Member Article

Web Design and Optimisation Tips for Australian Entrepreneurs

Building a uniquely Australian website? Here are several tips and tricks that will help you create a killer site:

Choose the Right CMS

First of all, it’s very important to choose the right Content Management System to build and edit your ecommerce website. Not all CMS are suited for creating shopping sites. So, you should choose a CMS like Magento that are very specific regarding ecommerce sites. Otherwise, you may run into scaling issues later. Even if you have hired outside help to build your website, you should hire local pros, like Magento Sydney, to make sure your website is built using the right platform.

Aim for a Polished Look

It’s absolutely paramount that the ecommerce website you build looks sleek and polished. The professional look is important when it comes to building trust with potential customers. No one will buy from a site that looks as if a teenager built it in her basement. Also, uniqueness is important. When you use pre-existing templates to build a website, make sure you customize the template well enough so that your website does not look similar to others built using the same template.

Use Localized Keywords

Optimising the website you build will be tricky to do on your own. However, a simple rule to keep in mind is to use local keywords. Avoid generic keywords that appeal to an international audience. Your primary audience will be Australian, so use highly localized keywords to directly appeal to your audience. Aim to get your website to rank high among Google country-specific results. It’s the google.co.au rankings that matter to your site, not the google.com rankings.

Make the Site Responsive

It’s very important to keep in mind to make your ecommerce website responsive. Meaning, your website should load quickly on handheld devices like smart phones and tablets. Choose a site template that is responsive. You already know the importance of mobile-based buyers. So, if your site doesn’t load fast on their screens, you will eventually lose revenue. Prioritise responsiveness when building your website.

Site should be Free of Clutter

Do not cram a number of logos, icons, images and text into your site’s home page. This will turn away many customers. Ecommerce websites should be clean. Keep text and images to a bare minimum. Too many icons can also slow down your website. So, clean up your site so only the important stuff is shown to customers upon first visit.

Promote One Product at a Time

Don’t try to promote dozens on products on your homepage. Your inventory may have hundreds of products that need promoting, but your customers don’t care. Try to promote only one or two products at a time. This draws attention to the single product, which would not have to compete with others to make itself known to the customer. Make the focus of the website limited to grab attention of potential customers.

Pay careful attention to the above tips and keep them in mind when you build your ecommerce website. Don’t overdo it, and get professional help if you can afford it.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sophia Addison .