Spruce up your website by fixing these 4 things...

As an avid lifelong learner, I am aware of my lack of expertise when it comes to website function and design. So I signed up for an offer to participate in a peer review of my website hosted by Arianne Foulks, Captain & Founder of Aeolidia.

Aeolida develops websites using the Shopify platform. Even though my site is currently hosted on Squarespace, I wanted to take advantage of their expertise in online shopping site design. It was an opportunity to have fresh eyes looking at my website and provide me with honest clarity of what wasn’t working.

I have been pondering for a while if moving to the Shopify platform was the simple answer to fixing everything that seemed to be lacking on my site.

The answer… no.

Regardless of what platform you choose, there are elements of a site that need to be structured to create a good online shopping experience.

My challenge during the last few years has been how to create a website that promotes both my design services AND my myLife planner product sales.

I have considered creating a stand-alone website for myLife planners, but the idea of doubling the amount of back end branding, marketing, and development work hasn’t made sense for a one company business like myself.

So I have worked to create an umbrella of a company, Crystal Ink, that offers design services, productivity planner sales, and creative community connections through Creatives’ Cupboard.

Needless to say, I needed an outside perspective that was honest and could cut to the chase, affirming what I knew to be true and also opening my eyes to what I didn’t.

Out of the call, I came away with needing to address these 4 common online store mistakes :

• Stop sliding…Embrace the scroll. As much as slideshows seem fun, they don’t make it easy for website visitors to click and learn about your company. A home page, when scrolled, should tell your company story and make it easy for people to click into a product or service description that addresses their needs.

• Don’t make your customers struggle to find the shopping cart. If you sell products, it’s integral that the shopping cart is always on the top right corner. Always. I learned that my template’s offer for an express checkout shortcut didn’t make it easy for customers to keep shopping or return to the website. So I turned that off and finally did some google searching on how to adjust the check out page, so it didn’t look so awkward. The shopping cart icon only comes up once a product is added. This is the template I chose and can’t really adjust that, but.

• No one cares what you think of your company. Social proof is needed on the home page. Incorporating comments, reviews and testimonials into a visitors’ experience legitimize your company.

• Don’t leave the footer blank.  I had thought keeping things simple with just a copyright statement was all that was needed. Still, when you think about it, a footer is where you can not only keep people on your site by offering links to other sections quickly but be a space holder for newsletter sign up links and an easy way for contact information. It gives your business a level of professionalism and makes it feel legit.

If you are in the market for a newsletter with insights and tips on websites, specifically product sales, I’d sign up for Arianne’s. She is very generous with her content and produces it well.