Tag Archive for: website design

Why Your Website Is Your Most Important Brand Signal

/in , /by

The small businesses and nonprofits that are succeeding right now are not necessarily the ones with the biggest budgets or the most polished marketing. They’re the ones who, when a prospective customer or donor lands on their website, communicate something unmistakable: we know what we’re doing, we’ve done it before, and we’re the kind of organization you either want to work with or you don’t.

That specificity is the whole game. And it matters more in 2026 than it ever has before.

Here’s the context. AI can now answer a basic question in seconds — what services you offer, what a nonprofit’s mission is, how to contact someone. That’s table stakes now. What AI can’t replicate is the feeling a prospective customer or donor gets when they land on your website and think: yes, this is exactly the kind of place I was looking for. That feeling — the gut-level decision that this organization is worth trusting — happens on your website first.

More than half of employers have eliminated candidates because of a poor online presence. That’s hiring managers — people with relatively little at stake compared to a customer choosing a contractor for a home renovation or a donor deciding where to send a meaningful gift. 57% of consumers say visible, authentic leadership directly influences their purchasing decisions. Your website is where that authenticity either shows up or it doesn’t.

Visual Authority: Does Your Design Reflect Who You Are?

There’s a question I ask when I look at any organization’s website: does this design feel chosen, or does it feel defaulted into?

You can usually tell within a few seconds. The chosen sites have a visual language that coheres with the work — the colors, the typography, the photography, the way information is laid out. Everything signals something deliberate. The defaulted-into sites look like someone picked a theme, uploaded a logo, and called it done. They’re not terrible. They’re just interchangeable. And interchangeable is the last thing you want to communicate when the whole point is that your organization is worth choosing over every other option.

A family-owned HVAC company should have a different visual language than a mental health practice. An environmental nonprofit should feel different from a neighborhood legal aid organization. The aesthetic should reflect the work and the people doing it — not just whatever came loaded in the WordPress theme.

Think of your website the way you’d think of your physical space. If a customer walked into your office or storefront and the walls were bare, the signage was generic, and nothing quite fit together — they’d draw a conclusion before you said a word. Your website is that space for the vast majority of people who will ever consider doing business with you. Most of them will never walk through your door. This is the only environment they’ll judge you by.

Personal branding in 2026 is becoming less performative and more intentional. People are seeking honesty and meaningful connections rather than constant visibility. That applies just as much to organizations as to individuals. The goal isn’t to look impressive. The goal is to look unmistakably like you.

Generic AI Copy Is Costing You

If your website copy sounds like it was written by a committee — technically correct, inoffensive, vaguely motivational — you are competing with a Google search result. And that’s a competition no one wins.

Here’s what generic copy looks like in practice:

“We are committed to providing exceptional service to our clients and communities.”

That sentence is not wrong. It is also not anything. It could be the tagline for a plumber, a pediatric dentist, or a land conservation nonprofit. It gives the reader no information and no reason to stay.

What replaces it? Something specific. Something that only your organization could say.

For a home services company: “We’ve been fixing HVAC systems in Montgomery County for 22 years. We know these houses — the quirks, the aging infrastructure, the things that go wrong in August.”

For a nonprofit: “We’ve placed 340 families in stable housing since 2018. Not referrals. Not case numbers. Families with addresses.”

Those statements tell you something real. They give a prospective customer or donor something to grab onto. They also, importantly, filter out the people who aren’t the right fit — and that’s a feature, not a bug.

The rise of AI-generated content is making people focus on authentic, unique voices again. People respond to those who say something only they can say — and they respond to honesty, specificity, and even imperfection. Your most valuable website copy isn’t the polished mission statement. It’s the specific, true thing that only you could write.

Speed as a First Impression

Your customers and donors are busy. A website that loads slowly, has confusing navigation, or buries the contact form three clicks deep is communicating something before you’ve said a word: this organization doesn’t sweat the details.

That’s not a neutral message. It’s an active one.

Think of it like calling a business and being put on hold for four minutes before anyone picks up. Or walking into a nonprofit’s fundraising event and not being able to find where to sign in. Before anything substantive has happened, you’ve already received information about how this organization operates.

Your website’s user experience is your first deliverable to every person who visits it — whether you think of it that way or not.

