How to improv your site?

The better web design you have for your website, the better the chances of making a sale.

Research has long shown that the leading factor in persuading shoppers to buy from an e-commerce Web site is ease of navigation, findings that were supported in a recent survey by Jupiter Research. In other words, customers are saying "make your site easy-to-use, and you'll earn our sale."

If usability is the key to a better bottom line, then what specifically will improve your site's ease of use?

For that, we turn to the preeminent figure in the field of user-friendly online design — Dr. Jakob Nielsen, whom The New York Times called "the guru of Web page usability." He holds 73 U.S. patents, most for making the Net easier to use.

Nielsen speaks in serious professorial tones, but his advice is more than academic: Companies pay him bundles of cash to teach them how to improve their site's sales.

First Things First
Before changing anything, Nielsen recommends that e-tailers take a simple step to examine their site's current level of usability: Run a user test. Find one willing test shopper — not an employee — and plop them down in front of your site to get immediate, real-person feedback.

"It's still interesting how many e-commerce sites have never done this — just sat down with users one at a time and watched them shop on their site," Nielsen says. The best way to do this is to grab as many guinea pigs as possible and record trends as they develop, he says.

Don't use a focus group, or a group of any kind, he adds. You want to see how people shop as if they were at home.

You should be on the lookout for potential problems in several key areas. In Nielsen's view, e-commerce sites lose sales for three major reasons — which he calls "the laws of wanna-be e-commerce." Namely, that's poor merchandizing, providing information ineptly and not appearing credible to shoppers.

If They Can't Find It, They Can't Buy It
Everything should be easy to find — yet many sites still fail to follow this simple rule, according to Nielsen. The problem is often a case of poor product categorization, he says.

"Things need to be where people expect to look for them — often, businesses use very odd categories that make no sense to the average consumer," Nielsen says.

Another way to stave off customer confusion is by allowing product winnowing. A site must let customers quickly narrow down its list of product to the desired item. A site with a sprawling product catalog can satisfy a broad range of customers — however, he says, it can also be confusing if that list can't be easily narrowed by searching shoppers.

"Don't offer people too many choices or you're just going to stun them, and they'll go away without buying," he says. Instead, if a customer can easily find those size-ten shoes in summer styles, your sales will improve.

Information, Please
Assuming shoppers can narrow down large product lists to locate the products in which they're interested, site designers must overcome a second hurdle.

"Assuming I can find it, do I have enough information about it to make me feel comfortable this is actually what I want?" Nielsen says.

Two classic mistakes in product descriptions are created by, in Nielsen's words, "the overly eager marketing person or the overly geeky tech person."

The tech person will write 100 basic facts down, "but not in a way that the consumer who's not highly educated can understand them," Nielsen says. And the marketing person "will write in florid language about how wonderful it is, without ever getting to the specifics."

Rather, descriptions must be written in the middle ground between these two. First, describe the product in comprehensible specifics. Then, offer the ability to delve into more specific product details for those who want it.

"Don't throw everything at people all at once — you'll just overwhelm them," he says. "But do have it available if someone asks for more."

And that thumbnail product photo that people are supposed to be able to enlarge by clicking? Unfortunately, too many sites offer "enlarged" product photos only a mere 20 percent or so greater, Nielsen says.

"That's not worth it — 'make it bigger' means I want a really big photo," he says. "So fill up my screen, preferably from a few different angles."

Extensive product description, after all, is an area in which Web sites have a major advantage over printed collateral's page limitations — so e-tailers should use the advantage for all its worth and not skimp on providing information.

The Credibility Factor
Shoppers look at your site and ask, "'I'm going to give you my money — what are you going to give me?'" Nielsen says. Are you going to give me the product? If it doesn't work can I get it returned? Are you going to spam me forever? Are you going to sell my name to all kinds of porn sites?

"We have so many videotapes of people saying 'I don't want to give my e-mail to these people because I don't know what they're going to do to me," Nielsen says — adding that the comment referred to major, well-known e-commerce stores, rather than unknowns. Consequently, mom-and-pop sites have an even greater obstacle to overcome in establishing their credibility with shoppers.

One way they can prevail is by posting a concise, clear statement on their site: We will never give out your e-mail address for any reason.

For small e-tailers working to establish trust, Nielsen recommends emphasizing your physical presence. Let people know "you're not a Nigerian scam artist," he says. "Have your mailing address on the site. Have some photographs on your About section so people can see the CEO. Have a photo of your building or warehouse."

Nielsen says he once undertook a study for a coffee Web site, and found that the company's photo of their coffee roasting machine made a big difference to shoppers.

