If your site isn’t easy to navigate, your customers will get confused and confusion does not lead to happy shoppers or to sales! So let’s avoid confusing our website visitors.
1) Make your site easy to navigate and intuitively clear where to find things. Is your site easy to navigate? It might seem easy to you because you are familiar with where to find everything. But you need to get the perspective of someone who doesn’t know your website or your products (just like the new shopper who comes to your website for the first time). Use what I like to call the “Grandma Test.” Ask your Grandma, or someone else who is not technically savvy to look at your home page, and to try to make a purchase. Watch where they run into confusion or hesitate. This will help you identify where there are problems or potential problems. Ask friends or family members to look over your site for you and let you know how quickly they are able to find specific information like how to contact you, how to place an order, or your shipping policies.
2) Shopping Cart. If you are selling products, you need a shopping cart. Do not expect customers to email you to place an order. First, email is so unreliable these days you may not receive their email. Second, customers expect a professional business to have an easy to use, secure shopping cart on their websites. Make your “Add to Cart” or “Buy” buttons large and easy to find. Also be sure you have a clear “View Cart” or “Checkout” button available. It’s frustrating for customers to add an item to their baskets, continue shopping, and then not be sure how to get back to their carts to checkout. Be sure you do a “test” purchase from your website at least monthly. That way you can catch any problems in your order process and make sure it’s working smoothly.
Next week… Making Your Website Work For You! Part 3 of 7, Bells & Whistles
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