Top ten ways to sell more gift certificates online: Tip #1
January 28th, 2008 • Posted by Seth Gardenswartz • Permalink
Tip #1
Build a great website: OK this sounds obvious, but it is harder than it sounds. A great website does not have to be fancy, flashy (excuse my pun) or expensive. The problem starts with the design or direction to the web designers. Lots of bad websites result from a designer building what the client asks for. The trick is to ask for the right thing(s).
A website should load quickly, be easy to navigate and have an intuitive lay out. In geek speak we call that usability.
Think about what someone might want to look for on your website. Information like hours, phone number, treatments, location(s) and transaction links (like gift certificates, shopping carts or reservations) are what most web users are looking for on a business website. They should be able to get to any one of those from your home page with a single click.
Avoid "click to enter" landing pages, music and anything that causes a progress bar (often with the text "loading") to appear. These things look impressive when the designer shows them to you but no one wants to sit through them-twice. You want your clients to return often.
Posted in Spa Search Engine Optimization (SEO), General, Spa Website Design • Share • Trackback
January 29th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Here is my most recent favorite example of totally unuseable overkill in a restaurant website (if you have slow internet, I'm warning you now…):
http://www.perseny.com
The sad part of it is that this is one of the best restaurants in the entire country. Yet their website's design and ease of use didn't seem to occur to them as something that would be good for their customer's satisfaction — both new and returning.
January 29th, 2008 at 9:53 am
What else would you expect from a champion of the Slow Food movement?
January 29th, 2008 at 7:00 pm
Keep up with the tips. I am thinking of offering gift certificates in my new store. What are the other 9 tips?
Elizabeth Anderson