such as a surgeon (you wouldn’t hire an optometrist to perform heart surgery, would you?). Some designers are outstanding at designing logos and artwork, but may struggle with programming interactive features. Other developers may excel in database programming, but be completely unfamiliar with the essential elements of creating a website that appeals to consumers. Learn beforehand that you are likely going to need an experienced team of ecommerce web design specialists to make your site successful, and above all, don’t hire your developer(s) based on cost. When choosing a designer, programmer, SEO or other online development professional, check their references and review their portfolio.

Many believe it’s cost-effective to hire an inexpensive developer to create an online storefront. However, many of these low-cost developers lack the knowledge needed to get the job done and with elements needed for success. It is simply much more expensive to pay a cheap developer and then have to hire others to fix that person’s work after you’ve lost sales and visitors.

Connecting With Your Consumers
Lastly, make SURE your consumers like what you’ve done with your storefront. A great way to do this is to employ feedback questionnaires or polls on the site. Your customers’ feedback can be valuable to the growth of your business so gather their information and consider changing or trying new things.

Dynamic Changes for a Dynamic Market Place
Lastly, updates are king. Make sure your developer can offer website maintenance services or can provide a content management system (CMS) that will allow you to make changes to your website. Fresh material added regularly to your site keeps visitors coming back to see what’s new. Consider updated the site regularly with information concerning the natural activity of your business such as news and events, promotional offers, sales and new product announcements.

Websites must continually evolve and be refined to meet the increasing demands of your audience or client base, as well as reflect the progressing technologies and new browser versions. When updates are made often, by you or ecommerce web design specialists, it can make the difference on whether people can find your site from a search engine or link index. Search engines love fresh content.

If you would like more information on anything discussed here or if you are ready to discuss your project, give us a call or send us an email.

You’re likely not interested in people who make websites just for fun or as a hobby. Therefore, you need to find proficient ethical web design companies that design technically correct, user friendly and search engine friendly websites.

Once you have determined the type of website that you require, it is time to start looking for a web design company to help you with your project. Here are some important factors to keep in mind during your search for an ethical web design company.

Relevant experience
In order to narrow down the list of potential candidates for your web design company, you not only need to have a rough idea of what you’re looking for, but what types of services the company you are considering offers. If you need to build an e-commerce website, it is best to focus on finding an ethical website design company with experience in creating e-commerce websites. You don’t necessarily need to select a company that specializes in a specific area if you’re simply looking to develop an information type website. However, if your project requires custom programming or technical features it would be best to find a web design company that offers such services.

Sorting through the different types of web design companies
Just as with individuals, every website design company has their own personality, tastes, and ways of doing business. Some companies tend to specialize in flash design while others frown on it. Some companies deal exclusively with templates and offer lower-cost website design services while others thrive on the dynamic functionality of database driven content and ecommerce systems. Additionally, some companies are full-service and offer an array of services such as website design, development, e-commerce systems, Internet marketing as well as ongoing support.

Portfolio review
A website design company’s portfolio speaks volumes about the types of services that they offer. Review their portfolio to determine their level of quality in design and functionality they have provided to clients. If they don’t have a portfolio this might raise a “red flag”. After all it is your name, your time and your image on the line and finding an ethical web design company can be important to successfully completing your project. If you are going to invest in web design services, it is just a better idea to choose an ethical website design provider that has a proven track record in the field.

Your needs and the company’s services – do they match?
Chasing after a company that cannot meet your needs is like chasing after a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow – you are never going to experience that end-satisfaction and it is just a waste of time and money. For instance, if you are looking for all inclusive e-commerce services where web hosting, credit card processing and a backend CMS are included, considering a web design company that offers simple website development probably will not be a good fit. An ethical web design company that specializes in e-commerce solutions by helping you with online credit card processing setup, an SSL certificate and web hosting will likely be a much better fit for your project.

It doesn’t hurt at all to contact a company about their services, but if you see a clear difference between what a particular website design company offers and what you’re looking to have – it’s probably a good idea to move on and look into a different company.

What is SEO?
Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a web site from search engines via “natural” or un-paid (“organic” or “algorithmic”) search results. This is accomplished by imbedding code into various areas (visible and non-visible) of a web page which primarily involves the use of targeted search term phrases. When focusing on small business SEO web design services optimizing content and layout, through the use of design elements and tags, ensures a strong web presence.

How SEO Web Design Differs
From low-budget or affordable SEO web design services to large budget SEO services it is imperative to optimize the ALT tags of a web page design for effectiveness. However, incorrect use or overuse of ALT tags can cause a website to be penalized by the search engines. This is one of many areas to be cautious of during the SEO process – an area that many inexperienced or unethical SEO web design companies commonly take advantage of.

