Ecommerce Web Creation Resources

Designing Websites with Sales In Mind

Copyright 2005 Stephen Wright

One of the very first decisions we make as internet marketers inovolves the critical choices in designing websites. We each have differing opinions and viewpoints of just what our site should look like. More often than not, these decisions are based on personal opinions or selections limited to the templates of the respective applications utilized for building the site. But there has to be more to this than personal preference - with no real basis for the logic and methodology tha should go into making the decisions!

What about this logic ---beyond the appearance - lets also look at the "sales" potential of one design versus another. Think about it, why do some websites sell better than anothers? Do you need a marketing degree to create a website? Does design have much impact on sales?

You may not realize this but many of the successful internet marketing businesses already figured out that design, or layout of the website should be as much of a marketing decision as the ad copy. Why is that?

Web designers (and individuals with software apps) can do some amazing things with graphics and colors. You will also have a much more professional looking site when an expert applies his or her handiwork. However, it is critically important to understand some of the key elements that smart marketers make certain appear (or NOT appear) on highly profitable sites. After all, having a "pretty" site does you no good if you are not getting traffic or revenue from sales. Being aware of these will enable you (or your selected designer) to keep in mind this balance between marketing and design. The three key elements are color, graphics, and layout.

COLOR: Designs with a dramatic color can make compelling choices for setting a mood. But reading on a computer screen demands as much contrast as possible, otherwise the reader will develop vision fatigue. You do not want to irritate or tire your visitors in any way or they may leave, so be certain that the main body of your website copy is black writing on a white background - or as close to that ideal as possible.

Colors also change appearance on different monitors, so what looks cool and calm on one monitor may be bright and glaring on another. Simple works.

GRAPHICS: Striking, bold graphics can be a real eye-catcher for visitors. Still, successful internet marketers are pretty much unanimous in stating that you should avoid flash graphics as much as possible. Again, they tend to tire visitors eyes or create a distraction from the written copy. Even if they are initially impressed by the work it may subconsciously annoy them. Simplicity is again the best way to go.

LAYOUT: The first 'fold' of your site is similar to opening a tractional paper letter. If you remove a letter from an envelope that is folded in three, you will obviously view the top 'fold' first.

This fold is what individuals will see without scrolling down the page. It is CRUCIAL that important elements like descriptive headlines, your contact number, newsletter subscription form etc. all show in the first fold. Do NOT place banners here unless they are the main element of your business as you will be giving prime space to other websites and your customer (which you fought hard to get in the first place) will be gone just as quickly.

These are just some of the important elements you should be aware of when designing your site. This "balance" will greatly increase your sales potential - once you incorporate this into your design criteria. With both design and "sales-ability" used as the foundation for the website in the initial design phases you will reap the financial benefits for years and years.

About the Author
Stephen Wright is President & CEO of InternetMarketing.com
We personally build a Money Making Website Just For You - 100% Ready To Take Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits! Get the details today at: http://www.InternetMarketingUSA.com/pips.html

QuickPayPro

Visit the QuickPayPro web site
Overview:	QuickPayPro is a remotely-hosted ecommerce automation system that includes a shopping cart system, secure, real-time credit card processing, digital product delivery, affiliate marketing system, ad tracking, mailing list manager and email marketing autoresponders.
Last Update:	Thursday, September 02, 2004.
Screenshot:
Features:	Sell digital or "real" products and services. Single-product order form or full shopping cart version. Secure, real-time credit card processing, with or without a merchant account. Supports 2CheckOut, Paypal, PaySystems, Revecom, Authorize.net, QuickCommerce, EMS and SkipJack. Digital product delivery with automatic download link expiration. Two-tier affiliate marketing system with real-time statistics for both your affiliates and yourself. Option to export affiliate commission payments to upload and pay via PayPal, or import into Quickbooks or other applications for automated check writing. Ad tracking system and sales calculators for web site and email advertising. Unlimited email mailing lists. Unlimited sequential follow-up autoresponders. Mail merge personalization. Customizable order and thank you pages to fit your site's look and feel. Remotely-hosted - Manage account using any web browser.
Benefits:	Offers many of the important ecommerce and marketing tools in one package. No need for a merchant account to accept credit cards at your web site. Easy set-up - no software or script installation required. Able to manage your internet business from the a single interface, using a web browser, from anywhere in the world. Low-cost.
Review:	QuickPayPro is an impressive one-stop ecommerce and marketing system. It offers many of the ecommerce and marketing tools you would need to build a successful internet business. It's really affordable too. I was expecting to find a price tag of $1-200 a month. Yet I was surprised to find it only costs $45 per month, with no set-up fee. I know for a fact that at least one extremely successful netrepreneur, by the name of Armand Morin (you may have heard of him), uses the QuickPayPro system to deliver his digital products and manage his affiliate program. Armand's numerous web sites apparently produce an income in the region of $3-400,000 a year. That is clear proof that the QuickPayPro ecommerce system works. If you're looking to automate your internet business, I recommend adding QuickPayPro to your shortlist. After all, why purchase half a dozen ecommerce and marketing products and services, when you can get them all in one package.
Accolades:	"A truly superior and simple to use package that will allow any serious e-entrepreneur the opportunity to automate their business. Way to go! I know you will be saving a lot of people a lot of time and money!" - Rick Beneteau, People Building People. "The one thing that separates Internet Winners from Internet Losers is Automation. You need QuickPayPro now!" - Dustin Struckman. ""The ability to use my PayPal account for payment processing made the decision easy for me to go with QuickPayPro. I setup my first product and had it working perfectly with PayPal in just a few minutes." - Chip Ashby.
Format:	Web-based application.
Require:	Web site and internet connection.
Costs:	$45 per month.
Visit the QuickPayPro web site

