Updated June 12, 2008
We all know that the only reason USA Today is still
in print is because of its frequent use of the "top-ten list" (complete
with colorful bar graphs) and its "top-ten list" style of presenting
national and international news. And as evidenced daily on the Internet,
top-ten ecommerce lists are popular here, too.
They are a fun and effective way to transmit clipped
data, streamlined for impact. With an ecommerce top-ten list, you
get an entire Harvard graduate school marketing seminar smashed
into a single, easy-to-read paragraph!
Previously we presented you with Ten
tips for ecommerce success. Now we'll offer a list of errors
to avoid, marketing blunders, and things that make customers mad
enough to leave a site for good and never come back.
And the biggest mistake
you can ever make is not listening to your customers.
Here's what our Internet users and subscribers told
us about the top-ten blunders to avoid…
Pop-Up Windows and Mandatory
Fields
Pat Y. from Remedium.com writes: "Pop-up windows and mandatory fields
are bad ecommerce. At least from the consumer standpoint. I won't
give anybody my personal data if they insist I do so [in a mandatory
field]… And pop-up windows? Never actually seen one cause I blow
them away before they can even download."
Stop the Flash!
Kelly A. from OnlineCorporation spells it short and sweet: "Don't
subject visitors to a flash introduction. If you absolutely must,
give them the option to opt-out… I would also like to recommend
not hiding the telephone number to one's sales department."
Bad Code
Rene A. from HiddenOutpost states: "Too many nested tables and excessive
use of memory hogging images cause extended download time for customers
who just want to buy something. Bells and whistles and too much
flashy code get in the way of the real point of a website."
Bad Navigation and Multiple
Menus
Kurt S. of AirShowInc.com writes: "Poor website navigation and multiple
menus are serious flaws for ecommerce sites. In my field, I choose
one product over another based simply on being able to get the information
I need quickly and easily."
Browsers That Won't Die!
James K. of RefractInternet complains: "It used to be just on erotic
sites. Now a lot of companies are doing it. Perpetually spawning
browsers that won't die. That must be a no-no."
Jargon (is not 'mission-critical')
Anyone working the B2C circuit knows that jargon can throw cold
water over the best-planned marketing overture. But in the B2B realm,
the use of jargon has been justified time and again by bold copy
writers who affirm: "the target audience who will buy our
product will certainly understand the poetry of my web content!"
or "we need to sound authoritative, even at the cost of making no
sense!" Alas, the fact is, jargon usually cripples meaning rather
than enhances it.
Flimsy ecommerce and Third-Party
Credit Card Processors
Accepting credit cards online the right way means avoiding
third party services who take large percentages of your sales revenues,
prevent you from owning your own billing data, restrict your payment
options, and cause your customers to abandon their shopping carts.
Don't force your customers to jump through hoops - do credit card
processing the right way with a legitimate payment processing service.
Disabled Back-Buttons (with
bad intentions)
Disabling the back-button on an Internet browser can be a nice security
precaution when you don't want your customers to accidentally resubmit
data. However, it seems that some webmasters want to trap you on
their site for good, in perpetuity, ad infinitum. You disable
the back-button and then you want me buy something from you?
Good luck. The chances are far, far better that I'll be kicking
in the doors at your secure data hosting center and torching your
server with a flamethrower!
Unsolicited Email
Spam is bad karma. Only advertise using an opt-in mailing list with
a verified demographic that fits your target market. If you send
unsolicited commercial email, even in small amounts, (especially
in anonymous form-letter format from your own domain), you take
the risk of being added to a "real-time black hole" service that
can disrupt the future delivery of your email. Not good.
Stagnant, Un-Evolving Web
Design
Seeking the perfect ecommerce website is kind of like a
grail quest. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't be tweaking design
and refreshing content and copy to improve your site's visual appeal
and marketing impact. Learn from your mistakes, learn from competitor
websites, learn from everything you see on the Internet every minute
you are on it, and put it to service. Let your website evolve.
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