"If you want to be logical, you could say it doesn't prove a thing — they could have somebody else's coffee roaster," he says. "But still, it enhances your feeling that they're really in this business."

While you're rethinking your photos, get rid of any stock photos with stereotypical, smiling businesspeople, Nielsen recommended. Photos of real people do more to boost your image, "even if they don't look as good," he says.

Ask Questions Later
In addition to avoiding the three common e-commerce blunders, Nielsen criticizes another mistake he says he sees too often among online sellers. Namely, it makes little sense to force customers — who are ready to buy — to first answer questionnaires before payment. Yet it's a common practice online, Nielsen says.

"The analogy is if you had a physical store, and someone walked up to the register and says 'I'd like to buy this red sweater,' and you says 'I'm sorry sir, I first need to register you as a member of our frequent shopper club,'" he says. "If people are standing there with money in their hand, take their money."

This is not just a money grubbing practice, he notes, but a critical usability strategy. Once a merchant has the first order, that second sale is a quantum leap easier. That first sale is the essential moment in building that all-important trust.

"That first order is gold — it's much more important than getting a few extra things about that person into your database so you can spam them with more marketing," he says, adding, "every extra step is a loss of customers."

Relate Your Interface to Your Product
Amazon.com might be a mega-seller, but its interface doesn't work perfectly for every product it promotes. The lesson here is to gear your site and design for the products in which you specialize, and don't bother trying to emulate the e-commerce leaders.

For example, sales of classical music CDs don't add much to Amazon's bottom line, so the e-tailing powerhouse's site isn't optimized for selling Mozart concertos.

But, "if you had a classical music site, you could have an interface that is significantly different from Amazon's, and among classical music lovers, you'd have a considerably higher sales rate," Nielsen says.

"There are all sorts of [sales strategies] that are really specific to the product you're selling or the types of customers you're addressing," he adds.

Moral of the story: Your site's interface has to he specifically focused on your goods.

Internal Ads — Use With Care
It takes some bucks to set up, but serving ads along with the results of your internal search engine is highly effective. It works like this: "People ask for something and you feed them eight ads for what they're searching for," Nielsen says. "People are very likely to click on those ads, and they're very likely to buy what they click on."

On the other hand, if you run a promotion on your site for one of your products, don't make it look like an advertisement.

"Users are getting so used to not looking at banners on the Web," Nielsen notes. Many companies make the mistake of bombarding their shoppers with supposedly eye-catching ads. "They make a big animated, spinning, look-at-me kind of thing — exactly what makes people not look."

Such promotions are best presented in a simple manner, mainly with text, perhaps with a straightforward photo if needed. "Make it look like content — not like an advertisement."

And don't use pop-ups. "It's like placing a luxury department store in the red-light district," Nielsen says. Pop-ups "give you a dirty feeling."

Looking Ahead
Before e-commerce can truly become mainstream, merchants have some basic work to finish, in Nielsen's view. As he defines them, the basics of effective e-commerce are a clearly designed site with no obvious flaws; logical navigation; a fast checkout process; and concise, persuasive product descriptions — all areas where merchants are coming up short.

"We're losing so much business because of these basic factors," he says.

When that's completed, the next step — the real future challenge — will be helping people find the things they don't know they want, he says.

The e-commerce segment most affected by this is gift giving. The problem is that little has been developed — in terms of software or site tools — that answers the questions people often have when they shop for others in real life.

Improving search engines will help, but shoppers still don't know what keywords to enter to find a gift for a certain relative.

Nielsen suggests that solving this issue will require in-home studies of consumer behavior to go deeper into shopper psyche than ever before — then incorporating this research into online stores.

In the meantime, online sellers might take a clue from toy sites, Nielsen said. While their approach isn't perfect, some toy sites are able to help shoppers find gifts for others by enabling them to narrow down products by age group and gender.

Since most sites have their biggest sales in the holidays, "the sites that can crack that particular nut will multiply their holiday sales dramatically," Nielsen says.

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Bruce "Tog" Tognazzini, one of the leading gurus on usability — and how to use it for profitability.

Respected throughout the industry as a human-computer interface designer, Tognazzini is the author of "Tog on Interface," a how-to manual for graphical user interface designers. An original employee at Apple Computer and later a Distinguished Engineer for Strategic Technology at Sun Microsystems, Tognazzini has consulted on interface design projects for clients ranging from Adobe to Microsoft to Symantec.

Many of the problems that hurt e-commerce sites' sales stem from designers who don't understand key concepts of user interface, Tognazzini said. But managers and executives can prevent this by knowing what questions to ask. His bottom line: Armed with the right knowledge, these decision-makers never need to settle for mediocre design.

