Place Keywords within URLs and Filenames

As URLs are typically one of the first things read by a search engine using keywords within them is one of the most consequential SEO details.

Maintain Your Website

If your website is hosted on a server that constantly crashes, or if you have pages that are blocked or no longer exist make sure you take the proper measures to maintain your website. When a search engine comes to index your website you want it up and running at its peak. Keeping your website maintained is the best way to do so.

Use A Sitemap

Sitemaps are perhaps one of the quickest ways for search engines to find all of the pages within your website. Use a plain HTML sitemap, an XLM sitemap, or both, just as long as it is accessible and reflects all of the current pages.

Large Website Rank Well

Search engines thrive on large websites, therefore the more pages you have the better rankings you will tend to see. The downfall to this is the more pages on a website the harder they begin to navigate and maintain. Go back to maintaining your website, build out your website, but do so in a sensible manner.

Older the Better

The longer your domain has been around the better. Search engines respect age and see older websites as dependable and sensible. They are given higher priority over new websites than may just as easily disappear tomorrow.

Use a Constant Theme

When all of your content is able to fit within the same constant theme this makes it easier for search engines to recognize the difference between the theme and the content itself, and in the long run makes it easier for search engines to index your content. If possible, keep your theme consent throughout the entire website.

Leave Files Near Root Directory

Burying your content in sub director after sub director may be great for organization, however it makes it entirely difficult for search engines to find. Leave your files within or close to the root directory for the best rankings possible.

Research When to Use A Separate Domains, Subdomain, or Subfolder

Registering a new domain, creating a subdomain, or creating a subfolder all have their potential benefits. Before deciding on which way go make sure you know which one you may benefit from the most. Learn more on root domains, subdomains, and subfolders over at the SEOmoz Blog.

Use Common Top-Level Domains

While registering .com, .net, .biz, and so forth will ensure that visitors are not likely to misplace your domain this does not mean that all of the domains will be treated the same within search engines. The highest-ranking domains I've seen are .edu or .org domains because of their typical reputable nature. This by all means is not a proven fact however something I have personally experienced. Many will argue that a .com domain is just as good as an .edu or org. All other low-level domains (.biz and etc.) should be redirected to the top-level domain.

Use Hyphens over Underscores In URLs

Using hyphens makes URL easier to read for visitors as well as search engines. Using hyphens doesn't stop at URLs either. Use them within all file names for better readability.

Keep URLs Short

Long domains will not technically hurt you, however the longer they are the more they tend to look like spam. My recommendation is to keep domains around 3 to 4 words and then 6 to 8 words max for the rest of the URL. In total try your best to keep URLs under 10 words.

Use A Trustworthy IP Address

A lot of websites are hosted on shared hosting servers. If one or the other websites on your shared hosting is being used to send out spam or is taking part in any other illegal activities this can affect your search engine rankings and potentially even get you blacklisted.

Ads Do Not Improve Rankings

Running ads or hosting from search engines will not improve your rankings. They may help drive traffic to your website or to possibly even put a little extra money in your wallet. However they will not benefit your SEO efforts at all.

Avoid Faulty Hosting

A typical hosting company should have an uptime over 97-98%. Anything less than this is not acceptable. When a search engine comes to your website and it is not there because of your hosting chances are the search engine won't be back for quite a while.

Avoid Dynamic URLs

Dynamic URLs, especially over 100 characters, are difficult for search engines to continuously recognize. Best practice is to use static URLs and if that is not possible use a script to rewrite dynamic URLs into recognizable keyword friendly URLs.

Do Not Use Session IDs

Any information and content you want to be indexed and recognized by search engines cannot be hidden behind a session ID. Using a session ID in order to access content will turn off a search engine and your content will never be reached.

Do Not Use Bans in robots.txt

If you are using a robots.txt to point search engines in the right direction it is important to not use the robots.txt to ban a large part of your website. If you are banning access to a large portion of your website this is likely to affect the rest of your website as well.

Use Redirects (301 and 302) with Caution

When using redirects make sure that the target page is relevant and active. Redirecting pages to irrelevant content or inaccessible content can be considered a black hat SEO approach and cause penalties throughout your site.

Related posts:

1. Content Optimization Guidelines
2. 6 Visual Optimization Mistakes
3. 18 Powerful Linking Strategies

Use JavaScript Wisely

Using JavaScript to display content can add great features to your website. However, in the long run, it can also make content harder to be reached by search engines. When using JavaScript do so wisely and keep the code clean.