The Right SEO Company for Your Business
Entering the search engine marketing arena is more of a battle of agility than of strength. The evolving nature of search engine algorithms defies every established idea in dominating the search engine rankings. What could be effective presently may not be outstanding after just a few months. The artificial intelligence applied to search engine spiders is no longer restricted to codes and syntax but even extends to the level of expert conditioning.

When choosing a company to provide you with small business SEO web design services, choose one that is highly trusted, ethical and can provide examples of their accomplishments for online businesses. The affordable SEO web design company that you select should also have years of expert experience in web designing, search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM).

Keyword Research
Small business SEO web design is an effective marketing method to increase traffic to your website. Before you dive into an SEO campaign you should start with some keyword research. Start by researching keywords that are relevant to your websites content. Begin by making a list of search phrases potential users would enter on a search engine to find your business. Now, take your list and run it through a keyword analysis tool such as WordTracker or Keyword Spy. This will help you identify how many searches are done against a given phrase monthly, review alternative phrases, eliminate low-performing phrases, and more. Professional SEO companies typically use more advanced keyword tools for effectiveness, but the ones mentioned here will give you a head start on determining and refining your keywords for effectiveness.

When identifying your keyword phrases try focusing on “conversion” search terms. These are terms that visitors will likely enter when in the “buying mode”. One would assume a search term such as “paint removal” would imply the user is search for information on how to remove paint and not a product or service to remove paint. Instead, try targeting a phrase such as “paint remover” as this is a more targeted buying search term.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a great marketing arena and an ideal starting point for any business looking to market their business online. When done correctly small business SEO web design services can deliver your website consistent and highly targeted traffic over your competition.

You should always make a plan before any serious undertaking that requires your time and effort. Your e-Commerce website should be no different. The fact is, if you fail to plan, you plan to fail. By having an e-Commerce plan, you’ll be able to see what’s working, rather than guessing and hoping for the best. Let’s take a closer look at some of the points you should consider when taking your e-Commerce website from concept to creation.

Research and Strategy
The core focus of any e-Commerce website design should be clear communications between the web development company and the client. It is very important that the designer have a clear understanding of the company, the product and the industry as a whole to build a solid eCommerce storefront solution. Discuss your target audience and brainstorm possible keywords that potential customers might use to find your company or your product. Taking this all-important first step will ensure you don’t blindly throw away marketing dollars trying to attract or convert the wrong type of customer. Using this strategy virtually guarantees that your efforts to focus in on the precise types of customers are well-rewarded, saving you time and money.

Planning
This involves determining all the requirements for the new eCommerce storefront solution as well as its users. What are the requirements for users? Content? Search? Landing pages? This is the time to ask yourself crucial questions regarding how much (or how little) knowledge someone must have about your product or service to make a purchase. Are they simply aware of it or are they searching specific item numbers and names? Knowing this information will help you pinpoint exactly how your customers are finding your online store, as well as how long they’re staying and which pages they’re visiting. It can often make the difference between a broad, general information search that yields no results and a specific product name or price comparison that turns into a sale.

Information Architecture
Here you will consider the navigation and layout of the site as well as best practices for overall user experience. Does it take little effort for your potential customer to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily? Following best practices in information architecture is essential to overall user satisfaction and a higher conversion rate. Understanding how customers browse your site is key to giving them what they’re looking for without a lot of hassle or wasted time. The sooner your e-Commerce website can resolve their needs, the more likely they will be to make a purchase and come back again.

Design
This will be the visual representation of your site. Often created as a design template, pieces can be moved around and adjusted during the design phase to create a professional ecommerce website design. This can yield a customer-oriented style that best captures your brand and focus. Having a professionally designed website is paramount to the all-important “first impression” a potential customer gets of your site and its credibility. If the site does not project a style that is attractive and pleasing, the customer may mistakenly infer that the products sold will not live up to their expectations. Equally as important, website design plays a key role in determining usability. Put simply, the customer experience in surfing your site and finding the products they’re looking for will have a direct impact on how many site visitors actually convert into buyers.

Construction
This is the “nuts and bolts” behind any solid, reliable e-Commerce website, including client and server-side applications, quality assurance testing, integration of third party tools and other solutions that will make your e-Commerce website scalable as it continues to grow. Ensuring that third party tools, backend applications and other components work seamlessly together to contribute to the overall user experience and repeat business. Think of the website construction as the support framework of a house you’re building, and ecommerce website design as the outside of the house – the siding, well-groomed yard and welcome mat that make it feel warm and inviting. Without properly constructing the framework, the house would fall apart.

Migration and Launch
The final step involves moving the site from the development stage toward live launch. Revisit each of the aforementioned areas again for a final test to confirm that everything works, the brand message is conveyed and the navigation is seamless and properly leads someone to making a purchasing decision.

When developing an e-Commerce site plan, you can filter these steps into three main areas — Research and Strategy, Planning and Information Architecture.

