BT broadband office

1. At January 14, 2008 2:01 PM, Nicola wrote:

Amazon is a bad example of that sort of international site - because most people still think of .com as the default people go there first. The Amazon.co.uk site is just a smaller selection of the US site - and half their stuff still ships from America anyway - with the appropriate charges - and a flawed conversion rate - like an awful lot of American companies they just don't seem to want to admit the dollar's weaknesses on the exchange atm.

Not just bashing Amazon here - I shop there a lot - on the US site at least - and get some good bargains - but there are lessons to be learned from their site - even if mostly how not to do things.

If someone pays the higher price on the UK site they may or may not find out - if they do - it doesn't really look good for the company plus having to pay shipping from America on a .co.uk site is kind of annoying.

Basically if you have different national sites - use them properly - or just use them to maintain brand recognition with only forwarding to the main site.

2. At January 14, 2008 11:36 PM, James wrote:

"Nicola wrote:

Amazon is a bad example ....."

I agree - I can never find what I want on their website. I just use it to have a look at some products and then do some more research and buy elsewhere.

A website must be easy to use for the customer - Many are written by computer boffins who know their products inside out and where to find them on their website.

Many visitors do not know exactly what they want and need to be guided or helped to look for what they require.

So many websites assume that the visitor knows the correct part number and where to find the part No e.g. 1234567A2 as they do.

Web designers should look from the outside in, instead of the opposite. Dont be too cleaver and dont use super technical or complicated search words.

Many prospective purchasers are not up to speed with the latest computer terminology or technology etc. Tip - Keep it basic and easy to use.

TEST - Ask somebody who knows nothing about your products to find an unusual item.

Yes its James again.

3. At January 16, 2008 4:13 PM, Carl Lotter wrote:

Good advise from James about having a "stranger" do the search. A survey of such a nature will definately indentify the user friendlyness of a site. I tend to have one website that Im loyal to when ordering certain products but can admit to looking at others that aren't as user freindly to see if they are cheaper. Ultimately though I always use my favoured website due to its simpliticy, and an added bonus is that its always the cheaper option too, bar ebay from time to time that is:)