Make Use of Image <alt> Attribute

Text only websites are typically dull and image based websites are unrecognizable to search engines. Find a good balance between related content and images, and always make use of the image <alt> attribute. However do not keyword stuff the <alt> attribute as this will hurt your rankings.

Provide Additional Content with Podcast and Videos

Podcast and videos are great for users as well as lowering your bounce rate. However, without any additional content, they are rendered as useless for search engines. I recommend providing a transcript or any additional content along with your podcast and videos.

Stay Away From Image Links

Search engines feed off of links and hyperlink text plays an important role in determining rankings. As search engines cannot read images, using them as links is typically a bad idea, especially if doing so within the main navigation. If you cannot get around using image links be sure to use an <alt> attribute within the image.

Do Not Use Frames

Frames are extremely bad for SEO and are also an extremely outdated method of layout, so use them only if absolutely needed. A good alternative method to frames is PHP and the ability to include files.

Do Not Use Flash

As of yet search engines are unable to index flash based websites, thus any content used within a flash based website is unknown to search engines. If you must, you may use flash elements within a website, however not for laying out any links or content. If using any flash provide alternative content as well.

Related posts:

1. Content Optimization Guidelines
2. How Domains Relate to SEO
3. Hyperlink CSS Attribute Selectors

Good Techniques

Use Original Related Content

The more original content (directly written for your website) you have on your website the better. This is for many reasons, however one of the most direct being, more content equals potentially more keywords and the more keywords the better the rankings.

Consistently Add New Content

Adding new content to your website is not only preferred by search engines but by users as well. (Blogs perform extremely well because of this.) Making minor updates to previous content is not considered as adding new content.

Big Keyword Text Size

Having keywords stand out from the rest of the text on a page places more importance on them, thus making them more valuable then any keywords within the text itself. The best practice is to use keywords within your headings (<H1>, <H2>, <H3>) as these are typically larger in size than the rest of the text on the page.

Stylize and Emphasizing Keywords

Using effects such as bold italics and underlining to highlight keywords will also place more importance on them than the rest of the text on the page. However it is important to do so within limitations. Bolding an entire paragraph will create the opposite and potentially negative results.

Keep Content Updated

The newer the content on your website the better. We live in a fast paced environment and things change quickly, thus making some content outdated fairly quickly. Keep your content updated and fresh at all times.

Limit Content Length

Generally speaking users scan content online rather than read it. Producing three pages on one given subject rather than one long page will not only achieve better rankings but it will be easier to maintain user interest as well.

Poor Techniques

Use One Domain

Putting all of your content under one roof will help build better rankings as it will not confuse search engines and visitors when navigating from page to page. Moving visitors from one domain to will set off a red flag.

Keep Your Code Clean

Table based layout and designs are bulky and the way of the past. HTML and CSS layouts are short and clean allowing search engines to get to your content quickly. Keep your code clean and well compiled to allow easier access from search engines.

Stay Away From Unlawful Content

Search engines will not put up with any unlawful use of copyrighted content nor will they promote any website that condones illegal behavior. Stay far away from any unlawful activities and do not raise any suspicions amongst search engines.

Do Not Hide Content

One sure way to get blocked from a search engine is to hide content. This is a black hat method of SEO accomplished by coloring text the same color as the background of a website so that only a search engine spider can find it.

Do Not Practice Any Cloaking

Cloaking, serving up different content to search engines than to actual users, is highly banned by search engines and is also a sure fire way to be blacklisted immediately.

Do Not Use Doorway Pages

Doorway pages were once popular however, search engines have caught on and know when you are pretending to be one thing when you are not. Stay away from doorway pages and take down any that you might currently have set up.

Do Not Reuse (Duplicate) Content

Using the same content from page to page on your website does not make it more relevant nor bigger. It’s also important not to copy or duplicate content from any other websites as search engines will pick up on this as well.

Related posts:

1. 6 Visual Optimization Mistakes
2. Are Meta Tags Important?
3. Keyword Do's and Don'ts

Looking to jump to the top of search engines? Some people believe all you need to do is drop a few simple meta tags into your code and the rest is history. Truth be told, meta tags play a very minor role in determining search engine rankings. (Quite possibly no role at all depending on whom you talk to.) However this does not mean you should ignore your meta tags. Outlined below I recommend how to make the most out of some of the most popular meta tags.

