This is a “work-in-progress” checklist that I created in December 2007, but never finished. It is essentially a list of “issues” to consider when evaluating a merchant’s web site. (It is adapted from an internal checklist that I’ve used when evaluating advertisers seeking to place “performance-based advertising” on my site).

There are many other web-marketing checklists you might consider, including these four:

• “Evaluating Landing Page Quality“
• “240 Marketing Tips & Ideas Checklist” (ABestWeb)
• “The Best Damn Web Marketing Checklist, Period” (PDF)
• “eMarketing Sabotage: Top Ten Steps to Kill Your Search Engine Position” (ABestWeb)

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Here’s MY draft “web site checklist for merchants” (December 2007):

• Pet Peeves
  • Involuntary Audio – autoplay, virtual sales agent
    • Don’t play any audio message unless the user initiates it
  • Hyperlink tricks (style, functionality)
    • The default setting for links is “blue and underlined.” Consider very carefully why you’d want something different.
  • Unreadable fonts & font sizes
    • Avoid using “fixed size” fonts — let your visitors decide whether they want to view your text in a larger or smaller font (using Ctrl-Plus or Ctrl-Minus).
  • Typos (misspelling, grammar) – unprofessional = no sale
• Essential Links
  • Shipping Info – clearly explain, with no surprises
  • About Us – Identify the company’s name, street address, and more.
  • Contact Us – More options = more sales.
  • Privacy Policy
  • Security Policy (often combined with Privacy Policy but security issues must be addressed).
  • View Cart
  • Return Policy *
• Site Performance Issues
  • Site Load Times
  • Search Times
  • Image Load Times
  • Third-Party Server Issues
  • Monitoring Tools & Outage Notifications
• Site Design Issues
  • Consistent Navigation (header, left navbar, footer)
  • Changing & Disappearing Menus
  • Transition from Main Site to Shopping Cart – appearance
  • Transition from Main Site to Shopping Cart – URL/domain
  • Related Items (Upsell)
  • Search Functionality
  • Window Size Issues
  • Effect of User Choices
  • Excess White Space
  • Forced Viewing Options (font size, etc.)
  • Browser Variations
  • Javascript
  • Plug-Ins
  • Images, Alt-Tags, Text-Only Browser
• Disability Rights Issues
  • Visually Impaired Customers
  • Other Disabilities
  • Font size & style issues; relative font sizes
• Bookmarking and SEO Issues
  • Page Titles
  • Meta-Tags
  • Keyword-spamming
  • Over-Reaching
  • Jargon and Alternate Keywords (who is your customer? what do they know?)
• Branding and Marketing Issues
  • Consistent Branding
• Credibility Issues
  • Company’s address/location
  • Names of principals
  • Names (pictures) of key employees
  • Telephone number
  • Email address or contact form
  • Picture of office & staff
  • Return Policy
  • Endorsements/Testimonials
  • Typos (misspelling, grammar)
• Shopping Cart Process
  • Remove from Cart
  • Change quantity in cart
  • Compute shipping & sales tax – before requesting payment info
  • Number of steps/pages
  • Registration Requirement
  • Asking for unnecessary data
• Narrow Issues
  • Color Matching
  • Use of Color to Convey Info
  • Background Image & Colors
  • Consistent Use of Quotes, Italics, Underlining, Bold.

  Additional Issues for Affiliates:

  • Toll-free number
  • Call Now
  • Chat window
  • Chat pop-up
  • Call to order
  • Call for wholesale/volume pricing
  • External Advertising (AdSense, affiliate links)

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