imsis548-004Although many website owners setup a new website for the express purpose of selling products online, others offer sites for a variety of other reasons, including:

  • Product Reviews
  • Industry Blogs
  • Business Interest

Although some of these sites are vehicles for the owner’s opinions, many have an associated money prospect. These can include:

  • Google Ads
  • Pay per click (PPC)
  • Off-site advertising

While designing these sites, many owners target an audience segment, and then build their sites to the point where they become branded to that audience. Because the sites have a consistent visitor rate and a healthy set of contacts, the owners can sell the site as a mature online portal.
However, owners can bring ecommerce to their mature sites, and add an additional cash flow source to their revenue. The following are some considerations for adding ecommerce to a healthy site:

A Standard Ecommerce Portal Versus a Snazzy Site

Owners should match the website design to their customers and their own resources. If the customers want a simple, straightforward interface, then website owners can implement their service with a scheme as simple as a standard clearing service and strategically placed “Buy” buttons. In a competitive market with savvy customers, an owner may want to stand out from the crowd by hosting a selling portal with more pizazz. This could include lots of eye candy such as beautiful graphics and custom videos. Website owners can analyze the content they used to bring customers to their sites in the first place, and then consider upgrading that content with professional-level design.

Focus the Portal With a Simple Marketing Plan

Owners of mature websites often have a good sense about the proclivities of their customers. They can imagine what types of products the customers would like and how much they would be willing to spend. Owners can use these estimates to appraise the potential revenue from an ecommerce site. This revenue will help owners justify the costs of adding ecommerce. An important consideration for this simple budget: owners will not necessarily have to spend money to maintain inventory.

Target Multiple Devices

Many website owners imagine their visitors shopping on their personal computers. However, mobile users continue to become a larger portion of online sales in many markets. Ecommerce sites do not necessarily translate well to a smaller screen. Website designers should take the following into account for mobile designs:

  • Product display – product thumbnails and graphics must be large enough on a mobile screen to attract interest and show sufficient details.
  • Ease of scrolling – mobile pages must be designed for easy navigation. This often precludes horizontal scrolling.
  • Prominent “buy” button – while making the best use of screen space, designers must make sure that the all-important “buy” button is easily accessible at all times.

Professional Design

Many owners would like to take advantage of ecommerce, but want professional results in a short-time frame. These owners can contact professional design services to begin their new cash stream.