SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, is the science of making your website appear higher up in search engine results. Many people have their websites built and then add some SEO stuff in at the end. We start with SEO and build your website around that, because if no-ones visiting your site, what the point of having one in the first place.

Building a website this way round ensures that your customers are getting exactly what they want when they enter your store.

If you're selling motorcycle gear and we discover that most people going to motorcycle gear shops do so after searching for Arai Helmets, then you're going to need a picture of an Arai Helmet on the front page alongside other leading products and leading brands.

This will immediately appeal directly to your largest customer base whilst offering all other customers clear and concise information for them to find exactly what they want as well.

Understand who your customers are and what they want, and the design of the website becomes a lot easier

People make their mind up about a company within the first 2 seconds of entering their website. If they like the look of your website, they are more likely to buy from you again and again which is the name of the game.

Imagine how much it would cost to build a grand department store on Oxford Street. We can build you the Internet equivalent for relatively speaking, next to nothing.

Uncluttered, stunning designs with beautiful imagery, not a lot of text, and the simplest functionality, have the greatest instant appeal

The opening page should not be crowded with information as people can only look at one thing at once, and it needs to look supremely professional.

Navigation needs to be simple and clear with the different sections of the store clearly labelled. We design all our navigation for first time users so it is as simple as possible to use.

Display daily or weekly offers to entice customers.

Appeal directly to your main and most profitable customers first. If there are sections of your store that you want to drive traffic to, make it easy and quick for people to get there.

And above all else, Sell Sell Sell. How many clicks does it take from entering a website to getting an item to checkout? We work hard to keep this to an absolute minimum.

Having a website built is just the start of your eCommerce activity. It will require constant editing, updating and tweaking to promote optimal productivity.

Having a complete CMS will allow the website owners to make these changes as frequently as they like with no additional cost to them.

A well constructed Content Management System should be easy to use and have all the functionality a you need to run your online store with complete control.

We can encourage certain activities from customers through the use of colour. We do this by first finding an appropriate colour to be your Control Colour.

A Control Colour is a prominent colour which we use for the primary features of any eCommerce website, which must above all else, stand out.

These primary features are:

Search function
'Add to basket' buttons
'View basket' button
'Proceed to checkout' button
Contact area

It's like when you're looking in a crowd for someone wearing a red hat. You manage to block all other colour out and only focus on anything that's red. Your customers will quickly build up an association with the Control Colour, which they will always be able to find as quickly as possible, when looking for these important features.

Newspapers use Large Headlines with explanatory sub headings to allow readers to skim through a paper and get to the stories they want to read... fast!

This principal, when applied to a website allows visitors to quickly understand what information is being presented on each page. They make your website more usable and allows shoppers to find what they're looking for more efficiently.

Breadcrumbs (a piece of text at the top of the webpage – see below) are fantastic for showing shoppers exactly where they are within your site's structure. Customers can clearly see where they've come from and where they are now. This allows them to move between sections efficiently and to get to the products they're looking for fast.

Breadcrumbs can also help with SEO when search engines are crawling your site for more information on what you sell and who your target market is.

Always make sure the contact details are displayed clearly on every single page. It should be accessible without having to scroll down a page (i.e. above the fold line) and it should always be in the same place on every page.

This is an absolute must and a mistake many websites make.

Although the majority of your custom will come through your online checkout, some customers may prefer to order via the phone or email. If you do not have contact details within easy reach, then you may be losing out on potential custom.

Also, online shoppers, just like real-world shoppers, can require assistance at any point of the buying process, and at that point, they need to be able to contact you quickly without frustratingly looking for your details. And it might be the page that they are currently on which they wish to talk about, so they won't want to have to go to a different page to get hold of your contact details.

It also helps to strengthen customer relations. It might be that you don't have what they're looking for, so it's much better that they call you so you can at least get their contact details, than lose them to another website.

Some customers have the time to browse and others want to get what they're looking for and get out of there as quickly as possible. Good eCommerce websites should cater for both of these users and everything else in between. Therefore, all eCommerce sites need a prominent search function of some sort above the fold line on each page.

A Search Function allows customers to get straight to the thing they are looking for which optimises the shopping experience to encourage repeat business and word of mouth marketing.

It should always be in easy reach and preferably in the Control Colour to stand out whenever a shopper needs to find it.

