The Supermarket Approach to Web Design
It doesn't matter which supermarket you shop in: From Ohio to South Carolina (and probably every state in the East), every supermarket chain is laid out in a logical order so, no matter what city or State you're in, you can quickly find what you came for. Whether the store is laid out from left-to-right or right-to-left the most common order is produce, canned goods, dry goods, toiletries and medicines, paper goods, frozen foods with the dairy section and beer last and meat along the back wall. Yet each supermarket is decorated in a way that distinguishes it's interior from the competitor down the street. What sets them apart? Service, price, convenience and quality selections.
Although you probably never thought of your website in this way before, you probably should consider it now. Shoppers, whether they walk into a department store, a supermarket, or surf into a website, usually don't want to have to hunt for what they came in for: The advertised products or services. If you make your visitors dig through page after page trying to find your shipping info or return policy or the product or service they specifically entered your site for, chances are they'll leave and never come back.
You don't have to settle for a vanilla or chocolate flavored cookie-cutter website but you should insist that it be structured in such a way that visitors to your site can see what you offer in about 3 seconds: That's the average time it takes for a visitor to make a decision to stay or go. Make sure your site is easily navigable, not overwhelmingly busy, and simple to check out of with your shipping info, contact information and return policy obvious. If you have a contact form for gathering leads, let the visitor know exactly what you intend to do with their information on the contact page itself and how soon you intend to get back in touch. Don't make your visitors have to leave the page they're on to find information pertinent to the sale or submitting contact information.
Convenience, great service, and an uncomplicated shopping experience will put your shoppers at ease and set your site apart from others offering the same or nearly the same product or service at the same price. You'll have visitors who stay longer, buy from you and return for more purchases in the future. Better yet, they may tell their friends and co-workers about your site and everyone knows that word-of-mouth advertising is the best advertisement.
Although you probably never thought of your website in this way before, you probably should consider it now. Shoppers, whether they walk into a department store, a supermarket, or surf into a website, usually don't want to have to hunt for what they came in for: The advertised products or services. If you make your visitors dig through page after page trying to find your shipping info or return policy or the product or service they specifically entered your site for, chances are they'll leave and never come back.
You don't have to settle for a vanilla or chocolate flavored cookie-cutter website but you should insist that it be structured in such a way that visitors to your site can see what you offer in about 3 seconds: That's the average time it takes for a visitor to make a decision to stay or go. Make sure your site is easily navigable, not overwhelmingly busy, and simple to check out of with your shipping info, contact information and return policy obvious. If you have a contact form for gathering leads, let the visitor know exactly what you intend to do with their information on the contact page itself and how soon you intend to get back in touch. Don't make your visitors have to leave the page they're on to find information pertinent to the sale or submitting contact information.
Convenience, great service, and an uncomplicated shopping experience will put your shoppers at ease and set your site apart from others offering the same or nearly the same product or service at the same price. You'll have visitors who stay longer, buy from you and return for more purchases in the future. Better yet, they may tell their friends and co-workers about your site and everyone knows that word-of-mouth advertising is the best advertisement.
Labels: SEO and Search Engine Marketing, Web Marketing, Website Design
posted by Julie
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2 Comments :
great post. thanks for a great meeting yesterday. i look forward to the next step. what will our store layout be? :)
Nice work man… These were exactly the same points that I had kept in mind while deciding to choose a web designing company for website for my cardiology clinic in Los Angeles. I have hired a web designing company, who is having a proficiency in medical website designs named Medical web Experts. Including the points you have specified, one of the important thing that I considered is the amount of experience they had in website design, and especially in medical website design. They have a gallery showcasing their expertise at www.medicalwebexperts.com. They are currently working on the website. But I hope this effort would help me bring patients attention towards my clinic.
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