When global economies are reeling and everyone is feeling the pinch, this frivolous story set on a magical Mediterranean island warms everybody's hearts. What's the secret? And - what lesson can we learn from Mama Mia that will help our web businesses?

Well, for me, Mama Mia is a terrific "feel good" movie. You just can't help it. The sun, the sand, those great Abba soundtracks, and the tale of love that is lost and found by the key characters - you leave the theatre sunny side up.

But I believe that a key component of web success (or, ANY business for that matter) is just the same - the Feel Good Factor.

Just as Mama Mia leaves everyone feeling good, you want your customers to feel good about every single moment of interaction they have from your websites, from sign up to download, from purchase to information enquiry.

If the process is straightforward, efficient, personal, high quality - in other words "shining" - the customer will feel good. And he or she could be a customer for life! So it is well worthwhile taking some time to look at your Home Page, or landing page, and ask yourself, "Will this page make my visitor feel good?" Do you have really compelling images and crisp colors? Is the page layout attractive? Does the text scream at the visitor, or does it seek to attract the reader with benefits and values? If the answer is 'Yes", you can be sure they will click on the 'Buy' button; if not, well - you can guess.

How "feel good" is your checkout page? Do you explain clearly the processes involved? Is it easy for customers to contact you - by phone as well as email? How prompt will you be to handle questions? How quick will you be to respond to complaints?

I like to think of each customer mouse click as a 'moment of truth'. If your site really delivers, each moment of truth - each mouse click - delivers a visitor who becomes a customer. And for this to happen, you need to make certain that your navigation buttons are logical and obvious. And make certain you have a site map as well. (Don't forget that your need to ensure that your site makes the search engines feel good, as well.)

The whole look and feel of your site is characterized layout and color, naturally, but the style and tone of your written words are even more important. I'm not just talking fonts here (although they are vitally important). It's the way you lay out your text on the page, which is quite different to the way you would set out the text in a word processor.

People 'read' a web page quite differently to the way they read a newspaper or a magazine. Rather than focused, full sentence reading, we tend to skim and look for the key words, or key phrases. This means that your sentences need to be shorter, with more 'white space' on the page. All of this leads to a 'feel good' factor because if a visitor is surfing from site to site, looking for a particular product or service, your page will stand out for its clarity and user friendliness.

Take a moment to look at the 'tone' of your writing.

Is it friendly, or is it a bit off putting? For example, it's extraordinary how powerful individual words can be. Take the word 'Welcome' for instance. When it is present on a landing page, it sets the tone for everything that follows. Another word like this is 'success' - it's a word that everyone wants to identify with. Don't you cringe when you come across websites that seem to have been written with no thought for the reader? The text just grates with insistent "Buy" "Buy" Buy" so that you can't wait to click on to another web page.

In business school speak, of course, the 'feel good factor' is known as 'Customer Care' and companies who take it seriously grow market share even in turbulent economic conditions.

But the Web allows all of us to demonstrate outstanding customer care, and we fail to do so at our peril.

Ebay feedback shows how important customer care can be. If a seller doesn't meet (or exceed) a buyer's expectations according to four simple criteria: item description, communication, postage costs and speed of delivery, then they may receive negative feedback from a purchaser. The system works - 100% positive feedback attracts more buyer interest than those sellers with less. It's that 'feel good' factor at work again.

Getting high visitor numbers to your website isn't a matter of luck or chance; it's attention to detail. Converting those visitors into buyers isn't luck or chance either. It's the feel good factor - Mama Mia!