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E-Commerce Web Site Design

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Published: October 6, 2006

So you've decided to join the millions in cyberspace by selling a product or service through the Internet, in what is called an e-commerce business. Well, good luck and welcome aboard.

The first decision in Web site design is giving your site a name and corresponding Internet address. After it is named, one must decide what options to include on the site.

Like shopping for a car, one of the creative decisions one makes when creating an e-commerce Web site design is regarding the site's options. What tools are you going to put on the Web pages to make the shopping experience as easy as possible? The choices are numerous and one cannot put everything because of space constraints. The Web site creator must wisely put only what is necessary on the pages.

An organized Web site design is a user-friendly Web site design. Arrange your products into categories on different pages and make sure these pages are easy to navigate. You also can put products on different Web pages if they can be placed in numerous categories. It is recommended to put a photo and a brief description of the product you are selling.

Web site design also can allot for a search field. If a customer is looking for a specific product, such as spaghetti sauce, jewelry or running shoes, the customer can instantly be directed to that page.

Naturally a customer will need a shopping cart to organize the items they wish to buy. Also, PayPal or credit cards need to be used as methods of payment. Lastly, a method of shipment needs to be used and state sales tax calculation decided upon. Are you going to use the standard United States mail, or should you use or add a major shipping company such as FedEx or UPS? Do you want to ship everything yourself or hire a third-party shipper to ship it for you?

One optional item to include in an e-commerce Web site design is an "up-sell, cross-sell or impulse" item. A Web site owner could include special deals on certain products and companion products before checkout is complete.

Do you want to add a mailing list? If so, a customer could type in their e-mail address to receive messages about new products or sale items. Do you want to offer coupons for product discounts?

On the Web site owner's site of the business there are things that you can use to make the selling easy. The first is an email address. This way if a customer has any questions about a product, they can e-mail someone at the company. You also can add a phone number or a mailing address for this purpose as well.

A company logo, frameset, backgrounds and images can also be added to give your Web site design color and texture. Lastly, a guestbook, also known as a visitor's book, and a message board can be added. This way, Web site visitors and customers can leave comments, complaints and suggestions in order to improve the seller's performance.

When all is said and done and your e-commerce Web site goes live, a well-designed Web site can mean a successful and profitable Web-based business.



Sources:
Web Design Solutions. "WDS-Web Shop Manager." Copyright 2004. Web Design Solutions. October 2, 2006. http://webdesignsolutions.biz/services/
Web Design Options. "E-Commerce." Copyright 2005. Web Design Options. October 2, 2006. http://www.webdesignoptions.com/wdo/e-commerce-sho pping-carts.html
Planitwebs.com. "Options: Alpha, Beta, Gamma." Copyright 2002. PlanITwebs.com. October 2, 2006. http://javearentals.co.uk/planitwebs/options.htm