November 16, 2007, Newsletter Issue #120: Customers Determine our ecommerce website

Tip of the Week

The latest and greatest in technology is useless if your ecommerce website isn't designed with the customer first. What makes a customer friendly website?

Ease of navigation is a top priority. The placement of the navigation bar and the links within it should be the same for each page and appear consistently in the same place. The left hand side is traditionally where the navigation bar is located and that's where most visitors will look for it.

A second navigation bar can be placed under the introductory
graphic. That's a good place for the home, contact us, about us and frequently asked questions links.

If you use a button graphic for the links, include a text
link as well. Visually impaired visitors
can use a reader to read the content on the site, including text links, out-loud for them. The text readers can't see a graphic. Links that only use graphics will be invisible.

Don't depend on the visitor using their back button to return to the home page. Provide a link for them.

Contact us and about links should be prominently displayed on the home page. If possible those links should appear on each page as well.

No page should be more than two links from the home
page.When designing the site map out the different categories you'll need and establish a main page for each of those major categories. Then determine the subcategories from each main category.

An ecommerce website designed with the customer in mind will keep your
customers coming back.

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