Around 60% of Google searches now end without a click because the answer is delivered directly on the results page. The people who make it to your website are the ones who wanted to go deeper. They passed on the quick answer and came looking for the organization behind it. Don’t reward that curiosity with a slow load time and a navigation menu that doesn’t make sense on a phone.

Treat your website’s performance with the same care you’d give any other part of your operation. Because for every visitor who lands on it, it already is.

The Eight-Second Test

The gut check takes about eight seconds. I know that sounds reductive, but it reflects how people actually behave online — not how we’d like them to behave.

In those eight seconds, a prospective customer or donor has registered four things:

  1. Your visual tone. Does this look like an organization that operates with intention? Is the design deliberate or accidental? Does it feel like the work of people with standards, or someone who installed a template and moved on?
  2. The clarity of your value proposition. Can they tell, immediately and without reading three paragraphs, what you do and who you do it for? Or do they have to work for it?
  3. Whether your writing sounds human. This has become more important as AI-generated content has flooded the internet. 62% of consumers are more likely to engage with authentic content than overly polished material. Authentic doesn’t mean casual — it means you can tell a person wrote it, and that person cares about something specific.
  4. Whether the site respected their time. Fast equals competent. Slow equals careless. It’s not fair, but it’s true, and it happens before anyone has read a single word.

Make sure your website passes all four dimensions of that test before you ask anyone to take the next step.

What You Can Do Right Now (No Developer Needed)

You don’t need to rebuild your site this week. But here are five things you can do in the next couple of hours that will tell you a lot:

  • Do a personal audit. Spend 30 minutes on your own website looking for the three most obvious problems. Not the deep technical stuff — the things that would make you cringe if a customer noticed them. The outdated staff photo. The event from two years ago still listed on the homepage. The link that goes nowhere.
  • Search yourself. Google your organization’s name and primary service. Then do the same in ChatGPT and Perplexity and any other AI you use. AI now sits between you and the people searching for you — if those systems can’t clearly identify who you are and what you stand for, you simply don’t appear. Document what you find and note whether it’s accurate and current.
  • Get a fresh pair of eyes. Ask someone who doesn’t know your organization well to look at your website cold. Not to be nice — to tell you the first thing they noticed and what they still didn’t understand after 30 seconds. That feedback is worth more than any analytics report.
  • Set up Google Search Console if you haven’t already. It’s free. It shows you exactly how your site performs in search and flags any errors Google has found. If you don’t know what Google sees when it crawls your site, you’re operating without a key piece of information.
  • Schedule a monthly check-in. Put a recurring reminder on the first Monday of each month to log in, review your analytics, and make sure nothing has broken or gone stale. Fifteen minutes a month. That’s a reasonable maintenance schedule for an asset that’s working for you around the clock.

Where Connect4 Can Help

If you’re still here with me and you’ve identified or confirmed that your website isn’t passing the eight-second test, that’s useful information and not a failure. Most small business and nonprofit websites weren’t built with this framework in mind. They were built to get done.

Here’s where we can help:

  • A comprehensive website audit covering design, copy, performance, and first-impression experience — delivered as a plain-English report with prioritized findings and a specific remediation plan.
  • Implementation of technical fixes for the highest-priority issues, including performance optimization, Schema Markup, mobile experience, and anything else requiring developer access.
  • An ongoing monitoring protocol tracking key metrics monthly and flagging changes before they become problems.
  • A content or structural strategy targeting the specific gaps the audit surfaces, with quarterly check-ins to measure progress.
  • A monthly care plan covering security, performance, and content, so your site never gets neglected long enough to become a liability.

Your website is your most important brand signal. It should reflect the quality of the work you actually do. If you’re ready to find out where your website stands, reach out to Connect4 – we’ll take it from there.

Mobile-First: What It Means and Why It’s Non-Negotiable for Small Businesses

/in , , , , /by

You’ve probably heard the phrase “mobile-first” thrown around in marketing conversations. But what does it actually mean for your small business website — and why should you care?

The answer is simple: your website needs to work beautifully on a phone, because that’s where most of your customers are finding you. And if it doesn’t? You’re losing business. Full stop.

What “Mobile-First” Actually Means

Mobile-first means designing and building your website starting with the mobile experience, then scaling up to desktop — not the other way around.

