Finally! A Stylish, Free & Easy To Use Classifieds Site!
We just launched Classi, a new website that offers a free and easy way for anyone to buy or sell goods. We believe Classi is the best peer-to-peer classifieds site on the web.
Watch this short video for more information on what makes us different from all those other classifieds sites out there.
And try us out, we're free!
__What are your thoughts? Should I go with "Introducing" or "Finally!" in my title? And should I mention it being free at the beginning of my article?__
I think you should go with "Finally!" and then mention it's free at the end of your post. Good luck! :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87O1v_8W80o
http://www.idlehandsproductions.com/forums/viewthread/481 - Finally! A Stylish, Free & Easy To Use Classifieds Site! [NOTE: You may want to just cut down ONANIC's title to "Finally!" in your article.]
Posted by Matthew Williams at 4:56 PM No comments:
Hey, what's going on here?! I thought that this whole article was supposed to be about FUNDAMENTALS and not so much about TECHNIQUES! Oh well. :) http://www.idlehandsproductions.com/forums/viewthread/481 - Finally! A Stylish, Free & Easy To Use Classifieds Site!
Posted by Matthew Williams at 3:38 PM No comments:
I've just spent the last 20 minutes reading through a blog I discovered on Reddit (via /r/webdev ), and it's basically full of amazing content. The author has really hit upon an interest with me (and probably many others): How to take any website and increase its conversions by A LOT.
In fact, he talks about how one site increased their conversion rate from 2.0% to 9.1% by simply following some simple instructions that were pretty much common sense anyway. Common sense that most people just don't seem to get.
I highly recommend going over to the blog and reading through one of his articles. It's called Advanced Conversion Rate Optimization, and you can find it here: http://www.conversion-rate-experts.com/
He mentions that he's working on a book called "Conversion Rate Optimization: Secrets To Increasing Conversions" which I'm looking forward to reading. But in the mean time, I'd like to talk about a few of his methods as they are some of the simplest things that could be done and yet very rarely are... Here goes...
1. Be sure to tell the user 'what they're actually buying' and not just the thing that they've never heard of before.
Imagine somebody searching for a laptop in your shop. They spend a while looking through the various options, and finally decide on a new laptop: A brand, model and color that you don't carry. You have to call them up and find out what brand they're looking for so you can try to get them something similar.
If you had this person entered into your system as "Laptop - Brand unknown" or "Laptop - Color unknown", then you'd be right in assuming that their search would be much more difficult than if you called them up and asked what exactly they were looking for.
The moral here is to get your customer's preferences and requirements as soon as possible so you can group them into categories that you have products in.
2. Remove unnecessary steps from the buying process
This is a simple one. If an extra step is required before the checkout page, then the customer might be put off by the extra effort required (this includes registration pages).
For instance, if someone is trying to order a laptop, but first needs to put in their credit card details, then they'll probably just give up and try to find something else.
Instead of asking for that information again once the order has been placed, you can ask for it on the first page (by default) by putting this line of code at the top of your checkout page:
<!-- When people search for a laptop -->
This will ensure that the user's data is instantly available and doesn't require any extra effort or waiting.
3. Include clear instructions so that the customer knows EXACTLY what they are buying.
I can't stress this one enough. Imagine buying something off of eBay and then going to the post office when it arrives to find that you've been sent the wrong thing. You'd likely be pretty angry that they didn't explain what they were selling, or have any instructions in their listings.
As a web designer, I understand how easy it is to get so caught up in the design that you forget about stuff like instructions and such. But really, it's not hard at all to make sure that your instructions are clear and simple for a customer who has no idea about your product.
You also need to include as much information as possible about the product/service so you can avoid any kind of confusion on the customer's part.
4. Reduce the number of decisions the customer needs to make
Don't overwhelm your customer with a bunch of useless information and choices. Just give them the essentials and get them to buy as soon as possible.
This means that you should only ask for details that are absolutely necessary, otherwise you'll end up getting information that you don't need.
For example, on a laptop listing: Not: "Do you want Windows 8 or 7?" But: "Do you want Windows 8 or 7 installed?" This will save time and effort for your customer who might not have decided which operating system they prefer yet.
5. Remove all distractions from the checkout pages
Make sure the customer gets to the checkout page as quickly as possible and doesn't get distracted by sidebars or any other content (unless it's absolutely necessary!).
For example: Make sure you're not sending people off somewhere else for a cup of coffee when they go to buy your product!
6. Reduce the perceived risk by offering free shipping, guarantees and gifts with purchase.
I'm talking about buying an expensive product like a laptop that costs over $1000. People want to be sure that they've made the right decision before they commit money to it. Offering them a guarantee and/or free shipping if anything goes wrong will reduce their fear of buying something so expensive.
7. Offer bundles and add-ons that can't be found anywhere else
People want the best deal they can get and if you can get a better deal than your competitors, then they'll buy from you.
You could offer an extra Year's warranty so the customer gets more peace of mind, or a couple of free apps as add-ons that they wouldn't normally buy. A simple way to do this is to create a 'Bundle' on your website with whatever products or items you want to include. You might then list them on their own pages so that customers could easily choose what they wanted.
8.
Conclusion
I could go on and on, but I think I've said enough here. Just remember to think about the things that your customers will find important. If they don't buy from you because they're put off by something, then make sure it doesn't happen again in future!
It takes a lot of work to get people buying from your website, so don't start crying when you have a sale and people aren't buying your products. Give them time and attention, and a good product will take care of itself in no time at all...
Here's a quick example of how I use these "Advanced Conversion" techniques for my clients: http://www.jasonlottdesign.