<Description> Meta Tag

While meta tags are becoming of less value each day they are still important to include MSN and Yahoo!. Still play close attention to the <description> tag and often times the <description> tag will show up as the description of your site in search results.

<Keywords> Meta Tag

As with the <description> meta tag, MSN and Yahoo! also keep a close eye on the <keywords> meta tag. Do not keyword stuff the meta tag. Keep it around 8 keywords or keyword phrases. Also, make sure that your <keywords> meta tag only uses keywords from within the page. Using keywords not directly used on your page can hurt your rankings.

<Language> Meta Tag

Any website that is language specific should make practical use of the <language> meta tag. Although search engines are able to figure the language out themselves it is better that you give them a hand.

<Refresh> Meta Tag

The only suitable time to use the <refresh> meta tag is when you need to temporarily redirect visitors to another page. Leaving up a <refresh> meta tag as a permanent redirect is considered unethical and will lower your creditability. The best practice is to use a 301 redirect for a permanent redirect.

What Do You Think?

How do you feel about meta tags? Did I missing something important? Are there other meta tags you believe are of greater importance? I encourage you to share your thoughts and opinions within the comments. I would love to hear what you all have to say.

Related posts:

1. Keyword Do's and Don'ts
2. Top 10 Keyword Research Tips
3. 18 Powerful Linking Strategies

Powerful Linking Strategies

Inbound Links Anchor Text

Any inbound link to your website is of benefit, however having bound links with the anchor text directly related to your keyword is the best. This is perhaps one of the quickest ways to obtain quick rankings.

Inbound Links Origin

Apart from having keyword anchor text, you want your inbound links to come from a creditable source and if possible a source with a decent Google Page Rank.

Links from Similar Sites

One way to build trust within search engines is to gather links from similar websites. This proves that you are well liked within your industry and that your competition is on your side.

Links from .edu and .gov Sites

Websites with .edu or .gov are strictly monitored and thus are admired. Obtaining links from one of these sites is difficult, however once done shows great respect for your own site.

Number of Backlinks

While a high number of backlinks will help it is more important to obtain backlinks from a creditable source with good keyword anchor text.

Anchor Text of Internal Links

Anchor text makes a difference no matter if the link is internal, inbound, or outbound. The better the keyword anchor text is the better rankings you will receive.

Text Around the Links

Text that comes directly before or after the anchor text should relate to the link itself. This proves that the link is relevant and has been used within naturally written text.

Age of Inbound Links

The older your inbound links are the better. A high amount of new inbound links advocates that you are possibly buying them, which is strictly prohibited.

Directory Links

Getting links from reputable directories such as DMOZ, Google, or Yahoo will be of great benefit. Getting links from hundreds of useless small directories can be considered link spamming. Stick with the big guns.

Number of Outbound Links on a Page with a Link to You

Ideally the less outbound links on a page that is linking to you the better. Fewer outbound links on a page will place more importance on your link.

Named Anchors

Internal named anchors (<a href=”#web-design”>Web Design</a> and #web-design) are beneficial because they place added importance on a section of text. As with any anchor text, the better the keywords the better the results.

Inbound Link IP Address

Although Google has not confirmed it, inbound links with the same IP can look like link spam and thus cause some harm to your rankings. For best practice try to obtain links from different IP addresses.

Weak Linking Strategies

Inbound Links from Skeptical Sites/Link Farms

While this does not affect you as long as the links are not repetitive it is best you stay away from skeptical websites and link farms. Search engines see skeptical sites linking to your site as something that is out of your control, therefore they do not penalize you for it. Either way it does not look good and is something that should be avoided if possible.

Number of Outbound Links

Having a large number of links on a page will drain your page rank as well as your keyword rankings. Seeing as how outbound links provide you no benefit, the fewer the better.

Excessive Linking and Link Spamming

Getting too many links from one source or website advocates that you are possibly buying links or perhaps link spamming. Either way it is going to hurt you and should be avoided.

Outbound Links to Skeptical Sites/Link Farms

Just like you do not want inbound links from skeptical sites and link farms, it is even worse if you link to them and it will drain your credibility and rankings. The best practice is to occasionally check your outbound links and ensure that they are up to date and creditable websites.

Cross-Linking

Cross-linking (A linking to B, B linking to C, and C linking to A) is seen as glorified reciprocal link trading and search engines will come down on you hard. Avoid all reciprocal linking and cross-linking.

