Introduction

Was your company swamped with online orders during Holiday ’05? Did excessive web sales place undue strain on your business? If so, here are 19 tactics to torpedo your online conversion rate and impede your web sales.

(It’s possible your firm is actually seeking more web sales. In that case, if you’re not heeding any of the following advice, congratulations!)

Tactic #1: Make them work for it

Make sure users have to learn how to use your site. This is the best way to get them to concentrate and forget about competitors who are just 1 click away. Ignore the accepted conventions of industry leaders. And change layouts throughout your site—this increases “shopping suspense” and keeps even the most seasoned web customer on their toes.

Tactic #2: Design by committee

Let a committee of senior executives design your homepage—or you can just let your CEO do it. What’s important is never to test it or solicit input from your customers or front line, call center personnel.

Tactic #3: Ditch the style book

To increase interest, use lots of bright contrasting colors, multiple palettes and at least 4 font families. Use animated gifs. If they seem out of place, set them off with frames.

Tactic #4: Slow down, cowboy

Make your site isn’t too fast: rapid response from the browser can confuse and bewilder your visitors. Ignore complaints from users on dial-up—they typically represent only 40% of potential sales.

Tactic #5: Think big

Use all the bytes you need to create the image you want. Anemic homepages coming in at under 50k will under whelm your users. Your brand deserves and demands more space—consider 1/4 or 1/2 meg homepages.

Tactic #6: Use org chart navigation

Let the HR department design your site’s information architecture: the best way to structure your site is following your divisional structure and politics. Make sure each department’s pet project receives equal prominence on the homepage.

Tactic #7: Embrace jargon

“Labeling” is an important concept in website usability. For key product descriptors on your site, simply repurpose the language found on your receiving department’s invoices. Manufacturer model numbers are precise and unambiguous: MA107LLA. Consumer slang like “black ipod nano” could mean just about anything.

Tactic #8: Don’t suggest, don’t guess

When your site search function fails to find matching results, make sure it offers a nice clean “dead-end” page. If you feel this page must contain copy, make sure it’s written by the programmers responsible for search: your customers appreciate straight talk from the people who can tell them why they failed. Don’t correct mistakes in spelling, punctuation, or pluralization—inferring what a customer might have wanted in such situations is overbearing and rude.

Tactic #9: Hide the Buy Button

On product detail pages, make sure “add to cart” is given equal weight with every other call to action on the page. In particular, make sure it doesn’t overshadow other buttons like “add to wish list,” “email this page” or “click for warranty info.”

Tactic #10: Offer “1-Click Empty Cart”

Provide a big button that says “Empty Cart.” Place it near “Continue to Checkout.” Also, if a user leaves your site, be sure to empty the Cart for her. This avoids cluttering up her next visit with historic reminders of things she considered but didn’t buy.

Tactic #11: Take the scenic route

Make sure your Checkout consists of at least seven pages. Ask for plenty of personal information without explanation (your marketing department may find it interesting someday). Extra tip for seeding repeat purchases: Automatically opt your user into every email list you offer. (This is much cheaper than creating a meaningful loyalty program).

Tactic #12: Force log-in

Eliminate Guest Checkout; require registration. This will separate “on the fence” prospects from the people who are really serious about placing an order

Tactic #13: Forget everything your user tells you

If a user makes a mistake during Checkout be sure to erase ALL the info he’s entered: it is likely error-ridden as well, and users appreciate the opportunity to start over with a clean slate. If you feel you must offer helpful error messages, again, these are best crafted by your IT department.

Tactic #14: Offer plenty of “Exits”

Keep every link available on every page, particularly during Cart and Checkout. Halfway through your Checkout process, users may want to consult your “corporate history” link, or read about a high ticket item they have no real intention of purchasing. You need to support that.

Tactic #15: Ignore code standards

Who the heck is the W3C, anyway? Standards compliance is a costly distraction, If your site renders in the latest version of Internet Explorer the HTML is fine. Favor IE-only tags and javascript calls particularly critical during Checkout. Firefox is a passing fad: by November, 2005 it had only 100 million downloads.

Tactic #16: Forget about your catalog

Nobody reads those things anymore. Supporting catalog quick-order numbers isn’t worth the effort. It’s not like some user is sitting in front of his computer with your latest mailing, eager to type an item number into your Cart to make a purchase.

Tactic #17: Forget about your call center

Nobody uses the phone, so don’t clutter every page on your site with your 800 number. If a user can’t find the info he needs on your website, he probably wasn’t serious about placing an order. Anyway, you’re focus is your site’s web conversion ratio—not more sales for your company!

Tactic #18: Ignore the data

Buy an expensive analytics package. But don’t invest in the expertise to understand what it says (Note: this alone won’t actually lower conversion, but at least it will ensure that you won’t raise it.

Tactic #19: Don’t shop your site

Never shop your site as your customer would. Instead rely on third party research and “checklist articles” in the trades.

Thanks for reading this tongue-in-cheek article. If you’re seeking recommended books and online resources which help you improve your site, we have included a list of favorites below. May you have great success making your site the best it can be!

Additional Resources

• Don’t Make Me Think: A Common Sense Approach to Web Usability (2nd Edition) A good, fast read. Absorb Krug’s concepts to reduce friction and eliminate user speed bumps on your site.
• The Big Red Fez: How To Make Any Web Site Better by Seth Godin An early classic from Godin. Learn why every webpage is an offer page and what you can do to ensure customers find your offer on every page.

• Designing Web Usability: The Practice of Simplicity by Jakob Nielsen The first 4 chapters should be required reading for any web creative team.
• Useit.com: Jakob Nielsen’s Website Nielsen’s frequently updated site is well-worth a bookmark.

• The W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines Making your website more accessible for the disabled can make it easier for others to use as well.

• Webpage Design for Catalogers Published in Catalog Success magazine, this article by Alan Rimm-Kaufman provides practical tips for the cataloger entering the world of online design.
• Website Effectiveness Consulting Let us help you make your website easier for customers to shop. Online analytics tell you what’s happening on your site, usability testing tells you why and then redesign makes changes.