For years, websites were built for large desktop screens and then awkwardly squeezed down to fit smaller devices. That approach doesn’t hold up anymore. When you design for mobile first, you’re forced to focus on what actually matters:

  • Clear messaging
  • Simple navigation
  • Fast load times
  • Easy actions (call, book, buy)

Then, once that foundation is solid, you expand the experience for tablets and desktops.

It’s not about shrinking a desktop site — it’s about prioritizing the real user experience from the start.

The Numbers That Should Change Your Mind

As of 2024, mobile devices account for over 63% of global web traffic — and that’s just the average.

For many small businesses, the numbers are even more skewed:

  • Restaurants: often 70–80% mobile
  • Local services: heavily mobile (people searching on the go)
  • Retail: increasingly mobile-first, especially for discovery

And here’s the part most business owners underestimate:

Google ranks your site based on its mobile version.

This is called mobile-first indexing. If your mobile site is slow, hard to use, or incomplete, your rankings drop — even if your desktop site looks great.

So this isn’t just about user experience. It directly impacts:

  • Search visibility
  • Traffic
  • Leads and conversions

What a Truly Mobile-Friendly Website Looks Like

A mobile-friendly site isn’t just “responsive.” It’s intentionally designed for how people actually use their phones.

Here’s what that looks like in practice:

1. Readable, Scan-Friendly Text

No zooming. No pinching. Your content should be easy to read at a glance, with short paragraphs and clear headings.

2. Thumb-Friendly Navigation

Buttons should be large enough to tap easily, spaced properly, and positioned where thumbs naturally reach. Tiny links = frustrated users.

3. Fast Load Speed

Mobile users are impatient. If your site takes more than a couple seconds to load, people bounce — and Google notices.

4. Simplified Menus

Clean, collapsible navigation (like a hamburger menu) that makes it easy to find key pages quickly.

5. Click-to-Act Features

Phone users want to act fast:

  • Tap to call
  • Tap to get directions
  • Tap to book

If those actions aren’t frictionless, you’re creating unnecessary barriers.

6. Forms That Don’t Feel Like Work

Short, simple forms with autofill support. If it feels like a chore, users won’t finish it.

The Hidden Cost of Ignoring Mobile

Here’s the reality most small businesses miss:

A poor mobile experience doesn’t just annoy users — it quietly kills conversions.

Think about your own behavior. If you land on a site that’s hard to navigate on your phone, what do you do?

You leave. Immediately.

That same thing is happening to your potential customers every day if your site isn’t optimized.

The cost shows up as:

  • Lost leads you never knew existed
  • Lower Google rankings
  • Higher bounce rates
  • Fewer calls, bookings, and sales

And the worst part? Most business owners blame “slow months” instead of a broken user experience.

How to Check if Your Site Is Mobile-Friendly

Start simple.

  1. Open your website on your phone
  2. Try to navigate it like a customer
  3. Ask yourself honestly:
    • Is this easy to use?
    • Can I find what I need quickly?
    • Would I stay on this site?

Then validate it with data.

Google offers a free Mobile-Friendly Test tool: https://search.google.com/test/mobile-friendly

Enter your URL and you’ll get a quick pass/fail along with specific issues to fix.

Connect4 Tip

Run Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test on your site today. It takes less than 30 seconds and gives you a clear, no-BS answer.

If it fails — or even if it just feels clunky on your phone — it’s not something to “get to later.”

It’s costing you business right now.

15 Reasons Why Websites Matter in 2022

/in , , /by

Over the past ten years, there’s been an enormous focus on social media and businesses of all sizes have had to make decisions on how and where to spend marketing dollars. With all the focus on Facebook, Yelp, Google Business, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and whatever this year’s newest social media phenomenon is, it’s easy to come to the conclusion that maybe a business doesn’t need a website anymore. However, there are many reasons why websites still matter in 2022. If you don’t have a website, it’s time to hire someone to design one for you. And if you have a website, it might be time for a website redesign.

1. A Website Gives You Instant Authority

A well-designed, user-friendly, responsive website with informative, quality content establishes trust between author and audience. A website demonstrates expertise, authority, and permanence. While social media sites come and go, your business website should be the central focal point of your online presence. Think of the website as a businesses marketing hub and the social media sites and backlinks as the spokes.

