FEATURE ARTICLE

Website Usability:
Increase sales with your site's design

You’ve set up your storefront, and now you are ready to start selling. You may have even invested some funds into promoting your site, and you’ve got visitors hitting your store every day. Now what?

Since the advent of e-commerce, research has proven that a nicely designed site will improve sales. Visitors are more likely to make a purchase if they feel that your site is legitimate and professional and they can find what they are looking for easily.

We have compiled some suggestions on how to help increase your conversion rate with simple design adjustments:

• Step One - Use test subjects
• Step Two - Keep it simple and consistent
• Step Three - Your homepage as prime real estate
• Step Four - Establish trust and credibility

Take Five

Each month, we ask a different MonsterCommerce merchant the same five questions regarding their online business and its success.

AsianFoodGrocer.com
Monster Merchant since: 11/13/2003
Owner: Larry Tanita
Best-Selling Product: Pocky Snacks

1. What is your favorite feature about your site right now?
   My favorite feature is being able to add and delete products without too much difficulty.
   
   
2. What was one major obstacle to your store's success, and how did you overcome it?
   We needed technical support for a stable website and design. We hired MonsterCommerce to achieve our goal.
   
   
3. What do you attribute most to your site's success?
   There are many factors that have contributed to the success of asianfoodgrocer.com. The most important are excellent customer service, search engines, and a good product mix.
   
   
4. What is the best or most rewarding experience you've had so far with selling online?
   It is very rewarding to experience a consistent growth in online sales and to receive positive customer feedback.
   
   
5. What Web site or online tool or resource would you not be able to live without?
   There are three important tools and resources for asianfoodgrocer.com: Major search engines, pay-per-click advertising, and MonsterCommerce.
   
   

MonsterMarketplace

MonsterMarketplace Beta Version 1.4 Deployed
Check it out!

MonsterMarketplace has gotten a facelift. A new layout and features.

Here are some of the great features that have been added:

• New categories and subcategories added: view all
• Merchant Search feature enables search by domain name
• Restructured URL's that are more search-engine friendly
• Enhanced product images and popular project logic
• Enhanced merchant listing layouts
• View a complete overview of all new features

Having trouble locating your store’s listing?  
Click here to search by domain name.

MonsterMarketplace Merchant Spotlight
We are proud of the accomplishments of all of our clients and hope that you will feel encouraged and inspired by the thoughtful business plans and achievements of this month's Merchant Spotlight Featured Client.

This month: EasyToGrowBulbs.com

• View Current Merchant Spotlight

Haven’t submitted your store to MonsterMarketplace?
What are you waiting for? Submitting your store is FREE.
Click here to enter your submission today.

Press

" MonsterCommerce Is a solid e-commerce tool"
Internet.com acknowledges the MonsterCommerce software's "good reporting functions" and "thorough product manager" in an e-commerce review from February 28, 2005. The author acknowledges areas of opportunity in the software, but hails it as "unstoppable." Full article>>

Departments

Wish to add interactivity and a fresh touch to your site every month of the year?
Keeping your site updated is an absolute must for any competitive E-commerce storefront. It is important to routinely update your site with new features, information, promotions, and more. The MonsterWebDesign team now offers monthly maintenance packages to keep your site fresh!

Advertise for the holidays or simply add some new tips and tricks you've been wanting to place on your site. Let our experienced designers maintain your site for you. Learn more at MonsterWebDesign.com or call 1-877-663-5169.

Check-Out Our QuickGuides
Take some time to check out our ever-growing list of QuickGuides on the MC Knowledge Base. Our QuickGuides offer step-by-step instructions and useful information for an array of different topics, from what information to include in your site’s "Company Info" page, to setting up new email addresses. The QuickGuides provide a wealth of information for those just getting started in the e-commerce world, as well as seasoned veterans. 

Recent Forum Hot Topics

• MonsterMarketplace v1.4 Released
• Giving Credit Card Info Over Phone
• Feedback about Chargebacks
• Opening Multiple Monster Storefronts: Design Tips
• Creating a Site Map
• Marketing Multiple Online Businesses
• Don't Forget to Enhance Your MonsterMarketplace Listing

Industry News

Google Acquires Urchin
Google Inc. has acquired Urchin Software Corporation, the web analytics software integrated with the MonsterCommerce storefront. Urchin software enables all MonsterCommerce merchants to track traffic on their sites. Google is planning on providing this tool as well, along with its other advertising products.

http://www.urchin.com/company/news/03282005.html



Satellite imagery available from Google
The mapping function created by Google Inc. now offers a mode for viewing the actual aerial satellite image for a given location. Try it out by typing in an address at maps.google.com and then clicking on the "satellite" link at the top right of the screen.

http://maps.google.com and http://www.google.com/help/maps/tour/

Good Luck,
The MonsterCommerce Team