Archive for the ‘Usability’ Category

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: The list covers items that have to do with the process of logging into or accessing “my account” pages, and the information found on those pages.

Why this is important: Ensuring visitors can easily login and find the information they need is essential to providing a good customer experience. Since this is your engaged audience you want to make sure that you can keep them engaged without additional frustrations.

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This list covers items regarding the actual checkout process of the shopping experience, after products are added and the visitor moves to complete the purchase of the items in the cart.

Why this is important: If visitors only add products to the cart but abandon the cart or get confused in the checkout process conversions will be low as will profit. The more proper cues you can provide that give the shopper confidence and assurances about their purchase, the less likely they will be to dump the cart or lose interest before closing he deal.

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This list covers a few items regarding mini-baskets. These are the portions of the page that show real-time updates to the information added to the shoppers cart.

Why this is important: Since mini-baskets are ever-present through the shopping experience, the information here can be vital to the visitor, helping them keep track of items, total costs and links back to products already added.

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This checklist covers items pertaining to the actual shopping basket page where products are accumulated before the shopper checks out and finalizes their purchase.

Why this is important: Visitors place items in their online shopping basket for many reasons, one of which is with the intent to buy. But they don’t always complete the purchase, often abandoning the cart with products left in it. Being able to close holes in the checkout process can increase conversion rates, getting more sales and higher return on investment.

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This list covers multiple issues for individual product pages. These are the pages which generally provide information on a single product only.

Why this is important: The product page has a very singular focus: one product. It’s job is to provide the visitor with the information about that product they need to be convinced that it is exactly what they are looking for. If you’re product pages cannot convince visitors to buy, then you’re simply dead in the water.

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This list covers general points related specifically to ecommerce websites. While not everything here will apply to other sites, there is information that can be gleaned and applied to service related websites, as well as others.

Why this is important: Being able to convince the shopper to follow through on the purchase is essential to being profitable. The visitor looks for specific cues that help them assess the creditability of the site and the security of their information. Providing these cues will help you provide a better experience that leads to deeper customer satisfaction.

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This list covers various aspects which are important to visitors who land on your “contact us” page, including what information they expect and how to make contacting you easy for them.

Why this is important: Those who land on this page are showing clear intent in wanting to to get in touch with you. Providing only a few ways to contact you can alienate visitors who have a particular preference. Providing robust contact options and information ensures that you capture as many would-be customers as possible.

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This checklist covers the “About Us” or “Company” page on the website, providing keys as to what visitors typically look for and should find when visiting this page.

Why this is important: Studies have shown that conversion rates for visitors who have visited the About Us page increase measurably. Those who visit here are looking for a few extra elements of trust that will help them decide whether to continue on or move on. What they find can mean the difference in a conversion or the visitor leaving your site for a competitor’s.

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This list covers just a couple of points relevant specifically to a website’s home page to assure that specific and necessary functions of the page are met.

Why this is important: The home page is often the single largest entry-point. It is the page that gives the visitor the sense of who you are and what they can expect. Go wrong here and it can be all over before it begins.

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This is a continuation of a series of website marketing checklists. Check out all Web Marketing Checklists in this series.

What this is about: This list covers a few aspects of textual links and call-to-action buttons, and how they should be implemented on your website pages.

Why this is important: Links and calls to action are a great way to allow visitors to navigate from page to page, finding the information they feel is important to helping them make the purchase decision. Without these calls to action many visitors will simply not know what they are expected to do next.

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