2.You Don’t Own Your Social Media Pages

If you rely exclusively on social media sites, what happens when your entire audience hinges on a social media network and that network starts making decisions that negatively affect you, your customers’ experience, your brand image or identity, or all of the above? We have seen this recently with Facebook. Social media sites change algorithms without warning, create new rules that may restrict your ability to communicate with your customers, or even disappear altogether. Former President Trump knows this all too well. Anyone remember MySpace or Friendster? If you drive traffic from the social media spokes to your own website, you are and will always be in control.

3. You Get A Huge Return On Your Marketing Investment

Consider the cost of online advertising (which is constant – if you want to keep advertising you have to keep paying) or the cost of creating print materials which are out of date as soon as you print them. Then compare those costs to the $4,000 required to create your own business website. It almost always makes sense to invest in a website.

4. Your Local SEO Relies On Your Website

Good search results require a solid internet presence. A website is a fundamental part of that internet presence. You need your own domain and your own content. It’s far more difficult to rank in Google’s local pack listings without your own website.

5. Consumers Expect It

Most consumers expect a business to have a website. As a business owner – if you want customers – make it easy for people to find you online.

6. A Website Showcases Your Expertise

Nothing shows off your expertise better than your own website. You can create any kind of content you want, publish portfolio pages, blog posts, informative articles, and select which customer testimonials to highlight. The content on your website gives you a chance to show potential clients that you understand their problems and their needs.

7. Your Website Can Hold And Keep A Visitor’s Attention

When a visitor lands on your website, your are not positioning yourself next to a bunch of other social media sites all vying for attention. When people get to your website, it’s up to you to hold and keep a visitor’s attention. You can do that by anticipating their needs and writing content that answers their questions.

8. Without A Website, Customers Will Consider You Less Professional

On average Americans spend 23.6 hours online per week. People tend to spend 5 hours a day scrolling on their phones. If you don’t have a website, potential customers won’t take you or your business seriously.

9. Your Customers Need Answers

Both your current customers and potential customers are looking for information. Don’t you want to be the one to give them answers rather than having a search engine point them to someone else’s answers? During your website design you will want to answer three questions:

  • What is your business?
  • What services or products do you offer?
  • How can customers reach you?

Make sure that function and communication are as important as aesthetic design.

10. Be The Leader Online

The answer to the “Do I need a website?” question revolves around being the leader of your field. A high-quality, user-friendly website that answers your customers questions will make you the leader of your field online. If your competitors already have websites, make sure yours is better. Show customers why your company is better and why they should buy your products or services.

11. Websites Are Essential For Building Your Brand

It’s impossible to create a professional image for your brand without a website. Anything short of a website looks cheap and unprofessional.

12. Websites Are Great Customer Service Tools

Modern customers look to social media for customer service when a website doesn’t meet their customer service needs. The problem is that by that point most customers are angry and they aren’t turning to social media to be productive. If you have your own website, you can control your customer service process and direct customers to up-to-date FAQ pages or customer service contact info simply by sharing a link.

13. Websites Are Important For Link Building

Links are essential for SEO but they are even more important for referrals. A business website has greater authority and is of greater use when promoting your brand.

14. Increase Your Working Hours

Website visitors can access your online marketing material at any time of any day at their leisure if you have a website. Being available at all times helps with marketing and sales and is also a step towards optimal customer service. If you have chatbots on your site that can help clients with simple issues when they need it most, you can take this idea one step further.

15. Provide Social Proof

Customer behavior is influenced by what others have said about your company. People expect to check your website to learn more about your company regardless of whether it has a 5-star rating on review websites. Customer recommendations on your websites are a terrific method to impress potential customers and give social proof.

Final Thoughts

It’s absolutely vital to have a professional, high-quality, user-friendly, responsive, brand-differentiating website in 2022 if you want to increase sales, increase your bottom line, and expand your company. Business websites in particular help customers make purchase decisions. A simple website costs pennies but can yield huge rewards in the long term.

 

 

Questions To Ask A Website Designer Before They Design Your Website

/in /by

If you are looking for a website designer to help with your next small business website, it’s important to ask the following questions to avoid major issues during the project. You should do this BEFORE you hire the website design firm.

Take the time to conduct a phone interview or, even better meet in person, to ask these key questions. Building a relationship and open line of communication with a website designer from the beginning will help ensure that your project will be successful.

Questions to ask a website designer before they design your website

1. Can you send me a list of sites that you have designed previously?

Ask for a few live working examples of web sites the designer has completed for other clients. Don’t accept screenshots or mockups. Seeing a live site will give you a sense of the person’s attention to detail. If possible, ask for examples that are consistent with your product or service niche or industry.

