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E-Business Secrets
Brian Livingston
Neilsen recommends improvements to your product pages

Spending 10 percent of your Web development budget improving your Web site's usability can often double its sales, according to Jakob Neilsen, the well-known usability consultant. Last month he released a detailed, nine-part report that sells for $400, as I described in last week's E-Business Secrets. This week, I summarize his recommendations on category pages, product pages, and how not to lose sales to non-U.S. buyers.

1. CATEGORY PAGES. A category page defines the products and services a site sells. A home page is a type of category page, while other pages show related products.

a. The home page itself should allow shoppers to buy.

b. Category pages must download in 10 seconds at 28.8K.

c. They should enable customers to sort by price, size, etc.

d. They should show at an early point whether an item is available.

e. They should provide "winnowing" to narrow the selection of goods.

2. PRODUCT PAGES. A product page presents the details about a single item. For the page to be effective, customers need sufficient information to feel comfortable about buying the product.

a. Product pages should use the words people use, not company jargon.

b. They should explain in text those details an image doesn't show.

c. They should provide a recognizable image, with enlargement options.

d. They should show only what is for sale, and should not depict extraneous items that are not for sale.

e. They should include prices, as should the category page.

f. They should show all costs, guarantees, and delivery dates.

3. INTERNATIONAL BUYERS. The majority of Internet users will soon be non-Americans. Many sites show no understanding of how to sell to shoppers outside the U.S.

a. Clearly state where you ship and where you bill.

b. Show special procedures or costs as soon as possible.

c. Write in simple EASL (English as a Second Language).

d. Accommodate European addresses, dates, and numbers.

Next week, I'll cover Neilsen's studies of the Checkout Process, Search Strategies, and Building Customer Trust.

RESOURCES:

Norman Neilsen's E-Commerce User Experience Report:

http://www.nngroup.com@836.as/?3a9e

Last Week's Neilsen Interview in E-Business Secrets:

http://www.infoworld.com/articles/op/xml/01/04/12/010412opsecrets.xml

LIVINGSTON'S E-BUSINESS BOOK REVIEW

The sale of census demographics and voter address files appears to me to be an excellent e-business model. I've been involved in several campaigns, and I've purchased numerous databases that were sent to me via e-mail without ever seeing a person. Although these transactions involved thousands of dollars, such businesses never seem to show up on lists of e-commerce operators.

Mark Monmonier's new book, "Bushmanders and Bullwinkles," is about an important subset of this business. He reveals how voter data is sold and analyzed to create new districts biased toward one party or another.

This book will interest computer professionals in all 50 states, each of which must redistrict using 2000 Census data. Even if you have nothing to do with districting, Monmonier's examples of the use and abuse of data will educate anyone who works with computers.

The title, by the way, is not a reference to President George W. Bush. "Bushmanders" and "bullwinkles" refer to a Supreme Court decision banning odd-shaped districts drawn to concentrate a particular race. The districts were approved by the Justice Department of Bush the Elder.

Bushmanders And Bullwinkles: How Politicians Manipulate Electronic Maps And Census Data To Win Elections By Mark Monmonier (University of Chicago Press)

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?0226534243

LIVINGSTON'S TOP 10 NEWS PICKS O' THE WEEK

1. 61 percent of middle sized e-commerce sites in the black

http://www.business2.com@a2.tc/?3ee

2. Appliance site succeeds: average sale over $1,000

http://www.msnbc.com@a6r.ms/?7d6

3. Site's Flash allows customers to build own products

http://www.fsb.com@1c.to/?bbe

4. Are you ready? J-Phone to put ads on cell phones

http://quote.bloomberg.com@54.vg/?fa6

5. Cell phone spam has already started in Arizona

http://www.courierpress.com@th.gs/?138e

6. Sites show different ads to new vs. old customers

http://www.business2.com@5a0.tc/?1776

7. New privacy rules proposed for bankrupt dot-coms

http://www.internetworld.com@e.la/?1b5e

8. Premium SMS text is starting to earn profits

http://www.guardian.co.uk@31.dk/?1f46

9. AltaVista uses a fix to prevent "spam" submissions

http://www.researchbuzz.com@836.as/?232e

10. CompUSA fined $50,000 over confusing online rebates

http://www.newsbytes.com@a2.tc/?2716

THIS WEEK'S "THEY CAN'T DO THAT ON THE WEB!" PAGE

Someone's finally done it: eCompanyNow has posted the 100 Dumbest Moments in E-Business History." This is a hilarious read, including everything from "My Fake Job," a faked New Yorker high-tech story, to DotComGuy, the poor jerk who didn't leave his house for a year.

Of course, top honors go to Boo.com, which blew more than $135 million without any significant sales.

Boo! And 100 Other Dumbest Moments In E-Business History

http://www.ecompany.com/edit/0,2088,11274,00.html

"GEEK FOR A DAY" CONTEST WINNERS ANNOUNCED

I'm pleased to announce that Robert Miles III of Salem, Va., and Bruce Kube of Scottsdale, Ariz., are the winners of the "Geek for a Day" contest that launched in my March 15 issue. I picked at random two E-Business Secrets readers, and I'll soon spend a day helping them optimize their PCs. I'll describe whatever interesting tips I learn from these visits in a future issue.

E-BUSINESS SECRETS

Our mission is to bring you such useful and thought-provoking information about the Web that you actually look forward to reading your e-mail.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: E-Business Secrets is written by InfoWorld contributing editor Brian Livingston.

Research Directors: Ben Livingston (no relation) and Eryn Paull. Brian has published 10 books, including:

Windows Me Secrets

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?34939

Windows 2000 Secrets

http://www.amazon.com@54.vg/?34130

Win a book free if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints. mailto:tips@SecretsPro.com


Brian Livingston , an InfoWorld contributing editor, has published 10 books, including Windows Me Secrets and Windows 2000 Secrets. Win a book free if you're the first to send a tip Brian prints. Send in your tips today, at tips@secretspro.com.


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