Hidden Links

Hiding links from users in attempt to falsify search engines for rankings will not work. Search engines will recognize these links and punish your rankings accordingly

Related posts:

1. Keyword Do's and Don'ts
2. Are Meta Tags Important?
3. 6 Visual Optimization Mistakes

The Do's

Use Keywords within <title> Tag

The <title> tab is perhaps the most important place to have a keyword. The reason being, any text within the <title> tag shows up in search results as your page title. Keep your title short (7 words maximum) and use your keyword towards the beginning.

Use Keywords within URL

Keywords within your URL (www.shayhowe.com/seo/keyword-dos-and-donts/) are an added bonus. Repeat keywords from your URL in your document text for reinforcement. If at all possible use dashes ( - ) to break up words within your URL over underscores ( _ ).

Low Keyword Density within Text

You do not want to repeat your keywords over and over however you also do not want them to be so subtle that they are easily missed. A good density for main keywords is 3-7% and around 1-2% for minor keywords. Any keyword density over 10% is suspicious and will be considered stuffing rather than naturally written text.

Keywords within Anchor Text

Keywords within inbound anchor text links can dramatically boost your results. This is because not only are you receiving a link from an outside source, but you are receiving a link from an outside source directly related to your keywords.

Keywords within Headings (<H1>, <H2>, etc.)

Headings are a great place for keywords with an added value. Make sure that your heading is relevant to the text following it as well.

Keywords within the Beginning of a Page

Search engine spiders work from the top down. Finding your keywords at the beginning can act as a much needed push.

Keywords within <alt> Tags

Search engine spiders are not able to read images however they can read <alt> tags within images. Placing keywords within your <alt> tags will help spiders recognize valued content.

Keywords within Metatags

Keywords within metatags are not nearly as important as they used to be, especially for Google. However they are easy to install and done so properly can not harm you.

Keyword Proximity

Keep your keywords next to each other, specifically for long tail keyword phrases, without any words in-between them. If you are targeting "search engine optimization" and use "search engine" in the first paragraph and "optimization" in the second paragraph you will not benefit as much as having the phrase "search engine optimization" altogether.

Keyword Phrases

As mentioned in under keyword proximity, build keyword phrases on top of targeting specific keywords. For example, if your keywords include "design" and "services" combine them to create the keyword phrase "design services". This gives you added value keywords and increases the chances of you matching exact keywords.

Secondary Keywords

Build pages to target secondary keywords to obtain better-targeted traffic. For example, on top of targeting "web design" also target "Arizona web design". This is an easier keyword phrase to target and will provide better-targeted traffic.

Keyword Stemming

Keyword stemming, using a variety of the same word (design, designs, designed) is not extremely important but at the same time it will not hurt either. Typically search engines recognize the root of the word and thus consider all of the stems from the word as related material.

Synonyms

It is not a bad idea to optimize for the synonym of a keyword, on top of the main keyword itself, to pick up some possible traffic. The benefits may not be substantial but every visitor counts.

The Don'ts

Keyword Mistypes

Using common misspellings will allow you to pick up more keywords however you run the risk of looking incompetent. I would advise that if you are going to go after keyword misspellings only do so within the meta tags.

Keyword Dilution

Targeting too many keywords on one page will dilute and draw away from the main keywords you want to pick up. Best practice is to leave off the unrelated keywords and focus on the best performance of the major keywords.

Keyword Stuffing

Using the same keyword(s) repeatedly, making up over 10% of your overall content, looks very suspicious. Search engines will pick up on this and can potentially ban you from their search results.

Related posts:

1. Are Meta Tags Important?
2. Top 10 Keyword Research Tips
3. Content Optimization Guidelines

The checkout process has become widely known over the years on the internet and making purchases online is fairly common for most households. With such popularity you would think the checkout process has been nearly perfected, however astonishingly 59% of all users abandon the checkout process. This could be for a number of reasons but the most important being users are not given a clear direction through the process. This leads users to get confused, frustrated, and abandon the process. Ideally an easier, friendlier, and dependable checkout process will do the trick and increase conversions.

Checkout processes are fairly dynamic and span across multiple pages. Making a change to one step may affect another. While designing a checkout process it is important that you take all of the steps into consideration and design the checkout process all the way through, not skipping any steps in-between. A few design suggestions to take into account include:

Acknowledge common checkout process goals.

