Features Your Ecommerce Web Site Absolutely Must Have
by Robin Porter
If you are getting an ecommerce web site built, there are some features your site absolutely must have to be successful. Make sure your site has them and avoid a lot of pain and suffering further down the line.
Unlimited products and unlimited categories
You want to be able to easily add your own products and menu categories to your website without having to call your Web designer every the time you need something changed. Check there aren't any restrictions on the number of products you can add too, as there may be hidden costs if you go over the maximum number - or worse, the system may not be able to handle it and you may need an expensive upgrade. Content management
You need to be able to change text on your website e.g. information about delivery charges, terms and conditions etc, without having to ask your Web designer to do it. Otherwise you will incur charges each time you need something changed.
For this, you need a built-in content management system to change the text based pages yourself.
Easy-to-use admin area
An easy-to-use admin area is a must as you will be using it every day. You need to easily be able to see new orders, view customer details, add new stock etc and this should all be easy to do via your admin area or control panel.
Comprehensive reporting
You need to see reports on visitor information such as what products have been viewed etc so that you can make informed decisions on new product to stock, what products you should drop etc. Comprehensive reporting gives you valuable market intelligence that you can use to really grow your business.
Newsletter and e-mail functions
It is absolutely essential that your ecommerce site has the ability to stay in touch with your customers, through email. You need to encourage repeat purchases, which you can do by sending email newsletters, special offer, details of new products etc. When choosing your ecommerce system or web designer, make sure you get all these features.
Link manager
You need to be able to add links to other sites without relying on your web designer every time you need a link added. Establishing link partnerships is vital ingredientl in obtaining good search engine rankings so ensure this feature is provided.
Search engine optimisation
Speaking of search engines, another vital feature is the ability to add and edit Meta tag information for each page created by the website. These tags are the hidden code that helps determine what your page is about, so by putting the right keywords in the right tags you can give your website a huge boost.
Other features
There are lots of other features that your ecommerce website can have, so it is worth having a think now as to what you may need in the future, as adding it in now may be a lot cheaper than getting it added in the future. Sections such as special offers, bestsellers, related items etc can all be very useful tools.
Robin Porter is CEO of Arpey Internet which specializes in ecommerce web site design for small to medium sized businesses. Get your own completely unique content version of this article.
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