When you have created your website, the most important thing to do is to test your website. Enter all pages and click on all links. Ensure that there are no links that will lead you to the '404 Page Cannot Be Found' because this is embarrassing for an online business.
You must also try to place an order on your own website to ensure that the buying process runs smoothly for your customers. And make sure you get the payment from the merchant account! Otherwise it would be a waste if some mistakes were to happen at the payment transaction point.
After you have tested your website and things seem to be running smoothly, get another person such as a friend or your wife/husband to test your website. It would be better if you are with them when they are testing your website and going through the buying and payment process. Do not be too surprised if you find out that after all the hard work you have done building it, they encounter difficulties on your website!
Do not feel too bad or lose hope! This is a normal situation for those who have just started an Internet business. The lessons you will learn by observing another person testing and going through your website are very valuable as they tell you exactly what your customers will face when entering your website. And remember, when your customers surf through your website, you will not be by their side to assist them!
Improve all the weaknesses that you spot after the observation. Your visitors may find difficulty in searching the links to your product information. Or maybe your visitors cannot get enough information that they need about your products. Or maybe your visitors may not feel secure to use credit cards on your website as there are no guarantees from you that the payment method through credit card is secure.
Test your website several times with different people until you feel that your website is free from problems and is easy to use by anybody to search for information and place an order. |