While the checkout process is most commonly used for the exchange of money for goods or services, it can also be used to accept donations, take membership payments, or to even transfer money into a virtual equivalent. Make sure you know the primary goal and function of your checkout process.

Be aware of, and address, visitor's questions.

When completing a checkout process users need comprehensible direction and answers to any questions that may arise. A few questions to be aware of, and provide answers to, include: "Where do I start?", "How much will shipping cost?", "What payment methods are accepted and are they secure?"

They have a troubled past.

The checkout process has a deep and rigorous past including some elements that are now dampening its future. For example, it used to be helpful to have users create an account when making purchases for order fulfillment. This is no longer true. If using an out of the box checkout process for free make sure that you disable or remove many of these unnecessary features.

They can stop working.

The checkout process is developed within hard code connected to a database. Problems can, and often do, arise. Since the checkout process is vital to the outcome of a website be sure that you have the proper facility in place to monitor the process, ensure that it is working and looking for any potential issues.

They are rarely straightforward.

Sometimes checkout processes will jump from one website to another confusing users along the way. With all of the identity theft and security risk on the internet this will turn away users. If you need to use a separate or third party site for the process that is fine, but do so smoothly and securely.

Follow form fundamentals.

The same design guidelines for forms apply to forms within the check out process. Some of the most important guidelines being: Cut out nonessential fields, center user focus on the form, show tips and help, supply progress or steps guide, and provide users with confidence and security.

Remind users what is in the cart.

Believe it or not many users will forget what they have added to their shopping card and other users just want to double check their items to ensure they choose the correct size, color, etc. Giving users a thumbnail image, clean heading, and small details on the products in the shopping cart will allow them to view what they have selected without having to leave the checkout process.

Place buttons within a hierarchy.

Many out of the box shopping carts will give the same amount of attention to the clear cart button as the check out button, all the while using confusing labels. Keep your buttons organized with descriptive labels, intuitive placement, and intelligible visual design.

Supply progress or steps guide.

Letting users know where they are within the checkout process is vitally important no matter how many steps are involved. Users are at ease when they know where they are, where they are going, and exactly how much longer the process may take.

Omit user registration.

The largest abandonment rate within the checkout process occurs when users are required to create an account or register with a website. If it is necessary for users to create an account to complete the checkout process integrate it within the process itself. This stops you from having to ask users for the same information repeatedly and will decrease your abandonment rate.

Minimize and clarify process.

The fewer fields required completing the checkout process the more conversions you will see. However it only takes one confusing step to throw a wrench in the whole process. Minimize and clarify the checkout process at the same time, ensure only necessary information is being collected and that nothing is being left out or overlooked.

Complete within one page if possible.

The easier the checkout process is to complete the better. If you have the option or possibility to complete the entire checkout process within one page do so as it will boost conversions. Gathering all of the needed information within one page can also be simplified using Ajax, jQuery, and the alike to stylize the process.

Provide users with confidence and security.

As with any form, and even more so with the checkout process, you want to provide users with a strong confidence and security. To accomplish this place a stamp, seal, or icon within the checkout process that verifies all security measures. If possible have this stamp, seal, or icon linked to detailed security information or privacy policy – perhaps in a pop up window if applicable to keep users within the checkout process.

Display shipping and return policy details.

More times than none users want to know what are the shipping and return policy details. Their questions arise as what to do if a product is faulty, broken, or even just the wrong size. Providing shipping and return policy details will ease users and allow them to easily make the desired purchase.

Related posts:

1. Website Form Design
2. 10 Quick E-Commerce Tips
3. Category Page Design

Forms are the biggest areas of abandonment on the internet. Reason being they are boring, ask for too many personal details, and are only a step toward the end. However much of the internet is widely based around forms including everything from login to contact forms and online purchase to social networking comment forms. All in all the more satisfying forms you design and the easier they are for users to complete the better results you will see.

Forms are supposed to be practical and serviceable, not an artistic expression. The main purpose behind designing a form is solving a problem including how to get users to input their information in the easiest way possible. It is not to say that forms should not be pretty, they should. It is all a matter of putting everything together. A few suggestions to follow when putting together a form include:

Acknowledge common form goals.

The main goal for any form is to be filled out and submitted. Different forms will have different specific goals, for example a newsletter subscription form has the primary goal of obtaining marketing information, especially an email address. Be aware of the forms broad and specific goals.

Be aware of, and address, visitor's questions.

