vangogh
08-12-2008, 12:54 PM
Category pages are an often overlooked part of ecommerce sites. The typical category page shows a table of images and the visitor is expected to click one to view the specific product page.
That's certainly one way people will use category pages, but are there more things you could be doing to nudge visitors into your conversion funnel? Are there other things visitors might want to do on your category pages?
An article from Invesp.com offers 8 essential elements of successful category pages (http://www.invesp.com/blog/conversion-optimization/ecommerce-websites-design-8-essential-elements-of-successful-category-pages.html) and it's worth a read to help you create more effective category pages.
The 8 elements you should ask and consider:
1. What is the purpose of your category page?
2. What actions do visitors want to take on a category page?
3. Evaluate your category pages analytics data
4. The minimum in creating category pages
5. Determine the main features people ask for when shopping for your products
6. List the why visitors buy your products
7. Help the user select the appropriate subcategory:
8. Let testing tell you what works and what does not
More details in the article, but I think it's important to note that there's more to a category page than a quick trip into a product page and ignoring some of the other things could mean leaving money on the table.
The article also looks at a number of successful sites to see what they're doing on category pages.
Are your category pages simply a table of product images? What else have you tried on category pages that has led to more success?
That's certainly one way people will use category pages, but are there more things you could be doing to nudge visitors into your conversion funnel? Are there other things visitors might want to do on your category pages?
An article from Invesp.com offers 8 essential elements of successful category pages (http://www.invesp.com/blog/conversion-optimization/ecommerce-websites-design-8-essential-elements-of-successful-category-pages.html) and it's worth a read to help you create more effective category pages.
The 8 elements you should ask and consider:
1. What is the purpose of your category page?
2. What actions do visitors want to take on a category page?
3. Evaluate your category pages analytics data
4. The minimum in creating category pages
5. Determine the main features people ask for when shopping for your products
6. List the why visitors buy your products
7. Help the user select the appropriate subcategory:
8. Let testing tell you what works and what does not
More details in the article, but I think it's important to note that there's more to a category page than a quick trip into a product page and ignoring some of the other things could mean leaving money on the table.
The article also looks at a number of successful sites to see what they're doing on category pages.
Are your category pages simply a table of product images? What else have you tried on category pages that has led to more success?