Hello sylvester,
I remembered your website from the last series of questions you had
asked, so I wanted to jump in here and assist you this time. I have a
few suggestions that should help you close more sales. Keep in mind
that I am offering my opinion to a subjective question, accompanied by
solid resources when available.
As far as I can tell, there are no technical problems. You use
2Checkout as your credit card processor, and once the shopping process
leaves your site, it's out of your hands anyway. Here are my
recommendations :
Match your header and footer files
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This may not seem like it may have a big effect. Truth is, users may
be more confused when they go to checkout, and the whole site theme
changes on them. The processor you use (2Checkout) has a fairly easy
system to do this. You simply create header and footer text/html
files, and put them on your server. Once you do this, you log into
your 2Checkout account, and enter them in the appropriate area.
Having your brand or site theme carry it's way into the shopping cart
area lets the users know they can 'trust' that they are still at the
same website. Many companies that offer affiliate programs offer the
ability to sell their product, and do so in a fashion that matches
your website. This is because seemless integration sells far better
than confusion ;-)
Frames
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I know you have heard this before, but frames are not worth the
effort. They are displayed differently across browsers, and confuse
users more than they help. None of the Top 10 shopping destinations on
the internet use frames. This article talks about frames, and just how
much of a pain they are when not used properly :
http://www.granitewebdesign.com/services/mark_promo/design_layout/framed_sites.shtml
Since you are selling products, having a clear and simple website is
the most important thing to do. If you choose to change your site, and
get rid of the frames, you may see an increase in visitors as well.
This is because search engines have a hard time indexing frame based
websites.
I would be willing to construct a one page HTML sample if you want me
to, without using frames. I could also assist you with your header and
footer files if you find yourself wanting to implement those as well.
Product Nature and discreet information
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Your site sells a product that to many men, can be embarrassing to
order. You may want to throw in a few marketing statements that assure
your customers. Assure them that the sale is discreet, and that the
item is shipped discreetly. You can use customer testimonials for this
too. (I have outlined this below)
Nature of internet shopping
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Don't let the number of people dropping their carts bring you down.
This article is a little older, but it's very relevant :
75% of shoppers drop their carts
http://retailindustry.about.com/library/bl/bl_bizrate1023.htm
To look for more articles like the one above, you can see some results
returned by Google when I search for "abandon their shopping carts"
"abandon their shopping carts"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22abandon+their+shopping+carts%22
So while we can definitely improve your site to close more sales, keep
in mind that this in an industry wide behaviour. We can always strive
to improve, but will be limited by the actions of the industry.
(internet shoppers in this case)
Contact Information
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I noticed that contact information is hard to find, and leads to
another company. Does the fulfillment company know your product as
well as you do? Do they send you emails that they receive from
customers, or is this an automatic forwarding email? (contact sales on
checkout page)
A whole page may need to be dedicated to contact information.
Customers want to be assured that if something should go wrong, they
know who to talk to. Even a simple page with a form to contact you
directly may facilitate further sales.
Privacy
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You may also want to consider typing up a privacy policy. Here is a
default example to get you started. along with a checklist to ensure
you remember everything :
Sample Privacy Policy
http://www.shopsafe.co.uk/privacy.htm
Policy Checklist
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2000/05/privacyanthonyattach.htm
Customer Testimonials?
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I am assuming you have made quite a few good sales. Getting customers
to sell your product may also increase your conversion rate.
Throughout the site I didn't notice a single quote. Since hesitation
can often be beat out by impulse shopping, it might be a good idea to
ask your past customers if they mind giving some anonymous feedback.
(or they may be so happy to not stay anonymous)
In closing - the single most important thing I noted was the huge
2Checkout logo on your checkout page. This certainly has customers
scratching their heads.
I know this answer is subjective, so if you have further questions I
would love to assist further.
Thanks for the great question!
SgtCory |
Request for Answer Clarification by
sylvester-ga
on
16 Jun 2003 10:43 PDT
Hello Sgt.Cory and thank you so far...Maybe you are exactly the right
person to speed up things! Yes,yes Yes,please do everything you
suggest to see what happens:Construct HTML sample,header and footer...
and help me implement these,please. I am only a medical man new to
computers,and can not do anything more than surf on internet....And
put the brand name like 2Checkout.com etc.etc.
Strange that a company that should do things for me to get in at top
10 on many search-engines,not have suggested this.You can read their
name on each web-site at the bottom... The other things you mention we
can go on with later.NOW I think the problem is abandonment WHEN
ALREADY INTO shopping cart. Kind Regards Sylvester
|
Clarification of Answer by
sgtcory-ga
on
18 Jun 2003 08:23 PDT
Delivered as promised - with the best wishes!
Instructions
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A header file is basically half of your HTML document. The head
portion ;-) Since I don't know what layout you will ultimately use for
your site, I will offer a sample as noted in the answer. This is from
an actual page in your website, but you'll definitely want to get
your webmaster to change it to suit your needs. First let me tell you
how to add these header and footer files at 2Checkout.com :
1) Log into your 2Checkout Account.
2) Mouse over account details and click on custom.
3) Put the location of your header file in the correct space.
4) Put the location of your footer file in the correct space.
5) Click 'Update Headers'
Done.
The location of your header and footer files will be an URL on your
server. Your webmaster will upload these files to a directory on your
server, and enter the location in the spaces I noted above.
Once you click update, your new look will be applied to the checkout
page.
Header Download Here :
http://www.hostcorps.com/google/hairheader.html
Footer Download Here :
http://www.hostcorps.com/google/hairfooter.html
Simply save the files above as HTML documents and upload them to your
server. Link to them from the 2Checkout header and footer settings
that I listed above. Again - these are not complete, and you might
want to change them to suit your needs. In the 2Checkout area, there
are two question marks that will assist your webmaster in implementing
header and footer files, should he/she have any further questions.
Now for the main HTML page sample. Please note this is a sample, and
can be used as a template throughout your site to assist in moving
away from frame based construction. All I simply did was pull the main
page from the frames, and merge it with your side navigation. You will
need to add links and verbage that you feel may be needed, but this
page alone is far more conducive than it was in frames :
HTML Non framed - Main Page template :
http://www.hostcorps.com/google/noframestemplate.html
None of the images will show up in the above template, as I left them
in tact to work on your server. Your webmaster should simply put this
page on your server, and make it the default index. (index.html or
something similar)
I ask again that you keep in mind these are simple constructs. You
will need to work with your webmaster firsthand to make verbage
changes, resize any images, or change the positioning of text. I don't
recommend putting these up until your webmaster does the changes
first, as an interruption in your ordering process is expecting during
the maintenance time.
I hope this helps clarify the situation a little further, and gets you
going the right direction. Should you have any further questions,
please ask for clarification before rating this answer.
Thanks for the great questions Sylvester!
SgtCory
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