While some forms are easier than others to complete, they all provoke questions amongst visitors. Knowing where to start, how long it will take to complete, and if the questions are fair are all questions that will arise. Knowing what questions may be asked allows you to answer them now and allows more users to complete the form.

They can look strenuous.

All too often forms look strenuous and typically not worth the effort. If you are requiring users to input a large amount of information make sure that the end result is worth the effort.

They can get lengthy.

Limit the number of fields within a form as much as possible. For each additional field required a decent percentage of users will abandon the form. Keep forms sleek and omit the nonessential fields.

They are rarely straightforward.

Forms are rarely straightforward and all too often they are spread out across multiple web pages teasing visitors the entire way. You will accomplish the best results if your form can be completed on one page with one submit button, getting straight to the point.

They can stop working.

There are no guarantees that a form will always work correctly. With so many moving parts, all-relying on the other, it is not uncommon for forms to stop working. Keep a close eye on your forms and ensure that they are always working to their full capability.

Center user focus on the form.

The best way to get users to fill out a form is to make it stand out on the page. Doing so will allow users to find the form quickly and thus fill it out quickly as well. For best practice use a light background color for the field so that the text is easy to read, however stylize the form with a border, arrows, field box colors, and so forth.

Implement a well-defined design.

A well-defined and clean layout will make the form easier to understand and subsequently easier to fill out. A few tips on designing around a form include using enough white space, removing anything that will not contribute to the completion of a form, using left-aligned text and fields, and having easy to read content.

Cut out nonessential fields.

A widely known rule states that the more fields you have the less chance of completion you have. As a designer, negotiate with a client to come to a safe number of fields and remove the fields that are unnecessary and irrelevant.

Provide advantages for users.

If a user is filling out a form there needs to be a strong motive behind it, and in general the bigger the form the bigger the motive needs to be. Do not let visitors forget the advantage they are going to receive by completing a form, especially if they happen to get distracted.

Make use of understandable and detailed labels.

Writing understandable and detailed labels is easier said than done. Common fields such as first name, last name, and email are easy however asking users for a username can cause some difficulty. Is this a new username, an alias, or an email address?

Use verbs if practical.

If you are afraid that users may not understand what is being asked of them, consider using an active verb within the label. For example, instead "Password" use a label with an active verb such as "Add a Password".

Use sentences or sentence completion if practical.

When using an active verb is not enough and you need more detail to communicate the question consider using a complete sentence, complete question, or the beginning of a sentence. Examples include: "List your favorite colors.", "What is your name?", "I am currently:"

Show tips and help.

There is no doubt users will have questions when filling out a form and if no one is around to help them it can be a deserted experience. Providing users with tool tips and help icons can be of great use and ultimately allow them to complete the form. Having your tips and advice pop up in new windows or off to the side of a form is not ideal as too much content on a page may confuse visitors. Only show users a tool tip or help box when the users select each individual field or when they ask for it.

Permit approximate or estimated fields.

Some forms may require some detailed information not readily available to the user. This is a huge roadblock and will mostly likely stop any further completion for the user. If an approximate or estimated answer is allowed make this clear to the user.

Answer all possible fields for users.

The faster you can move users through a form the better results you are going to have. Prefilling and answering all of the possible fields for users ahead of time will dramatically speed up the process. If you already know the majority of the users are from the United States this could be as simple as selecting the country for them within the address field.

Supply progress or steps guide.

If a form is going to span across multiple pages, show the progress or steps involved. Doing so allows users to see the end and know that they are not being lead down a long and lonesome road. Research shows that users are more likely to abandon your form when not knowing where the end is.

Provide users with confidence and security.

Viruses, spam, fraud, and theft have spread like wildfire. Users are aware of this and thus are reluctant to give out any of their information, including something as simple as their email address. If possible purchase the VeriSign and TRUSTe stamps for your forms, if not a simple line of text reassuring users that their information is safe and secure may work as well. Users have grown to look for these stamps and icons, having them will only provide them with added confidence and security.

Related posts:

1. Designing A Non-Profit Website
2. Checkout Process Design
3. Universal Website Usability Rules

Finally, visitors have made it to the detailed page after working through the category page, or even better they came from a search engine. Either way now is not the time to relax conversion efforts, if anything, now is the time to put them into full effect. Getting visitors to commit to the process is the hardest part, however if you provide them with enough valued information including content, imagery, support, and desired call to action you are in good shape. Maintain your visitor's interest and seal the conversion.