2. What are your qualifications?

There is a wide range of website designers and services and this is a good way to separate the wheat from the chaff. If you have any doubt whatsoever, it doesn’t hurt to also ask for a referral from an existing client.

3. How much do you charge?

Find out if you will be paying a fixed fee for the whole web site or if you will be charged hourly for all requests. Some web designers will charge per page design or for each page on the site. Find out what is and what is not included in the fee. Is maintenance of the website included in the fee? If so, what does maintenance consist of?

4. Will I have a project manager or one central contact?

This is really important. Ideally you want to interact with the same person throughout the entire stage of your website development process. Some website firms have sales people who make the website pitches and then farm out the work to developers. Try and get a clear answer for who is working on your website.

5. How many rounds of revisions am I allowed?

Establishing your limits when it comes to edits and revisions can be critical. Will you be allowed to make edits at each stage of the project, such as design and development, or will you only be allowed revisions at the end of the project? Are you allowed two rounds of revisions (or more) or just one? How do you know when one stage ends and a new stage begins?

6. What are your payment terms?

Many website designers request a deposit to begin work, with either the final payment due upon project completion or partial payments at key stages during the site’s development. It’s best to avoid projects that require payment in full as it leaves no room for changes or issues that may come up.

7. Can I edit the website myself, and which parts?

Be sure to ask the designer if he will be setting up a content management system (CMS) like WordPress or if the site will be static? How many people have access to edit the site? Will training be provided to you or your staff? Is there any documentation on editing the site? Also, ask which parts you will be able to edit and how difficult those sections will be to edit.

8. How many pages will my website be?

This is something that you will work out with the site design firm once content has been agreed upon. Search engines like websites with several pages of quality text and typically websites have standard pages, such as About Us, FAQs, Contact Us, and Privacy and Terms of Conditions. Together, you and the firm you select will determine other pages based on your business, such as Products or Services, Resource Center, a Blog, Case Studies or Testimonials, Photo Gallery, etc.

9. What happens if I want to add a page after the website project is complete and the new website is live?

This is a good question because you will want to know ahead of time whether this is something you can create yourself, whether it has to be done by the website designer, what the cost might be, and whether there are limitations to the addition of pages.

10. What do you need from me to get started?

Typically, you need to provide any images, text, or other content you want on your site. If you choose to have the text done by the firm’s copywriters, you’ll need to provide basic information. If you provide your own copy, it may need a few tweaks for better search engine optimization or design presentation. Whatever the case may be, you should be notified in advance of any revisions needed to your copy and why they are needed.

11. Can you create a logo for my site?

Most website designers can create a logo for your business for an additional fee. Ask about experience in this area and look at other logos the firm has created, paying particular attention to graphic appeal, how well the style matches the focus of the business and how well the logo establishes brand identity.

12. Can you help me get images for my website?

Having actual photos pertaining to your business is always best for that unique factor, but oftentimes stock images are necessary. So there are no concerns over copyright infringement, ask designers whether they have access to a large selection of public domain images, or if you need to pay royalty fees based on usage.

13. Do you offer e-commerce services?

In addition to web design and development, a comprehensive website design company offers e-commerce services for businesses conducting online sales. Ask for specifics when inquiring about e-commerce solutions because they vary among web design firms. Some commonly offered e-commerce services are shopping carts; the ability to add discounts; support for multi-currencies; a customer database that interacts with your online store; cross and up sell features; inventory control; customization; reporting; and SEO integration.

14. Do you offer domain name registration?

Before a website can go live, it needs a name. Most full-service web design firms will handle domain name registration. Ask the firm if it will check whether the name you want for your site is available, if they will register it for you, how many years the domain name registration is for and the cost for performing this service.

15. Will I be able to see the website as you’re creating it?

Reputable web design firms will make your in-progress website available for viewing during each phase so you can make suggestions, changes, or content edits. Inquire about the review and input process that you can expect.

16. Will I own my website once it’s completed?

It’s important to find out whether you will own the domain name (registered in your name, not the web design company’s), website design and hosting account (registered in your name, not the design firm’s), or if the website design company requires your site to be hosted on their servers. Also find out if you will receive all source files for your site and access to your hosting account, backend administration platform and server. Also be sure to ask if you will be required to lock into an ongoing contract to keep your site live and functioning, or if the completed site will be delivered to you upon completion. You also need to know the name of the company where your website’s domain name is registered, all user names and passwords and the name of the hosting company.

