Elements that Help Customers and Web Crawlers Visiting Your Site: Basic Design Principles | Search Friendly Principles
Get Paid for Linking to Other Sites: What is an Affiliate Program? | Finding the Programs Right for Your Site
How To Create a Successful E-Business: Set-Up | Reassurance
How to Increase Visits and Sales: Involving Customers | Partnering With Other Sites

Opening Your Own Store

Reassurance

If you're selling your customers anything, they will be giving you information they want to make sure is protected and want to know that you will come through in delivering their purchase. Some customers will be more comfortable making purchases on the internet than others, and your is to reassure every potential customer.

Be Available to Answer Questions

Providing a page of Frequently Asked Questions will cut down on a lot of the queries you might get, but it is important to also make yourself an available source of information. Put your email address, phone number, fax number, and snail-mail address prominantly on the site. It is also of extreme importance that you reply promptly to emails. Customers will be more likely to feel comfortable purchasing from you if they feel you are there to support them through the process.

Present Clear Privacy, Ordering, Shipping and Refund Policies

Granted, not everyone who visits or purchases through your site is going to read any of your policies, but making them available in case a customer or potential customer has a problem, question, or concern.

Present Signs They Can Trust

It may be a bit clichéd, but there are certain things customers have come to expect. Put "100% Satisfaction Guaranteed" somewhere on your home page and on the page where the customer is making the purchase.

There are also a number of sites out there that review sites and a seal of approval that lets customers know the site can be trusted. Here are the most trusted of these:

Follow-Up

After your customer has pressed the submit/purchase button, make it clear that you will follow through. Give them an immediate thank you and confirmation on the page that appears after they press submit (with an option to print the page as a receipt and keep it for their records) and also send an email confirmation. If you have the means, send them another email when their purchase has been shipped and another after it has arrived.

Then make sure you keep your customer involved.

--> Set-Up

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