Detail pages can easily make or break a sale thus making it critically important to keep these pages organized and maintain user attention, ultimately leading them to the conversion process. While working with detail pages take into measure the following:

Outline detailed goals and guidelines.

The ultimate goal behind any detail page is to get visitors to make a purchase, accept an offer, or to move forward in the conversion process. In doing so you typically want to outline products or offer details, clear any confusion, promote sales and specials, and possibly supply alternative conversion procedure.

Be aware of, and address, visitor's questions.

Detail pages need to be full of information, however presented in an appealing manner. Visitors are here because they are interested in your product or services, but chances are they still have quite a few questions like: Price? Main Features? Look? How's it work? What does it include, if anything? Etc.

Detail pages should work as landing pages too.

A good detail page should work as a landing page on top of being a detailed page. Reason being users are known to search for specific products thus leading them straight to the detailed page. Companies and organizations not capable of developing landing pages may even push advertised traffic to these pages.

Avoid jumbling and disorder.

While it is important to load up your detail page with relevant information it is possible to go too far, and often times detail pages do. People are not interested in animated banner ads or today's weather. Make sure that they can quickly find the offer and complete the desired call to action.

Maintain user attention and distinctly layout content.

Perhaps the most important thing to do within a detail page is to maintain user attention. The moment you have lost them is the moment your conversion disappears. Maintaining attention is becoming more difficult with instant messaging and other online distractions, but keeping your content layout distinctive you will be able to focus user attention to the product or offer.

Use clean and pure images and media.

This is very important! No one will make a purchase if your product or service looks the slight bit sketchy. Only use the best photography possible. Use videos or presentations to display products and services as long as it does not require users to leave the page or becomes obtrusive.

Display product or item in intended environment.

Users are more likely to obtain a better understanding of a product if they can see it in use or in its natural environment. The best example of this is clothing. Picturing clothing on a flat surface doesn't give users an understanding of the fitting or shape, however on a model they are able to see new aspects.

Present procedure or success if applicable.

If you are offering a service it may be difficult to present product images. In this case try to display an image that best represents your service procedure or success. For example, a tour guide could show clients enjoying their tour, a dentist could show images of pretty teeth, and so forth.

Show multiple angles.

Perhaps the best part about shopping is being able to pick up a product and truly examine it, however this is not possible online. Provide users with multiple images of a product including front, back, side to side, and perhaps a 360-degree view if possible. Users are interested in knowing what the a product really looks like and allowing them to see it and answering their questions gives them a full understanding.

Provide straightforward and detailed headings.

A straightforward and detailed heading will remind visitors they are on the correct page, as well as provide a strong search engine optimization effort.

List advantages and qualities.

Visitors want to be able to quickly scan a product description to see if this is really what they are looking for. Providing a list of advantages or qualities of the specific product will only help. Before creating an extraneous list make sure you only list items that visitors will truly care about or items that will differentiate the product from others.

Supply connected items or services.

Using a "you may also like" or additional accessories to a detail page can increase the attraction to a product. It is important to make sure that the items shown are relevant and will be an added value. However keep in mind that this may also potentially distract users from the primary offer, so approach diligently.

Promote sales and special offers noticeably.

In this day and age people are trained to look for special promotions or offers, especially on the internet. Promote your sales and special offers noticeably and distinctively from the rest of the text on the page. When doing so be sure to use legible and easily understood text.

Utilize appealing descriptions.

Make your description an extension of the product itself. Do not go into rambling detail about how it is a car, has four tires, and an engine. Describe the product with a deep and strong meaning so that a user would understand it without even seeing it. Not everyone will read the description but the ones who do will be more inclined to complete the call to action.

Integrate social response options.

More and more websites are integrating the option for users to leave comments, reviews, rate products, and view the number of downloads or views. With the popularity of these social feedback options on the rise users are beginning to look for them, and since they do provide an outside source recognized to be impartial they provide added support to detailed pages.

Use a clear and uncomplicated call to action or purchase process.

When it comes to the call to action or purchase process make sure to have a clear and uncomplicated layout insuring that users will not pass over it. For example, when selling t-shirts online provide option selections for size and color readily, as well as intelligible placement for the "Add to Cart" or "Purchase" button. This will clean up the call to action making it easier to understand for users.

Show product availability.

A lot of companies will only show the availability of a product once it is added to the shopping cart or worse once the product is purchased. The best place for product availability is on the detail page itself. This will keep users informed and avoid them from having to go through the aggravation of finding out a product is unavailable.

