Rich media—image zoom, 360-degree product views, alternate views, video merchandising—have been vital to the growth of online selling. By providing shoppers with detailed product images, these applications enable online merchants to overcome a key objection on the part of many consumers: that they cannot get a good idea of how the product will really look.
But by overlooking some rich-media best practice, you may not be reaping all the potential of the applications. Below are just some things to consider
* Be sure to make image enlargements large enough. we recommend that product images for zoom or enlargement be at least 2,000 x 2,000 pixels.
* Try to maintain consistent aspect ratios. The aspect ratio is the image width divided by the image height. “In order to gain the most benefit from automated software tools commonly used to create rich-media viewers, all images within a category should conform to the same aspect ratio.
* If you offer a product in multiple colours, provide images of the products in each colour option. In other words, if you offer a blouse in red, white, and blue, don’t simply show the blouse in red and include small swatches of the white and blue options; include alternative views of the blouse in each of the three hues. “Buyers are much more likely to purchase a product that they can see in its actual colour than one that only has a small swatch available for preview.”
* When possible, embed the rich-media viewer on the actual site paper rather than creating a pop-up window.
* Avoid having the solution provider’s logo appear as part of the rich-media display. Rather than have the vendor’s logo appear as a 360-degree image loads, for instance, customise the loading animation with your own branding.
* Consider preloading options. “Rich media can be bandwidth intensive if site settings are not managed appropriately, preload schemes can be created to ensure that media is downloaded to the buyer’s machine in an anticipatory fashion so that the user experience is fast, while also minimising the amount of transfer for unneeded files.”
Plus 11 tips on monetising your website:
* Toot your own horn. “If your company has received recognition from the media, proudly let your first-time visitors know by displaying the recognisable icons on your landing page.”
* Don’t include a link to the page that your visitors are on. For instance, on the widgets category landing page, remove the link to the widgets landing page from your listing of category pages.
* Show visitors where they’ve been. “Change the colour of visited text links so the user doesn’t accidentally visit a page he or she has already been to. While some web designers dislike giving up this design preference, it will greatly help orient your site visitors. In addition, show a history of product pages that have been recently viewed. This will allow browsers to easily return to a product they were interested in.”
* Make sure that your logo links to your home page. Okay, this one is both basic and obvious, but enough companies don’t do it to make its inclusion here worthwhile.
* Include results for non-product sections of your site in your search functionality. A significant portion of online shoppers use search as their main navigational tool, even when they are seeking returns information, a privacy policy, and the like. Analyse your site logs to see what nonproduct terms people are searching for, and be sure to program your on-site search to provide the appropriate results.
* Show the user’s previous search query in the search box. “After a user performs a search, populate the search form field with the exact query the customer entered. This will allow them to realise if they made a typo when searching.”
* Make product images as well as text clickable.
* Indicate products that are nearly sold out. “In order to create a sense of urgency, show some type of indicator when a product is close to being sold out. This will likely increase the chances of the customer taking action now.”
* Offer links to a PDF of the product manuals. Providing an uncertain shopper with this information could help close the sale.
* Hide the site’s standard (top and side) navigation bars once a customer has started the checkout process. You don’t want anything to distract them from completing their purchase.
* Do more with your thank-you page than simply thank the customer. “Surprisingly, many ecommerce sites waste the thank you or receipt page by making it a dead end.” Instead, include on it a feedback survey, information on how the customer can track his order, a refer-a-friend form, or some other type of engagement.
How to make rich media even richer
Friday, 19 June 2009
at
12:30
Posted In
Kent Business,
Online Business,
Web Design
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