One of the best things I got out of last week’s Pubcon conference was from the Ecommerce Optimization session – Make it easy for people to give you money.

And that pretty much sums up the session by Rob Snell and a few others. Optimizing your website so the most visitors can purchase with ease is a must-do in today’s world. In fact, if you aren’t already on an ecommerce model, what are you waiting for? Your competitors? (Hint: They may already be working on it)

Sure, there are plenty of businesses out there that can’t sell online, such as service-oriented businesses, but that’s no excuse for having a crappy call to action on your website! Even service businesses can grab money from their website with a smart contact form.

Maybe They’re Having Trouble Finding You

You can’t make it easy for people to give you money if they can’t find you.  Plain and simple.  So what are you doing about your SEO efforts?  Nothing?  Oh- you’re dabbling in social media like twitter? Bad idea.  Social media isn’t bad, but it’s a bad strategy if your SEO isn’t even solid.  Start with an SEO audit and get those simple things fixed.  Then set your eyes on better rankings, particularly in those long tail keywords that no one is going after, and watch the customers start to come.

Maybe They’re Having Trouble Buying

The average person expects to find the product they’re looking for in three clicks or less. no matter what page on your website that they land on (it’s not always your home page), they need to be able to find any product in three clicks or less.

Try this test yourself. How does your website stack up?

Need another test? Ok – for just $39 bucks you can hire a user over at UserTesting.com to run through purchasing a product from you.  They’ll not only videotape what they do, but they’ll narrate the entire process, too.  So you’ll get to hear their thoughts, concerns and trouble zones along the way.  This may just be the best $39 bucks you’ll spend this week.

Maybe They’re Having Trouble Navigating

If your site is running on Flash, JavaScript or some other fancy platform, dump it.  Not everyone has the most up-to-date computer, and they’ll end up hitting the Back button if your site is too busy trying to be cute.  Make your navigation easy to use and friendly across multiple browsers.

If It’s Difficult, They’ll Abandon You

Making your customers’ online experience as easy as possible is imperative nowadays.  If you’re using an old, archaic shopping cart or website without pricing, you’ve just watch the ship sail off.  Don’t let it get too far ahead of you because it’s not coming back for you.