Many Web designers seem to focus more on appearance than functionality, and while an attractive site is helpful, visitors that become frustrated by inability of a site to function well, will leave almost immediately, never to return!

Just as important in designing an e-commerce-style Web site, is a somewhat basic knowledge of Web site design, with some simple design skills included. While a thorough knowledge of design and functionality is not important, designing an e-commerce site does have some requirements, or else you'll always find yourself going back relentlessly and changing features and functionality in a vain effort to stay abreast of your site visitor's needs.

E-commerce sites need to focus on some main areas of functionality in order to ensure maximum sales:

1. Load time, page size, and navigability. Slowly loading pages, overly large or small pages, and difficult navigation will only frustrate visitors. Visitors should never have to "wait" for a page to load, should never have to scroll back and forth in order to read a page, nor should they have to "search" relentlessly for information they want in order to purchase. Clean, simple lines, with fast loading, well laid out pages, make most sales.

Here's a great service to check your Web site load time:

http://www.tracert.com/

This one actually pings your Web site from different locations worldwide and returns average load time for your site, instead of simply returning a theoretical value based on size of your Web page.

2. Less use of graphics. While graphics are pleasant and intriguing, they don't necessarily achieve more sales. The opposite may be true if too many graphics are used. A page that is graphics heavy loads more slowly and graphics themselves may take visitors' minds off main purpose of site, i. e. "sales". If graphics are used at all, they should be optimized for Web placement, and reduced to smallest size possible for viewing. Most graphics can easily be reduced by approximately twenty percent without affecting quality of graphics.

Here's a neat tool for optimizing your Web site graphics if you are not very familiar with graphics software:

http://www.netmechanic.com/GIFBot/optimize-graphic.htm

3. The use of CSS (Cascading Style Sheets). CSS effectively eliminates need of entering repetitive tags like FONT, reducing your page size significantly. Such tags can consume up to 5-7% of your page size. Imagine how much bandwidth you'll save if your Web site has more than 100 pages!

This has led to rise of "total packages" by many hosting and Internet development companies, where everything is included: domain-name registration, software for design of a site or an online method of building a site, professional design of site, and of course, hosting. This is quite popular as it whittles down process of getting a site up and running for many new to Internet and online marketing.

However, with convenience of Web-hosting packages of this sort, there also can be inconveniences. No road is paved "with gold" and this type of registration, hosting and design package deal is no exception. There can be problems that surface later on when purchasing a Web design and hosting package that also includes registration. These problems usually present themselves in following forms:

1. Once a Web site becomes popular, hosting charges may rise exorbitantly, as "special" that was presented initially can become inapplicable once a certain amount of traffic or size of site changes. This is more of a problem for larger business sites than for smaller business sites or "personal" or "theme" sites.

2. Some "specials" only exist for a limited amount of time, and charges can rise steadily after that period.

3. A Web site owner may have different needs as time goes on, and "package" no longer suits needs of owner. This can include inability to change pages on one's own, or inability to effectively track traffic, as some come with traffic statistics packages.

4. Downtime (when a site is down and can't be viewed) can be significant enough to warrant a change of hosts or domain name registrars.

5. A Web site, registration, and web hosting package company may go out of business, leaving a client with no way to contact them, and three services to quickly replace. This also leaves a site open to loss of registered domain name, as well as loss of revenues while site is "down".

6. A contract may exist which states that "special" prices are only offered contingent on remaining with a certain company for a specified amount of time (which may be years).

7. The actual "name" of your site may not even be registered to "you" perceived "owner", but to hosting and registrar company that initiated purchase through package deal. This how Web site hosting, design and registrar packages "save" money many times for consumers, as they "buy in bulk", registering hundreds of sites per month.

All above seem simple enough to rectify. Simply "switch" Web site, hosting, and domain name registrar to that of other companies.

This is point, however, in which "trouble" can rear its ugly head. Some hosting and domain name registrars seem reluctant to "hand over" a site to any other company, as it does mean loss of a customer and therefore, revenue, for themselves. The current hosting company and registrar may likewise delay a transfer, or refuse to provide sufficient information to a new host or registrar to effectively conclude a transfer. It becomes even more tangled, if name of a site has been registered to them.

This is where it is possible for a "nightmare" of subterfuge regarding a site to begin. Sometimes, after numerous contacts, with no reply, a Web site owner will realize that switching of site has become a real battle.

Here's an actual real life example of a friend of mine, Katheryn: