Who wants to create a successful
online store that actually makes money? Not us! All sarcasm aside, we've all
seen plenty of sites that make us cringe, and many of them share the same
terrible traits. Learn from their mistakes and create a webstore that makes
customers buy, not run away!
1. Hide The Buy Button
Make it difficult for
customers to buy your products. Hiding your buy button all the way at the bottom
of the page - or better yet, not having one at all - is a surefire way to a bad
Web site!
2. Flash Them
A beautiful Flash site is sure to entice
customers to buy, right? There's nothing you would rather do, as a customer,
than wait in anticipation until the page loads to be presented with a somewhat
cool video that lasts 5 seconds. Then, despite your busy life, you'll wait for
each and every page on the site to load, and you won't even think about going to
the competitor's fast-loading site. Right?
3. Search Engine Optimization is the Devil
You've
heard from "savvy" webmasters that Search Engine
Optimization (SEO), the process of tweaking certain internal and external
factors on your site to better rank in the natural search
engine results, is the devil's work. Shouldn't Google just know you're a
great online store? Who needs to work for results? You can just buy 100 spammy
links and submit your site to 100s of directories!
4. Click Click Click...Click...Click
Other webstores
have just a few seconds to engage customers, but not yours. You can create a Web
site that takes 10 clicks to place a single product in the shopping cart. You
know your customers just love tapping that left mouse button.
5. We Love Clutter
You know that room in your house
where you have the old toasters, furniture, and everything else thrown all over?
Wouldn't that make for a great site? Just throw tons of product pictures on a
page - the more the merrier. K.I.S.S. simplicity goodbye!
6. People Click on Popups
Popups are wonderful tools
to yell at your customers to buy. Be sure the popups are as obnoxious as
possible, blinking and mimicking the look of a Windows error message. That's the
only way customers will ever notice your products!
7. Don't Let Them Find You!
You don't want those
pesky customers to find you. I mean, what happens if, heavens forbid, they call
or email you about a product? Including your contact info might make customers
trust you more. Scary thought.
8. Webstores Are Really Just Fun Mazes
Webstores are
cleverly disguised to appear like they sell something, but the best Web
sites are designed so customers can figure out a maze. If customers can find
the path from the landing page to the checkout in a minute or less, you've
failed!
9. Hmm. What Is This Store About?
Remember, your
online store should be a puzzle. In addition to the maze you've created, make
sure no one can actually pinpoint your industry in three words or less. Sell so
many different products that your online store rivals Wal Mart.
10. Branded Shopping Carts Are For Losers
Branded
shopping carts insult your customers - why would they ever think that a blank
shopping cart section means their credit card info is now in the hands of
criminals? Customers automatically trust you with their credit card info the
moment they land on your webstore, and a shopping cart that matches the look and
feel of your site won't entice them to hit that "Checkout" button. Absolutely
not.
Ok, our sarcasm is getting the best of us. We've seen our share of bad online
stores and we've got some pent up frustration to express. Here's a real tip -
don't follow any of the above tips.
Join us @ facebook.com/eMallsg 