State of the art technology allows search functions to display suggested words that can help lead customers to exactly what they want more quickly, whilst also displaying a range of other options and ideas they might not have thought of.

So if you're looking for an Oak Table, as soon as you start typing in O...A... It will instantly bring up Oak Table in the dropdown Search Field, at the same time as displaying – Oak Chair, Oak Bed, Large Oak Dresser etc

This provides users with an improved shopping experience and is used by the leading eCommerce websites.

Depending on your range of products, you might want to allow shoppers to refine their searches. EBay do this very well and allow customers to narrow down their search via whatever categories are appropriate for that product. So if you're searching for shoes, you can narrow down your search via Shoe Type, Size, Colour, Price, and Material etc.

Allowing customers to refine and sort through their results will help them find the perfect item and makes the shopping process more enjoyable. It helps customers find what they are looking for in a fast, efficient manner so they can proceed to the next step in the buying process. It also helps increase conversions, sales, order amounts and raises customer retention

Many people think that the reason the likes of Amazon use the suggested products section, is to sell you similar products instead. It isn't. It's there to help customers confirm that the item they've selected is actually what they want. This confirmation process happens in the rejecting of other items they don't want i.e. those you're suggesting to them. This is a great help in reducing shopping cart abandon rates

Obviously some customers will actually browse Suggested Products if they are more suitable and add them to their cart instead. Other similar devices include:

Grouping – buy this item as well and get 10% off both products
Accessories - other items that would look great with this product are...
Other Customers Bought – Other customers who bought this item, also bought these

These are especially useful if customers have arrived at this product through a very specific search as they can now see what else you have to offer

Nobody can be bothered to read lots of text on a website, so keep the information brief and use plain English to allow the quickest understanding of what you are saying.

Always assume that anyone looking at your site has little time and needs to absorb information as quickly as possible, and remember that you're selling a product/service here - they don't want War and Peace, they just need the necessary information required to make the purchase. Give them the option to "read more" if they require.

The longer time a customer is spent reading irrelevant information, the less time they have to shop. Short, sharp and concise is most profitable

This is an important one. You want your customers to fill their baskets high and get excited about their purchases before you take them through the additional step of registering for an account.

Then, when they’re ready to buy, ask for their details. Giving them the option to register an account at the point of checkout, has been proven to increase sales, help to retain users and lower cart abandonment rates

The shopping basket button should be bold, clear and in the Control Colour. This is critical as it is fundamental to the buying process.

The instant a customer wants to look in their basket, they should be able to

A shopping basket has 3 essential functions

1. To display it’s content with the freedom to edit it
2. To invite customers to continue shopping
3. To allow them to proceed to the checkout clearly and swiftly

Customers need to be able to change their mind. They need to be able to take items out of their basket, add new ones and change quantities easily and quickly.

If you don’t give customers this freedom, you will increase your cart abandoned rates by offering a poorer quality shopping experience.

A summary of the basket should be available at the top of the page with a more detailed description beneath, with pictures if required.

The CONTINUE SHOPPING buttons should be prominent and in the Control Colour.

We are interested in converting shoppers to buyers. This happens through a single button – the ADD TO BASKET button.

It needs to be big, bold and in the Control Colour. It needs to be at the top of the page and at the bottom of it

It needs to be on the product searches pages and on the product description pages.

Wording is also important. BUY NOW or ORDER NOW can appear intimidating, especially to new users. ADD TO BASKET or ADD TO CART seem much less threatening and adds to a more enjoyable shopping experience

Obviously the main aim is to convert customers into buyers. ADD TO BASKET is always the main function, but ADD TO WISHLIST should not be overlooked.

The ADD TO WISHLIST function is there to catch customers who are not buyers just yet. It’s a chance to get customers to register their details to make it easier to buy the item upon their return.

When customers view their wishlist, it should be very easy to add items to the basket or to forward the wishlist onto friends or family who might be looking to by them as a gift for weddings, birthdays or Christmas.

The ADD TO WISHLIST function should always be less prominent than the ADD TO BASKET function. Let’s not lose site of website’s primary function – to sell. The wishlist will help increase conversions, increase registered users, increase repeat buyers and first time orders.

People are more likely to buy from a site if all of the pricing information is clearly displayed up front. Certain Airline companies withhold many costs right up until the final payment page which comes as a great shock to customers who thought they were getting a flight for £20 (as displayed in the search engine results or on the price comparison site), then, after 10 minutes of their life has passed, they discovered that the actual cost is £200.

