The 10 Keys To E-Commerce Success

1. People tend to click more often when specifically told to do so.
CLICK HERE to download the secret to my success! No, really. Please... One day when talking to a friend of mine through removing some spyware from his computer, I asked how he thought he got it. "I don't know..." he quickly replied..."I guess I clicked on something that told me to click on it."... I do recall reading somewhere that 10% of us turn our brains off when we get online. If you want someone to buy something, don't just tell them to buy it, tell them exactly how to buy it.

2. Most people can't remember more than seven things at once
There is a reason US phone numbers are 7 digits long - 10 if you include the area code... Humans are pattern driven creatures. We like 24 hours in a day, 7 days in a week, 4 weeks in a month, 12 months in a year... and so on. The more patterns we make as humans, the more our mind can relate different things. However, for the most of us, the patterns cannot be too complex. Don't confuse your customers. Give them details. Allow them to form the pattern in their mind. Then tell them to buy your product.

3. Research shows that web readers scan pages before they read anything, meaning they may leave your site if it doesn't grab their attention.
In the dial up days, I used to tell people they had 30 seconds to make an impression on a visitor. Now, it's a micro-fraction of that. The latest study indicated that a website had 3 seconds to deliver the content to the user, and that a user would make up their minds within 1 second. 1/2 second if that user was a female - seriously. It's what I call the "ummm". A site loads, a user says, "Ummm..." and that's followed by a "yes" or a "no". As soon as that scan is done with, the user knows if they feel comfortable on your site. If you use highlighting and bolding of keywords on your site - say about 7 of them per fold - and you tell the customer what to do within those 7 highlighted or bolded words... your site has more of a chance of converting a visitor into a customer.

4. Most buyers complete their purchase-related search engine research two or more weeks before they buy.
Two weeks. 14 days. 2 sets of 7 days. If your site doesn't make a lasting impression with the user - even visually - they won't be back. And if they don't come back, you don't make the sale.

Not too long ago, I was doing some reasearch on a particular subject. I had found a very good source, and shared it with a colleague of mine. About two weeks later, we were discussing the subject again. I hadn't book marked the page, and couldn't recall the name of the site. What I did recall was the pattern of the layout. I remembered the red and blue colors, with the yellow highlighted price. When I again found that pattern, I recalled more information about that website.

Had that site not grabbed my attention, and given me a few key items to remember, they would have lost a sale. Needless to say, they got my business.

5. People are more likely to read a headline that is followed by a blurb
This week I was driving by a steak house. I thought, "yeah.. I might like a steak tonight... but, there are some other restraunts on this road..." As I got closer to the steak house, the smell of that wood burning grill assaulted my senses... "Wow, I gotta have a steak, right now!" Was my next thought.... What changed my mind? The blurb after the headline. The restraunt itself wasn't enough to get the sale - but those guys aren't fools - they know how to get a customer in the door. The same holds true for any attention grabbing headline - without any more information, it's just a headline. Without that smell, a steak is just a piece of dead cow.