It's very surprising, but approx 30% of ecommerce sites don't have a search capability that actually works – in many cases it just returns gobblygook. This is a real irritant for many online shoppers who want to find goods and services quickly and efficiently – need for speed should be ecommerce merchants marketing mantra and a good search capability gives users a way to quickly find products.

One of most important parts of any web site is home or index page, as it aggregates design elements and information architecture. So many index page are cluttered and poorly designed, loaded with poor graphics, bad menu structures, oddball words or my absolute least favorite, 30-60 second Flash animation sequences which force user to sit and stare at a blank screen while animation loads.

Privacy statements are about as exciting as filing taxes (unless you know your getting a refund) – they are out of necessity filled with legal terminology that needs to be addressed succinctly and in a way that makes a consumer feel comfortable about doing business with an ecommerce web site. Unfortunately, many ecommerce web site privacy statements look like an afterthought, or, are so "attorney driven" (three pages – who has time to read this?) people are turned off by them. It's very important that a privacy statement be a compromise doc brokered between legal and marketing.

We are a full service ad agency so I don't mind shooting arrows in direction of my peers – too much attention is being placed on web site advertising metrics (clickthrough rates, certified traffic to substantiate ad rates, etc.) and not enough on how people find and use an ecommerce web site. The industry standard web site analysis tool is Web Trends, but one of least understood aspects of this product is tracking how people find and move around a web site via reports which can be pulled from server log files; i.e. where did visitors come from, what pages do they visit, how long do they stay, what are their traffic patterns, etc.? Ecommerce companies should be analyzing these "digital customer tracks" to better understand how to improve their front end marketing processes and back end web site design.

Stuart J. Agres references Puto & Wells by describing this phenomena in his book “Emotion in Advertising: Theoretical and Practical Explorations”. Mr. Agres says, “A transformational advertisement is defined as "one which associates experience of using (consuming/owning) advertised brand with a unique set of psychological characteristics, which would not typically be associated with brand experience to same degree without exposure to advertisement" ( Puto & Wells, 1984, p. 638).

It is essential therefore, that your advertising copy transforms your prospects. You must be able to incite certain emotions in them they believe your product gives them. They must be made to feel they would not feel these emotions if your product was not in their possession.

Have you ever read sales copy that just swept you away? You look up from your computer screen, not realizing you have been mesmerized for last few minutes or so, carried away by great copy. It is usually a great story of some kind, with emotional curves in it, that sweeps you away from reality for awhile.

After reading this type of copy at least once in your life, you’d recognize good copy anywhere. We’ve all seen it. Words are so powerful, they can make us feel hurt, scared, happy, sad, or any other variety of emotions.

If you’ve ever read a Stephen King novel, you know what it’s like to be carried along by a writer. The fear you feel is so real, you sometimes have to pull yourself out of book to turn on a light in room to keep monsters away!

The best copy I have ever read is a personal story that travels along very quickly, telling a compelling tale that concludes with happy ending of why product was necessary for happiness or security.

Decide what emotion you would like your product or service to fulfill. Tell your prospects a wild tale filled with strong feelings. They’ll stick with you long after sale.