Building an e-commerce website -- what does it entail? Again, don't let me go into that harangue of telling you guys that this task is something only 21-year old eggheads in stiff white collars can do. You would either need a little of their help or search online for a reliable company that offers a package of services for high risk merchant account owners. And if you got lucky on the latter, you still would need to create a checklist on which elements you need to prioritize for your website. I'm talking about the bare bones. After you have decided on those, it's time to figure out whether to add some fancy stuff on your website or keep things simple.
So what elements should you consider added on your e-commerce website? If you've published a book before (not e-book, but if you want to go into that detail, see my article ("Homemade Remedy for Download Theft"), most likely you'd already be familiar with the steps you need to take from the time you've conceived the story to the moment it's out in the bookstore shelves. Yes, you would need an endorsement from celebrities, too! Remember Harvey Mackay's "Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive"? Well yeah, that one's a classic.
Web copy, layout and other visuals, e-commerce elements, marketing elements, and customer service tools, are some of the basic stuff you need to incorporate in your e-commerce website. Each one of these elements come with its own set of structure that would also require a bit of search engine friendliness or better yet, full-blown SEO campaign.
THE WEB COPY
For your e-commerce website's copy, consider the number of pages. Major search engines such as Google usually favor more webpages but be careful about using Javascript or adding frames. The simpler the structure of your text pages are, the better. Do not forget adding basics such as "About Us" or product description pages. When it comes to adding extra content such as blogs and RSS news feeds, the more optimized for the search engines (using keywords, backlinks, etc.) the better. You would also need the help of a flexible database so that each time you add new product or text elements, the storage can be extended. Administration area for uploading text content should be user-friendly.
IMAGES AND FLASH CLIPS
Images are important for your e-commerce website but be selective in handling them. Look into how they will improve your catalog or shopping cart before you assign your web designer into building elaborate Flash intro pages, logos, or banners for affiliate programs or other online marketing campaigns. Image incorporation can be expensive. Worse, they are not often crawled by Google's spiders anyways. Also, the heavier the image files in your e-commerce website, the longer the loading time, the harder it is to retain customers who go by split second click-browse shopping method.
SHOPPING CART
Setting up the shopping cart itself requires the help of a good programmer but you can always make use of osCommerce. The important thing is that you are able to handle credit card payment processing with the aid of a low risk or a high risk merchant account provider. Your shopping cart has to be user-friendly enough to foster a good online shopping experience for your customers.
CUSTOMER SERVICE ADD-ONS
For a good discussion of customer service tools you need to add in your e-commerce website, see "7 Best Tools for First Rate Customer Service". The key here is to provide interactivity measures for your customers to learn more of their buying tendencies, suggestions for improvement, inquiries, and above all, a way to reach them via mailing lists! Shouldn't be complicated. When these foundations are built, you're all set to sail in the gritty world of e-commerce industry.
High Risk Merchant Processing
Six decades ago, thousands of people who were found on a rich German businessman's record book were brought out from Auschwitz and into a quasi- World War 2 bullet manufacturing company not to work, but to have their lives saved. Fast forward six decades again, and we are into the the same dog-eat-dog world where online content is king. The question is, have you had yourself listed lately? Sure, it's not a life and death situation like Schindler's time, but if you're a high risk merchant, the least you can do is sit down and wait till customers (errr...Gestapos?) find you. Don't be caught off guard. One of the smartest thing you can do as an online entrepreneur is to get your business listed.
The natural law states that wherever there's an open space, people will always fill it up with something. Think: table tops and your garage. Merchant directories do the same thing, so don't feel a twinge of guilt. There are tremendous benefits at your disposal once you get your business advertised in these networks. You get:
Exposure for your business to shopping members in the search engines
Advertising advantage with hundreds of graphic options
Tracking ability for your sales transactions
Outsourced management of your merchant account
The end result is increased sales. Explore the possibilities by checking out what these merchant networks offer.
Most advertising networks offer advertising packages on a monthly, yearly, or permanent basis. High risk merchants, on the other hand, are mostly influenced by the price of these packages, as well as the popularity of the network. Most only join a particular network that has been known for being reputable and has good experience for handling merchants and affiliates. Suit yourself and your business. Not because you have so many options doesn't mean these options are good for you. Some merchant advertising networks would only accept low risk or high risk businesses.
Some merchant networks are as direct as simply seeing a bunch of merchants (their business description and products) listed on the site's front page. If you are a member you are required to log in to access your account, control panel, and miscellaneous information such as newsletters. If you are not satisfied with their advertising efforts, these networks may sometimes offer a money back guarantee, only taking a small percentage off that for the setup fee.
The good news is that some of these ?hollow spaces? or merchant advertising networks are free to join. The bad news is that there's really no such thing as free lunch (not even if you're a woman dating a rich guy) and you need to pay for either setup fee or account management fee. Mostly you pay for the advertising effort these networks put in for you. Consult with the advertising network representative to satisfy your curiosity. Be warned that the web copy can sometimes deceive high risk merchants. The only way to find out if you're getting a good deal when getting your business listed is to make sure you have covered all the details. Define, discuss, and decide!
Gerri Bryce has sinced written about articles on various topics from Customer Service, Finances and Online Business. Gerri Bryce is a versatile technical writer specializing in general web content copywriting and consultancy for finance and
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