Easy Credit Card Entry
It's a tiny detail, but it's a cheap way to improve usability: Make it as easy as possible for shoppers to enter credit card and other numbers.

When creating the box for customers to enter their credit cards, make sure the entered number shows up as four separate groups, just like the credit card number itself is displayed. This helps shoppers check their entry.

Those sites that display the number as 16 continuous digits in one lump are using "really slovenly programming," Tognazzini said. That one difference could mean a lost sale.

"If the number's wrong, and they have to re-enter it, some people aren't going to try it again," he said.

The ideal method is to present the shopper with one big box, but as the shopper enters their number, the digits display in groups of four. "Then offer an example that shows spaces," he said.

However, don't require your customers to use the Tab key to enter spaces, he recommends. "That would almost be as bad as forcing them not to put in spaces."

For phone and Social Security numbers, allow users to enter the digits however they wish. If customers try to add a dash between groups of numbers, the interface should allow them.

"You can accept any piece of punctuation — whatever is not a digit, the programmer is going to suck them all out and you'll be left with the numbers," Tognazzini said.

As for entering dates, the date box should default to the current date. This makes the process one step faster, which means concluding the sale that much sooner.

Shoppers Aren't Spellers
Do you force your shoppers to be good spellers? Tognazzini noted that if your internal search engine doesn't produce results for closely misspelled products, you've lost a mountain of sales. "I should be able to screw it up and they should be able to handle it," he said.

For example, if a shopper is at a site that sells desert plants, but misspells the keyword as "dessert," then the search results shouldn't come up empty.

Tognazzini points to a technology called Soundex, which converts a search term into a phonetic spelling. Soundex "will match [a keyword] up with intermediate spellings of a whole bunch of other words."

Google uses this type of technology, Tognazzini noted, which is why you can enter "philladelpia' and it will answer: "Did you mean Philadelphia?"

This technology is not cost-prohibitive either, he said. "Soundex has long been in the public domain a long time."

He also recommends implementing the Google-style "and" search technology instead of the less effective "or" technology. Under the "and" methodology, the more terms a shopper enters, the more specific the results; a shopper who enters "red" and "sweater" will find that red sweater they're looking for.

But with the "or" technology, the engine looks for "red" or "sweater." So the more keywords a shopper types in, the more numerous and less specific the results — producing confusion.

In fact, if an e-tailer is working with a design team who wants to implement an "or" search, that merchant should run away quickly, Tognazzini recommends. "It indicates a real lack of design talent. If they're doing that, they're doing a whole bunch of other things wrong."

Seducing Form Fillers
If an online merchant wants to gather a lot of information from a shopper, Tognazzini recommends a technique he calls "Staged Obligation."

Shoppers, of course, hate filling out forms. To coax the user through this, go stage by stage: "Ask them just a couple things first. Then, after they press next, ask them about four more things. 'They'll think 'Oh, well, I might as well finish.'"

Tognazzini first used this technique when he helped develop the WebMD site. Getting busy doctors to fill out forms was particularly tough, but asking questions in stages helped. "You're not going to get them all, but you're going to get a higher percentage."

Follow Up E-Mails — Careful
Many online merchants pride themselves on prompt follow-up e-mails to customers after every purchase. But many of these same merchants send an e-mail that is far too long and complex, Tognazzini said.

He recently received a staggering four-page e-mail, of which only four to eight lines were truly necessary, he said. "All the rest of it was advertising," he added.

"If you want to put in a couple ads, okay, but keep it short and simple — keep it to one page," he recommends. And ensure that any legalese added in the actual e-mail is truly necessary.

No matter how long your confirmation e-mail, make sure it displays properly on many platforms. Tognazzini points to a follow up e-mail from a well-known vendor — in use for years — in which the first page is just a menu bar with no text. "They'd obviously tested it only on whatever printer and computer they have on their home office," he said. "Try it on a number of machines."

Save That Cart
Tognazzini has seen numerous instances of sites that do not automatically save a customer's shopping cart choices. In those cases, if that shopper's PC crashes and they come back 10 minutes later, the cart has become empty — and they have to start over. In many cases, that gives a potential customer the opportunity to give up on the purchase entirely.

Tognazzini noted that the master of shopping cart technology, Amazon.com, has a cart that allows shoppers to go away and come back days later. Everything's saved.

Is your site's cart automatically saved? It's a question every e-tailer should ask their programmer. In fact, it may not be enough to trust the programmer on this issue, Tognazzini noted.

"A lot of times a programmer may think he's created a cookie [that saves cart contents] but for some reason there's something they've done wrong."

