SEO
Tips for Designing a Top Ranking
E-Commerce Website
Websites
that achieve top rankings on the
first page of search engine results
on Google, Yahoo & MSN ultimately
have common attributes that set
them apart from their competitors.
Top ranking websites typically have:-
*
A great website design and content
*
Website visitors flock to their
websites and more importantly enjoy
the experience.
*
Learned how to successfully market
and promote their website online
with little or no paid advertising.
*
Learned how to easily build their
customer bases and attract repeat
sales
*
Worked out how to effectively optimize
their website for the search engines
*
Learned the 'insider secrets' of
how to rank well on the search engines
and stay there.
This
article will examine the key website
design features that help create
a Top Ranking Website. From an SEO
perspective at a very minimum ensure
you include full content management,
a marketing module and comprehensive
website statistics in your initial
website design.
Key
design specifications of Rank 1
Websites
1.
Complete content management control
- including the ability to add,
edit and delete pages, boxes, tables,
hyperlinks and the footer in 'real
time' without the need for a programmer.
Plus the ability to add hyperlinks
to pages, images and documents.
2.
Customer databases - to collect
member and customer contact information
for ordering and direct marketing
purposes.
3.
Marketing module - to send out emails,
monthly newsletters, product updates,
order notifications, dispatch notifications
and new member letters to customers
& members in your customer databases.
4.
Comprehensive website statistics
- to monitor the daily, weekly and
monthly progress of your website's
SEO campaign, online marketing campaigns,
linking campaigns and site popularity.
An excellent website statistic collection
software tool is 'Awstats'.
5.
Visually appealing home page design
that incorporates your company branding.
6.
The inclusion of a footer at the
bottom of the home page and subsequent
web pages for search engine optimization.
7.
Fast website download speed for
web pages, images and documents
to reduce the incidence of 'bounce
out' traffic.
8.
Easy to use site navigation with
a flat site hierarchy .ie. each
page is accessible from only 1 to
3 clicks away from the home page.
9.
A home page design with a mix of
text and images ideally in a 60/40
ratio .ie. 60% text and 40% images/graphics
for maximizing keyword text content
for SEO.
10.
Easy to view font style, font colour
and background colour in the website
design and content.
11.
Easy to navigate shopping cart software
12.
A currency converter for international
trade
13.
Automatic payment gateways for credit
card processing and Paypal in 'real
time' with flexible payment options
for customers.
14.
SSL Certificates installed and logos
prominently displayed for secure
online ordering.
15.
A professional website design versus
a DIY website design - professionally
designed websites attract higher
website traffic levels, higher online
sales, higher site popularity and
better search engine rankings than
DIY website designs. Allow $10,000
AU for a professionally designed
E-commerce website with branding
specialist fees included.
16.
A website design that accommodates
the global reach of the Internet
- ie. English translations of site
content, a currency converter, economical
freight delivery methods for international
customers, automatic calculations
of freight costs, compatible payment
methods for overseas customers.
17.
Member logins - to facilitate easier
ordering from customers especially
repeat sales, direct marketing purposes
and wholesale logins (if required)
to keep your wholesale prices confidential
from the general public and competitors.
18.
Avoid the use of 'Pop-ups' - for
adding products to the shopping
cart, online forms and product images
as some Internet protection software
on a User's PC can block pop-ups
and interfere with the browsing
experience, the ability to complete
online forms and place online orders.
Program pages & images to 'refresh'
rather than pop-up in your website
design.
19.
Interesting & fresh website
content for your website visitors
- including clear detailed product
photographs & product descriptions,
interesting page content relevant
to your products/services and industry,
free articles of interest and PDF
downloads, DIY projects if applicable,
promotion of specials, affiliate
advertising, complimentary reciprocal
links and resource pages.
Tip
- Select a horizontal page orientation
for your website design that fills
up the entire internet explorer
browser window or alternatively
ensure that you minimize the gaps
running down either side of a vertical
page orientation site design. The
reasoning behind this is that eyes
of users are automatically drawn
to negative spaces before they focus
on filled spaces. You can also add
boxes to balance out and fill any
negative spaces on the outer left
and right hand side of home page
designs. These boxes can be filled
with information about specials,
promotions, affiliate advertising,
sales and so on.
Remember
that first impressions, in particular
a great home page design will determine
whether website visitors stay to
explore your website further or
'bounce out' in the first 60 seconds,
that's all the opportunity you have.
For
more detailed information on the
key design features of top ranking
websites see my SEO ebook the 'Insider
Secrets of Rank 1 Websites' by Rosemary
Donald for just $29.95 AU.
About
the Author
Rosemary Donald is an SEO Consultant
with Rank1 Website Marketing (www.rank1websitemarketing.com)
and author of the SEO ebook 'Insider
Secrets of Rank 1 Websites'. Rosemary
is a regular contributor of SEO
articles on search engine optimization,
SE tactics, search engine guidelines,
link building, website marketing,
website design & development,
and ecommerce. Rosemary is also
a successful online trader and owner
of top ranking website Sabu Jewellery.