This is a guaranteed way to ensure that customers not only abandon their basket at that point, but also never return to your shop.

• Ensure that all costs are clearly displayed.
• The running total of their basket is prominent in the header.
• All savings are clearly indicated right the way through the basket and checkout process.
• Shipping costs are always available

If your company offers free shipping over a certain amount, displaying the running total can really help drive customers forward to filling their basket.

Overall, being honest and upfront about prices will increase conversions, increase registered users, increase repeat buyers and first time orders.

A good eCommerce website will display live information regarding stock so that a customer knows exactly what is on offer.

If they don’t discover this until the checkout process, they will become frustrated, abandon their basket and probably never return.

If a product is out of stock, you can use this opportunity to:

• Recommend a similar item
• egister their interest (ADD TO WISHLIST) so they can be notified when it comes back in stock
• Give us a call and we’ll tell you if there’s anything similar
• Tell them when the item will return to stock

Showing stock and availability as early in buying process as possible should help reduce abandoned baskets and will make the job of customer service easier in the long run.

Customers need to know that they can trust your site to protect their privacy, personal information, billing information and any other private information shared during the transaction.

Many eCommerce merchants use security badges and trust certificates from places like Hacker Safe, VeriSign or STruste to show shoppers that they are buying from a secure store or brand. It is also necessary to have an updated SSL certificate so the appropriate "lock icon" appears in the lower right hand corner of shoppers' browsers when they enter a secure section of your store or a secure checkout page.

Implementing badges and certificates should help to reduce cart abandonment and may even help to increase overall orders or store sales

Their basket is full and they are at the end of the checkout process. Don’t lose them now!

Giving customers a good choice of payment options will reduce basket abandon rates and increase conversions.

Some people prefer debit cards to credit cards. Other might prefer PayPal or Google Checkout because they have an account with them. Offering customers the freedom to choose will remove this potential obstacle.

You might also wish to include a phone number for customers to call you to discuss other payment options such as Cheques or Postal Orders.

It is important to display all the information regarding a customer’s order straight away in a confirmation page within the website. The confirmation page should tell the customer everything they need to know about their order:

• Items Ordered
• Order Number
• Shipping Tracking Number
• Date of expected delivery
• Prices
• Shipping method
• Payment Type
• Delivery Address
• Billing Address
• And ALL details about YOUR Company so they can easily contact you if they wish.

Once this information has been displayed in a confirmation page, it should be immediately emailed to the customer’s email address to ensure that the overall shopping experience has been completed which maximum customer satisfaction.

This should save you lots of time wasted in dealing with customers calling your support staff and promote the highest return rates from your customers.

The owner of the website will have many ideas how their shop should look and feel. The designers and programmers will also have their take on what the overall customer experience should be. But at the end of the day, the customer is king.

Carrying out real user testing, with real users in the setting that they would be using their computer is the only way to get useful results.

Start by gathering together a series of potential users who would be likely to use your site. This is not as straightforward as it sounds. For example, the biggest buyer of male aftershave is…women. So understand your customer first.

The next thing to do is to find out when they would be using your site. Is it for 3 minutes during a hectic lunch break at work or is it for half an hour at night with a glass of wine in their hand and the TV on.

You then need a series of websites for them to observe:

• Your website (if you have one) is a good starting point
• Alternative designs of your website
• Competitors websites

You then need to observe your potential client interacting with all aspects of the websites. What are their initial reactions? What are they looking for? What are they looking at? What do they want to do next? etc

Using a Video Camera and Microphone is great for capturing first hand feedback but that’s just the start. Once you have this information, it needs interpreting to understand how that impacts the design of the site. You need to understand why a customer is doing or thinking certain things and this can be quite tricky.

This should certainly be carried out before a new website is launched, but also at regular intervals throughout it’s life to ensure that it is always performing at it’s optimum.

Small changes can have massive impacts!

The beauty of the internet is that a small business somewhere can have a highly professional and effective eCommerce website for a relatively small cost.

Having a website professionally built which looks great, functions clearly and robustly, and which considers these Code of Best Practice will ensure that your online business has the best chance of survival and success.

Once built, a successful eCommerce website needs to be properly supported, rigorously managed and regularly developed to ensure that it grows as your business grows, towards your highest aspirations.

We wish you all the success you deserve