1ShoppingCart

Visit the 1ShoppingCart web site
Overview:	1ShoppingCart is a remotely-hosted, shopping cart system, that includes credit card processing, merchant account, digital product delivery, newsletter manager, email marketing autoresponders, pop-up wizard, ad tracking, and two-tier affiliate program marketing system.
Last Update:	Thursday, September 02, 2004.
Screenshot:
Features:	Secure shopping cart systems, supporting up to 10,000 items. Digital delivery system to deliver ebooks, reports, software, etc. Supports up to 10,000 customers, with upgrades up to 1 million available. Secure, real-time credit card processing, with merchant account. US and international vendors without a merchant account may apply for one. Supports 24 real-time payment gateways:   •  Authorize.Net    •  LinkPoint Secure •  BluePay •  MCPS WebLink •  CyberCash •  NetBilling •  DPI Merchant Services •  PayCom Processing •  ECX QuickCommerce 3.0 •  PayReady Link •  Epoch Systems •  Planet Payment •  eProcessing Network •  PSIGate •  GoRealTime •  RTWare WebLink •  iBill Processing •  SkipJack •  IntelliPay ExpertLink •  VeriSign PayFlow Pro •  IONGate •  ViaKlix (Nova) •  iTransact RediCharge •  WorldPay Real-time automated UPS/FedEx/USPS shipping and pricing integration. Autobill membership for recurring products. Upsell modules to increase sales and revenue. Coupon/order/quantity discount modules. Two-tier affiliate marketing system, with commissions by product or affiliate, or by clicks, leads or sales. Ad tracking system for clicks, leads, sales and autoresponders. Newsletter manager with unlimited newsletter broadcasting. Unlimited sequential follow-up autoresponders. Mail merge personalization. Contact/survey forms. Customizable order and thank you pages to fit your site's look and feel. Remotely-hosted - Manage account using any web browser. Live phone and email support during business hours. 30-day, money-back guarantee.
Benefits:	Combines virtually all the essential ecommerce and marketing tools in one package. No software or script installation required. Able to manage your internet business from the a single interface, using a web browser, from anywhere in the world.
Review:	Although advertised as a shopping cart system, 1ShoppingCart is actually a complete ecommerce and marketing system. The ecommerce features are pretty comprehensive. Supporting up to 10,000 items and customers, 24 payment gateways, automated UPS/FedEx/USPS shipping, and recurring billing, you would be hard pushed to beat this shopping cart for the price. It offers virtually all the essential ecommerce and marketing tools you would want, in one online interface. If you're looking to automate your web site, I recommend trying out the 1ShoppingCart system.
Accolades:	"Set-up was easy and took me less than 10 minutes. But what surprised me most was the 'upsell' feature - it automatically doubled my profits in 24 hours without having me lift a finger!" - Alex Mandossian, Best Selling Author and President of Heritage House Publishing, Inc. "Just a note to say your new 1ShoppingCart software is terrific. You can literally launch a new business in one hour with it." - Marlon Sanders, Amazing Formula. "It's simple enough for a 12 year old to use, yet it has enough power for any Fortune 500 company." - Jon Keel, MBA Professor, Improved Results.
Format:	Web-based application.
Require:	Web site and internet connection.
Size:	N/A
Free Trial:	No - 30-days for $3.95.
Costs:	Starter - $19/month or $199 annually. Basic - $39/month or $349 annually. Pro - $69/month or $599 annually. Optional installation set-up service - Takes 30 minutes and costs $30.
Visit the 1ShoppingCart web site