Imagine walking into a retail shop and not being able to tell immediately what services or goods this shop was offering.  While this is not a common thing, there are many online ecommerce websites on the internet that seem to have this problem. They sell products online, but its not evident right from the beginning what they sell online or what there website is and that is a problem if you expect to be successful online.

Your website should:

  • Immediately tell your readers what you are selling or providing.

As already mentioned failing to do this will mean that you visitors are not able to tell what your website is about. It is vital to look at your website from the perspective of your visitor and pretend that you don’t know what this website is, and simply ask yourself what is this website? what does it offer? Sometimes web usability tests from other people can significantly help you with this.

  • Have a clear logo (preferably in the top left corner as this is where people expect to see it)

It is vital that your customers can remember the site they last visited and know what to look for when trying to find your website back. A visually appealing and simple logo is one of the best things a website could have online. 9 / 10 times it is the logo that web users look at to recognize the website they are on.

  • Have a clear tag line.

Sum up quickly what services or products you offer your customers. A tag line is normally integrated either with the logo of your business or directly beneath the banner of your web page, it is in a viewable location and is designed to provide quick information about your website to the end user, allowing them to not have to think what your website is about.

  • Immediately explain how you differ from competitors.

A tag line is a great place to hint this to your customers. A small tag line like “Lowest prices, Guaranteed” may be all it take to sell something to that customer, because they get the feeling they are getting the lowest prices even without having to shop around anywhere else. Only use this in your tag line if you are sure that you website doesn’t need its tag line to communicate its purpose clearly.

  • Clearly designate just one page that is your main home page.

Designate one page as your home page on your website. It is important that your customers / web users have a centralized point to go to in order to find other things of interest. Because the home page is often a place of summary to a website, users expect to be able to find all important information your website has to offer from your home page.

  • Clearly state which page you are on at all times.

A clean and well positioned navigation to your website is a key to making sure your website users are not getting lost. It is also important to create a sense i hiarachy within your website so that uses can determine priority and different sections.

In order to communicate your message to the world of people visiting your website it needs to be clear what you are trying to communicate, this is not exclusively for ecommerce websites but for all websites looking to get credibility on the world wide web.