Being seen locally

It’s always been true that we like to buy products and services locally not only because it is  convenient but also because we like to help independent support traders in and around where we live.

This is also true online and many locally based independent companies are missing out on the potential of being seen by people searching locally on Google. So ask yourself this important question: “Does my website come up one first page of google for my products in the local town and surrounding area?”. If someone searches for ‘farm shops in MyTown’ does your website appear?

Areoff was approach to design an e-commerce website by a local company. Their products are such that a majority of people want to be able to go and buy locally after finding them on the web for a local search. To create a fully fledged e-commerce site to sell their particular product range would be an expensive proposition due to the very high number of product variations and the price fluctuations inherent in their product type.

The cost of an e-commerce website design coupled with the the administration costs involved in constantly updating the product range and prices are one thing to consider. But then they also have to consider that national chains are their main competition and have established e-commerce systems with staff dedicated to running this aspect of their business.

An e-commerce shop unless it has an established reputation as an online trader is not usually being selected based on customer service but purely on price. So all you might achieve with an online shop in this type of environment is lots of visitors who are comparing your price for the exact make and specification against another online compeititor. Once they have found another online shop selling fractionally cheaper, they will leave your site and you have lost your opportunity to make a sale.

My advice to local companies like this is to look at your online business and website from another angle. It can cost less money to have your local website designed and optimised for search engines with potentially better long-term returns, especially if you ask your website developers to target local searches.

SEO handled in this targetted way can and does result in more customers coming through your shop-door after finding you on a search engine – you already have an established means of fulfilling orders so there isn’t the extra investment or learning curve associated with running an online shop.

So if you are considering how to make more money online don’t just think of the obvious route of setting up an e-commerce website. Think about how you and others use the web to find local products and services and that you don’t always buy online because it is more convenient to buy some products by visiting a local supplier that you may have found through a Google search.

I’m not arguing against e-commerce but instead advocating a sensible approach to how  you can best use the internet and exploit the potential of your website to make more money for your business without breaking the bank on expensive web development.

Feeling secure on the web

I was recently offered a free upgrade to a new version of the foremost page publishing program. Great, something for nothing. All I had to do was fill in the serial number of my current product, my contact and address details, and  credit card information to pay for the post and packaging. What could be simpler?

As I started to fill in the form I realised that this form didn’t display the gold padlock to signify it is secure and to reassure me that my details will be passed over the internet in an encrypted format. Neither is the page https:// which to all you techies out there also signifies that the page is hosted in a secure section of the webspace running the site.

However, there was a contradiction on the webpage before me. The form displays a Security Seal from Verisign. So is this page secure or not? Now I’m confused. All I want to do is get a free upgrade but my online life has just become complicated as there is absolutely no way I’m going to trust a website with my credit card information (and also the serial number of a relatively expensive piece of software).

I did a little investigation by looking at the page source and found that the actual form collecting my information is working within an iframe in the site. This actual form part of the webpage is it turns out hosted on a secure URL and therefore my credit card details should be encrypted and not open to all and sundry to steal.

But how many users are going to go to the level of investigation I did to find out that the form is worthy of me adding my confidential details and credit card information? And how many users are aware of and have the time to discover this information?

This is a good example of a major usability issue with website design and programming where too many E-commerce developers are requiring the end user to do more work than they should have to. The users part of the deal is to fill in the form with the required information and provide a valid form of payment. They should be able to see the Padlock and the page URL starting with https:// as well as the Security Seal. Users shouldn’t have to search around and perform an investigation to make sure a form is secure because they cannot see the usual signs that is safe.