1. Let the customer see ’shipping charges’ on your site without registering. Nobody likes suprises.

2. Don’t just use Paypal for payments. There are many options out there, and people like options.

3. Keep your ‘products’ page light and easy to read. Use ‘more info’ links for the people who want detailed info.

4. Be sure to include links to your privacy policy, shipping and return policy. Be honest or it will come back to haunt you.

5. If you use Search on your site. Test it out, make sure it works with part numbers, names, and SKU’s.

6. Make yourself known to your customer. You dont need your life story online, but introduce yourself, let your customer get an idea of who they are dealing with.

7. Don’t make your customer have to ask about the status of their order. Let them know before they ask.

8. Invite customer feedback. It lets you know what you’re doing wrong and lets new customers see what you do right.

9. Be on top of your customer emails. 48 hour response time is too long. 8 hours is a good response time. Nobody likes waiting for a response when they feel someone should be on top of their problem.

10. Never mention that you are new, its like a lighted bullseye for scammers.

11. Get a real 800 number. Not 866 or any of the offshoots. It looks more professional.

12. Make your graphics clear and sharp. Learn how to use basic image editing programs. Nothing will make a site look cheezy faster than a pixelated graphic.

13. Calling the customer and personally thanking them for the order creates trust.

14. Have a ‘best seller’, ‘popular product’ or ‘people who bought this also bought…’ links. They help tremendously.

15. If you use thumbnails to link to images, give your customers larger images if they click.

16. Create deals. Promo offers for repeat buyers, first time buyers, bulk..etc. Also referall deals. People like free, and most times the business you get will more than pay for the reduced price of any deal you give them.

17.  Help links are your friend. Not everyone visiting your site is going to be experienced. Make your help section or FAQ’s easy to get to.

18. If you are personally shipping products. Ship fast. Nobody wants to wait for their purchase.

19. Use proper ssl certifications. Also being involved with sites such as BBB and showing their seal, instills confidence

20. Use Newsletters to let your users know about site updates, upcoming deals and/or features.

21. If you’re using a carrier to ship, like Fedex, send the customer an email with tracking number.

22. If you have a contact phone number, actually have a person answering the phone, not a message machine.

23. Offer a good guarantee. If you show your customer you back your product, your product must be good.

24. Dont forget Servicemen and Servicewomen. Give them deals. It will not only be good for you because of the amount of service people, but many people like a site that helps out soldiers.

25. Test everything. Nothing is worse than an awesome site with broken images, buttons that dont work, or bad links. Your site is your business’s face.

These are just a few tips, there are so many more. If you have any of your own, please add them as well.

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