17. What support do you offer after the web site goes live?

Ask about ongoing maintenance and monitoring packages. What happens if the web site gets hacked or if something stops working? Does the designer provide routine backups?

18. How long does the typical website design project?

Every project is different but it’s important to ask how long sites typically take to complete. Are there any incentives if it is completed early or any penalties for missed deadlines? Also, ask how long particular phases of a project take, to ensure things stay on time. Ask about the length of time you have to review and provide feedback.

19. Do you start from templates or build custom sites?

If the designer is starting from a template, ask about licensing and whether other local business sites have the same template? Does he update templates or provide support if the site is broken following core updates? If custom, does he provide ample testing and browser compatibility?

20. Will it be a responsive site that works on multiple mobile and tablet devices?

Will the site be coded for responsive design? Will he design for just mobile breakpoints, or tablets as well? Will he provide mockups of the mobile and tablet interfaces? Will it be load-optimized for mobile or be just a smaller version of the desktop site?

21. What are the client expectations during the process? What assets do I need to supply?

Clarify your responsibilities and those that the web designer will handle. Get in writing all expectations and requirements for each party so that everyone is held accountable.

Get clear dates and deadlines on when deliverables are due or when you need to provide assets and feedback. Will you need to provide any copy, images, hosting, or other items to the web designer, or will he handle it?

22. Who will write the content?

Some web designers employ copywriters to manage the writing and optimization of your website’s text. If that is the case, ask if you need to provide bullet points for each page. If you are writing the copy, ask for guidance on length, tone, and style. Ask for suggested word counts for each page. Lastly, ask the designer to provide any SEO keywords to include in the copy.

23. What search engine optimization or marketing do you do for the site?

Will the web site designer be performing on-site search engine optimization during the setup process? Does he offer off-site optimization? Also, does he submit your site to local or niche directories? Will he continue to optimize blog posts or compose additional ongoing content? If so, does this service require ongoing fees?

24. What other services do you provide?

Although you might have engaged the designer to create your website, ask if he provides additional services, such as graphic design services (logo, business cards, stationery), email templates and social media content or local search optimization tools? This could help make your design and online marketing tools more consistent.

25. What type of results can I expect?

Ask the web designer if he has any expectations of what kind of growth you can expect? How long before you begin seeing results? Does he expect a dip in results after launch? How will you track conversions? Will you have access to analytics from the CMS or a service such as Google Analytics? Will you still have historical data on your old site after launch?

Additional Questions To Ask A Website Designer

The website design process is detailed and complicated and it’s helpful to go into the process prepared to get your arms dirty. Ultimately the difference between a good website and a great website falls on the client’s shoulders. When the client is involved and the client and website designer are in sync, communicating with ease and on a regular basis, the outcome is usually a great website. As you review this list of questions to ask a website designer, you will probably think of other things that are not on this list. If the website designer wants to rush you through this process, then that’s probably a very good indication of what it would be like to work with that person. In my experience, the best relationships often lead to the best projects, so be sure to ask yourself whether you think you’ll enjoy the process of designing your website with this website designer.

Don’t Make These E-Commerce WebSite Design Mistakes

/in , , /by

It is now easier than ever to create an e-commerce website for your business. E-commerce is attractive because it is relatively inexpensive. You can have a store that is open any time of day or night every day of the year that is available to a truly global market. You don’t have to hire any staff and you don’t even have to print marketing material. You don’t have send out catalogs and you don’t have to pay for call centers.

The problem is that it’s not quite as easy to create a successful e-commerce website as you might initially think. The great news is that every one of the following mistakes is avoidable. In most cases, it is just a matter of advance planning.

Poor Product Information

When shopping in a brick and mortar establishment, you can look and even touch anything you want to buy. You can read the label information and also browse items nearby. This is not as easy when shopping online.

A well designed e-commerce website has to maximize the shopping experience. This starts with product information. Whenever the customer doesn’t know specifics, he/she will try to find that information somewhere else. You will only end up making sales when you have the lowest price.

Customers will want to know materials, dimensions, weight, size and practically everything that is of interest for the possible buyer. As a simple example, if you sell clothes online, you will want to mention colors, sizes and types available, together with a high quality size chart, thickness or weight. Try to always use descriptive words instead of technical terms.