An e-Commerce website, done right is the formula for a well-ranking, well-developed website that converts. Your website should be streamlined enough to keep with best industry practices while being flexible enough to account for new developments and added growth.

By keeping these e-Commerce development points in mind when drafting your new site, you’ll be able to enjoy greater conversions at a lower cost than trying to plan-as-you-go and hoping for the best. In the end, following a well-rounded e-Commerce site development plan will ensure your new online business keeps customers (and search engines) coming back while opening the door for more expansive growth in the future as the e-business landscape continues to evolve.

One of the main reasons why your website could be under performing is that it might not be copy written well enough in order to sell itself to both your customers and to the search engines. It is not enough to have a graphically appealing website, but it is equally important to have convincing content in your site.

Website copywriting is highly crucial for any site’s successful performance. It is your website’s copy that has to convince your site visitors about the quality of the products or services that you are selling. Your content should instill trust in your customers. Added to that, your website content has also another important role of achieving good results with search engine ranking. Search engines love fresh and original content with good keyword density. One of the factors that determine the relevance of your website for a particular keyword search is your website content. Not every website owner understands the importance of website copywriting for their website.

You too should not commit the same mistake. When you are getting your website content ready, make sure that you look at the following factors: 

• Your website content should be highly focused. Each page should have unique content that will tell your website visitors very clearly what they can get from that particular page.
• Each page should have a specific goal and the copywriting should prompt the visitors to move towards that goal.
• Your website content should be highly succinct in nature because internet users are always impatient. They should find what they want in just a single glance. You should present the information in a striking way whereby your website visitors will get what they want quickly. Website copywriting presented in bulleted form has high impact on visitors than when presented in huge chunks of text.

In addition to the above, you should make sure that your website content is also keyword rich. Your website copy writing should target 4 to 5 keywords per page. This will help boost your rankings in the search engines for those keywords. However, you should make sure that your website copy does not lose its readability for complying with keyword density requirements. The keywords should not look artificially inserted into the text because this will affect the quality of the text which in turn will irritate the visitors. Your website content should be well balanced so that you will be able to get the best conversion rates from your visitors. You should also work with copy writing companies with a good SEO background as they will have clear understanding of the latest search engine requirements and integrate these into their website copywriting for the best search engine performance.

The Importance of a Project Budget
As a web design company we are very familiar with what goes into preparing proposals and recommendations for a web project. If the web design budget is not outlined from the beginning, it’s just guess work trying to establish the best solution for a project – as the saying goes, “There are many ways to skin a cat”. Likewise, there are many ways to build a website. We always say that there is a solution for every budget and we genuinely mean that. However, what you want to achieve and how you achieve it is often dictated by your budget.

How does knowing the web design budget help?
It’s quite simple – if we know what your budget is, along with your business requirements, we can work out the best solution for you. There is little point in us working out a solution aimed at a $15,000 budget if you only have $5,000 available. It just saves wasted effort and puts all of the companies involved in your RFP (Request for Proposal) on a level playing field. It can be frustrating to find out that the custom-built ecommerce web design solution you have presented is overkill because there is only a small web design budget and an eBay shop would better fit the budget! When the budget is smaller, we would suggest working smarter, not harder. For example, consider a basic web design or template design and use tools readily available for some of the site’s functionality. We suggest things such as:

• Google maps API for showing the locations.
• Flickr to manage your photographs and integrate it into the site as an RSS feed.
• YouTube or Vimeo for managing your site video content.
• Basecamp for managing your clients’ area.

We can develop alternatives to all of these tools, but they obviously take time to develop and cost money. If the web design budget is tight and compromises can be made, the available tools are usually more than capable of doing the job.

A set budget means sharper quotes
As a customer, you want to get the best price possible and you should. We understand that you want to keep costs to a minimum; however it doesn’t always work in your favor. By not giving a defined budget you will likely end up with wide range of quotes from the companies involved, as each one suggests a different solution.  It is simple economics really; each company involved is likely to charge similar amounts for similar solutions to cover overhead costs. By defining your budget, you are more likely to get similar proposals and suggestions for the work required, this means you can concentrate on establishing which solution is best for you, not just the cheapest one.

Will you just quote for the whole budget?
In some cases, yes, we would aim to build you a solution that meets your web design budget. In others, we understand that you need some of that budget for other things. For example, in the case of a new website, you will need some of that budget for advertising. There is no point in spending your entire budget on the website if no one can find it for several months! If your budget allows you should allocate funds towards the website development and set aside some funds for Internet advertising such as pay-per-click and search engine optimization work.

Consultants
From ecommerce web design to a full-featured CMS system, we want to deliver you the best solution we can – the solution that maximizes your return on investment and ultimately brings you the most business. If that means saving money in one place to allow you to spend in another, then so be it. We consider ourselves to be consultants on your project, not just the company hired to design and develop your website.