Not every website needs a custom logo, or flash components or video presentations - it’s much more important to have a professional appearance and functionality. If your customers can’t find your order page, are unable to tell what inventory or products you have for sale - you have a serious problem, and your e-commerce dreams are likely to be unfulfilled.
Who you’re trying to target as an audience or customers can frequently determine the look and feel of your website design. For example, if you’re attempting to sell Barbie® dolls, you may consider that your audience is girls ranging in age from 8 to 12, so your website should include graphics and colors that appeal to that specific age group - some cool music and bright neon colors might be appropriate in this case..
The most widely used and effective form of encryption is SSL - or Secure Socket Layer - which simply means that the data transfer between your website, as well as any data entered by your customers, such as credit card information, is encrypted or encoded when transferred between the customer’s browser and your server. This technology isn’t foolproof in terms of invincibility, but it does assure your customers that their information cannot be seen or decoded by a hacker while the data is in transit.
You now need to evaluate whether or not you possess the technological and creative skills to design your own website, or should you hire a professional designer? Cost is frequently the determining factor in this area. Many website owners think they possess the requisite skills to build an effective website - it’s only when they discover how much work it really is that they’re ready to relinquish control to a professional.
Advertising is the function of the next type of website - the intention in this case is to promote sales and information about a traditional brick-and-mortar business, such as a furniture store or a plumbing business. These businesses usually don’t sell their merchandise or services online, but wish to spread the word that the company is ready, willing and able to provide goods and services to their customers.
The final critical areas of website design are security, encryption and your merchant gateway. Again, many web-hosting companies offer merchant gateways as part of their web-hosting packages, but not all do. There are any number of companies operate independently of the web-hosting sites, offering different rate structures and packages - check carefully their references and termination fees so you aren’t surprised with excessive fees somewhere down the road.
So the cost of designing your website becomes an issue - if you’re setting up an e-commerce site that you expect to bring in hundreds of thousands in sales dollars each month, you’re best advised to turn to a professional. The basic question you need to ask yourself in this situation is this: what is it worth to you to have a professional, smoothly functioning website that will increase sales and add to your bottom line?
If you do use a professional web designer, make sure you both understand the scope of the work to be done. A professional typically will have expertise in two areas: technical and creative.
In today’s world, businesses in particular are viewed as being behind the times if they don’t have a website - but having a poor website is almost as bad as having no website at all. Interesting graphics, flash features, videos, easy navigation - all these items are usually components of a well-designed web site. Unfortunately, most business owners lack the technical and graphic skills to properly design a functional and effective website that will promote their business and produce sales.