No Contact Information

Clear and visible contact information is paramount. Customers need to know what company they deal with before credit card information is offered. The important thing is demonstrating there is a human being who can actually take care of a problem in the event it appears. In the event that the site does not offer such contact information or it is hidden and the customer cannot easily find it, a sale is less likely to be made.

The contact information must be in an obvious location and visible on all website pages. Make sure that it is in the header, right on the top of the sidebar or in the footer region. If possible, try to offer more contact means like an email address, mailing address, phone number and contact form. That is particularly important in the event that you sell something that is technical by nature.

Confusing Checkout Process

A confusing checkout process is really damaging and can derail any prospect customer. You need to do everything possible to make the checkout process simple and intuitive. If not, customers will give up and shop elsewhere.

The ideal checkout process should include only one page that would allow the consumer to verify the order and then enter shipping and billing information. Then, a confirmation page is necessary so that it is known that the offer was submitted. If you add other steps, you just end up putting obstacles in front of making sales, thus causing lower profits for your company.

In the event that there is a need to include more pages, you have to make them really easy to be filled out and quick. If possible, combine pages whenever you can and use column layouts in order to separate sections on the same page. This makes everything appear shorter.

Make sure that you do not force the interested customers to get an account in order for a sale to be made. When customers have to sign in or create accounts, this is a huge obstacle placed right in front of a sale. Capturing customer information is never as important as actually getting the order completed. You do not want to lose customers and this is exactly what happens in the event that you force the account option.

Bad Site Search Engine

If a customer knows what he is looking for, the search engine will be used instead of going through filters or categories. Try to make sure that your search engine works well and that it includes as many filters as may be necessary in order for results to be refined.

When a search is conducted and many products are returned, as is the case with larger e-commerce websites, making a choice becomes difficult. Contrary to what you may think, this is not a positive thing. Many potential customers simply leave the page as they don’t want to go through all the results.

Your e-commerce website needs to have a very good search engine. Ideally, the user should be able to search based on keywords and the refine the results based on site categories, together with standard criteria like low price, high price, new item, popular item and so on.

Tiny Product Images

Tiny product images won’t help you sell products online. You need to be sure that you either offer a large image or the product page includes a feature that will allow the user to click on images for zooming purposes.

Site visitors need to see a very large image at a high resolution. Get images that would enlarge to a resolution of a minimum of 1024X768 pixels. At the same time, try to offer at least 3-4 images of the product you sell.

Try to offer product images from various camera angles. Also show products in different colors, on the back, the sides, on the front or detailed shots of some of the features that are presented. That will drastically increase the possibility that someone will buy your product.

Inadequate Customer Service Options

Your customer needs to be able to get in touch with you if there is a question of problem. Ecommerce sites that help customers get in touch with them – offering multiple ways of communication as well as a good FAQ section – are successful. An email address is not sufficient.

Only A Few Payment Options Available

So many e-commerce websites only offer MasterCard and Visa. Some only allow customers to pay with the use of PayPal. This is not a good idea because it makes you look cheap, unprofessional, and short-sighted.

Try to use a good payment service, one that will let your consumers to pay with the credit cards, electronic checkout, PayPal and anything else you could offer. When it comes to making an online payment, offering many opportunities builds trust, which is something you need.

No Related Products

Whenever you go to a store, you regularly see items that are similar or used together being grouped together. This makes it really easy for you to buy something else than what you initially wanted or buy more items. The same thing needs to happen online. For instance, if you sell a mobile phone, you may want to include related products like a battery or even a micro USB cable.

Frustrating Navigation

One of the most frustrating things about a poorly designed e-commerce website is not confusing navigation. If your navigation is confusing, without categories or with products that shouldn’t be included in some categories, people will shop elsewhere.

Before you even begin designing your website you need to think about navigation elements and the categories. Every single category needs to include a good number of products.

Conclusion

If you don’t know much about what e-commerce modifications you need to make in order to increase sales, you should seriously consider professional help. The work that a professional can do is always better than what you can do yourself is a good long term investment.

The best e-commerce website is the one that manages to offer a great buying experience. This is the most important thing at the end of the day. You need to actively put yourself in the shoes of your potential customers. See what they would like or what they would hate and fix the bad elements.