Related posts:

1. Category Page Design
2. Landing Page Design
3. Home Page Design

Category pages are often disregarded because cleverly produced ones are passed through almost immediately directing visitors to the desired product. Category pages are an important step in the conversion process as they are in charge of providing a brief overview of a large amount of items and furthermore providing a way to decipher the difference between all of the items. Ultimately they lead visitors to the detail page where the conversion is finally completed.

Category pages act as a critical link to the conversion process and clutter and confusing design can break the chain. A few simple measures to think about when working on a category page include:

Outline detailed goals and guidelines.

The ultimate goal of the category is to progress visitors to the detail page. In doing so visitors are going to look for a few things, including: Displaying items in a pleasing manner, supplying enough details to differentiate items, contribute a way to scan items by various specifications, and furnish a way to move to the detailed page or next step.

Be aware of, and address, visitor's questions.

After landing on a category page there are different questions a visitor may have. A few questions that are important to address include: Have I chosen the right category and is this what I imaged to see? Are the items sorted in any particular order and how can I rearrange them? Are these all of the items within the category and if not how do I see more? Is it possible to narrow the list or widen the list? Is it possible to buy this item immediately?

Build categories to visitor's preference.

When building category pages build the pages in a logical manner that supports how visitors think. Instead of going off on a category tangent decide if there needs to be subcategories and so forth. One of the best ways to decide what categories to use are to follow that of a prosperous physical or offline store.

Use prominent category titles.

Use big and clear titles on category pages. If a person clicks on "Men's Jeans" having a substantial title on the category page saying "Men's Jeans" will reassure them they are in the right place. If they clicked on the wrong category it lets them know they are in the wrong place before wasting too much time.

Visually clarify the category layout and individual items.

The call to action of a category page should be the individual items. Layouts need to be designed in a way that the products are visually distinctive from the other elements of the page (navigation, promotions, etc.). Furthermore individual items need to be clearly identified, if a customer cannot tell the difference between two items they will leave.

Utilize simple and enjoyable pictures.

The first time a potential customer sees your product online is most likely from a thumbnail image on a category page. Therefore, it is immensely important that you use simple and enjoyable pictures.

Provide thumbnail images sizable enough to see the product.

When placing your simple and enjoyable thumbnail images on a category page make sure that they are large enough to distinguish what the image actually is. Shrinking and cropping images too much often makes them blurry and unrecognizable. Use large thumbnail images and put 15 well-organized and clear products on a page rather than 30 tiny and distorted products.

Edit thumbnail images for significance and definition.

It is not always necessary to include the entire original image in a thumbnail, especially if the image is not completely of the item itself. When creating thumbnails, use parts of the original image that are most recognizable or have the most significance and definition to the actual item.

Make thumbnail images links.

Make thumbnail images links for a few different reasons including: Visitors presume images are links. Images are easier to click on than text. Images do not require any reading to comprehend what is on the potential subcategory or detail page.

Provide sufficient display, search, and filtering options.

One of the main purposes of a category page is to allow visitors to search and filter through different items. Providing them with the tools and options to do so will increase the chances of them finding what they want as well as them making a purchase. Different types of items can be filtered in different ways so make sure to put some thought into the options you provide visitors for searching items.

Supply price comparison options.

This will not work for all sites, however for the ones it does it provides leverage. Supplying a price comparison will allow visitors to see your cheapest products (hopefully not scaring them away) as well as strengthen your sale items. It would also be a shame for you to lose a customer because you do not supply a price comparison option and your rival does.

Leave out valueless details.

A lot of people want to throw out as many details about a product as possible feeling it may boost a visitor's opinion of that product. The truth be told, less is more. Visitors want to be able to quickly scan products and limit their options and providing extraneous information will only slow them down. Ideally product name and price is the best way to go if possible.

Use an "Add to Cart" button if feasible.

If an item is distinguishable, uncomplicated, and requires little to no explanation using an "Add to Cart" button on the category page will increase conversions. However, this is not always recommended and could clutter a category page if not used correctly. Expensive, complicated, and detailed items need to reinforce detail pages before a committed call to action.

Do your best to comprehend visitors.

Often times the best category pages are the ones that truly comprehend visitors. It is to your benefit to do extensive research and find out exactly how visitors shop for your product and then design a category page around them.

Related posts:

1. Detail Page Design
2. Home Page Design
3. Landing Page Design