What every storeowner must do is test their cart software under "edge" conditions. That is, situations that mimic a shopper who goes away and comes back, or has computer problems. As a general rule, merchants should test their cart's performance on all browsers and platforms.

And, with a properly designed shopping cart, the cart's cookie should always be kept in the user's file on the host machine — not the client machine. "The user might start shopping at work and finish at home," Tognazzini said

Serving Up Graphics
"There are a number of major manufacturers who seem like they've set out to make their site as slow as possible," Tognazzini said. A main culprit is the use of ineffective technology to offer up photos.

Many e-tailers, of course, have a vast library of product photos, so if photos aren't presented quickly, it's a major problem. "Instead of creating a single large graphic and 'slicing' it [letting it load section by section], they have a separate file for each piece." If a shopper is using a dialup connection, this is like watching paint dry.

In this slow-load situation, "Quite often there's no [alternate text, also called "ALT"] label attached to the illustration, so if it's a button you can't click it until that button finally arrives." At this point, it's almost easier to use the phone then surf the Web, Tognazzini said.

One factor could be a surprising warning sign: "If your Web site has won a graphics-design award, you are likely in serious need of a redesign," he said. Such sites tend to be pretty rather than profitable, he noted, due to their emphasis on bandwidth-hogging graphics.

Does Your "Look" Match Your Biz?
Similarly, a site design that looks too luxurious can actually work against a discount site, he said. "You don't go into a store on Fifth Avenue that's arrayed like Tiffany's and expect to buy something really cheap." On the other hand, if your products are priced on the upper end, "you need a clean, well-lighted site that looks inviting and has an 800 number on every page."

The point is to make your site match your customer's budget level. One of the best ways to do this is to look at the other sites selling what you're selling. Your navigation, prices and products may be better than theirs, but your site's overall look should not be radically different, he noted.

Information, Please...
Brick and mortar stores have an edge over many online stores in terms of providing enough information to persuade a shopper: An in-store shopper can peruse the product's box and any in-store signage or ask questions of a live human.

Online sites need to aspire to reach this level of customer service. Tognazzini refers to a site selling camera gear that missed answering obvious questions. Is your site providing the answers to all likely customer concerns?

Moreover, is your information accessible to all your shoppers? Tognazzini points to airline sites, with their graphs of information about departure times and destinations. Sometimes when e-tailers post this style of complex graph, it doesn't display properly. Again, it's an issue of testing multiple platforms. Although few users run Mac or Linux platforms or use the Netscape browser, "their credit card is the same color as everyone else's," he said.

Overly Cautious Shipping Times
Some merchants are so conscientious about promising (and missing) shipping times that they warn customers it may take longer than it usually does, Tognazzini said. He points to a major PC maker who warns of a five- to seven-day wait, though it virtually never takes that long.

Instead, strive to provide a quick and accurate shipping time — and stick to it.

"Customers have learned that they can go to sites that tell them how quickly it's going to ship, and if your site doesn't, you're going to be paying lots of money for 800 numbers to answer them."

In short, don't be too worried about your lawyer's warnings. That rare hurricane that slows delivery shouldn't be your guiding rule. "Stuff happens, and people understand that," Tognazzini said.

Tog's Biggest Pet Peeve: Living Up To Vendor Claims
Making good on customer returns and money-back guarantees is absolutely critical, noted Tognazzini. It may be expensive, and a claim may fall into a gray area, but it's still essential.

"Whatever [a vendor] claims they're going to do, they should do it. If a merchant makes a claim about a money-back guarantee, they need to give the money back," he said.

Most merchants do this, of course, and that's a good thing: When a customer return goes wrong, "you've lost that customer, not just for today or this week, but forever."

He points to one of the central facts of Internet life: "This is a community, and vendors are selling to a community, not isolated individuals like the old days." Aggrieved customers may post their complaints somewhere on the Web where it will be seen by countless shoppers — and will hang in cyberspace ad infinitum.

The Future: Universal One Click
All these design and usability tips can do wonders for e-commerce stores. But to really move online retailing forward, what merchants need is one-click purchasing technology, Tognazzini said.

Of course this would have to be done while respecting Amazon's patent, he conceded.

Still, what he envisions is a one-click method that works by allowing participating shoppers to store their information in a secure location. Then that single click would simultaneously be a "yes" to the purchase and provide one-time permission to access their credit card number. The end result would be a quick and efficient e-commerce sale.

Until then, there's still a lot of site improvement work out there to keep online merchants busy.

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Adapted from ECommerce-Guide.com, part of Internet.com's Small Business Channel.