Good styles for good business site design?

May 15, 2006 3:23 PM

What website layouts work best for a site selling some books and/or software? Ideas? Examples? What about NOT-recommended ideas and examples?

I have a small line of software and books (like 10 different items total) and decided it's time to redesign the front page. I've been selling for years, but I'm kind of flying by the seat of my pants and would like to consider new layouts.

Any ideas here? Is it better to put only one or two popular products on the front page? Or make a little smorgasbord? What designs invite a closer look?

For example here are some sites I pondered:
- Manifold (GIS) -- this GIS system goes for a "newsy" look... it gets better if you scroll down but it seems to make one's eyelids heavy. But I bet this gets great keyword rankings on Google.
- PaintShop Pro -- the classic corporate look with little content and lots of abstract navigation (sometimes with Flash). This, to me, screams "run away!" Agree? I'm thinking the lack of keywords is also really bad for getting good positions in a search engine.
- WinAVI - sort of a high-end shareware (try/buy/info) but like the corporate style there's almost not enough to draw me in. On the other hand it's intuitive for visitors who already know what they want.
- TMpegEnc - the classic "sourceforge" look, heavy on revision summaries and little to really draw you in... looks like a model not to emulate.
- Shareaza - not bad, lots of good little bites and pics to tell you what it's all about.

This might not be the best way to compare, though... unlike the sites above I also have a small product line that shores up my income quite well. I have to figure out how to represent them too.

Anyway I'm leaving the question wide open to get different perspectives. Does anyone here sell online using their own website? What styles get a nod for common sense, usability, and drumming up visitor interest? Maybe we can share crib notes.

posted by zek to computers & internet (5 comments total)

If the software is any good it shouldn't matter too much as long as the page is easy to navigate and looks professional.
posted by delmoi at 3:51 PM on May 15, 2006

I think you need to frame this in terms of your audience. If your audience is a slashdot/sourceforge audience, then go for that techy look, and if it's a regular consumer audience, go for the cheerful bright look that Shareaza and Paintshop have (you'll need pics of happy smiling multi-racial people for the latter).

The ones which look "newsy" presumably look that way as a function of their (buzzword alert) content rhythm.
Is your software updated, patched and re-released on a regular basis? Are small incremental updates important or only major versions? Then you might want a newsy, blog-like site.

Actually, looking at the Manifold one, I see that it's not actually news at all, it's a 9500-word brochure for their product, which is way over the top. I'd favour a simpler front page, then the brochure once you've understood what it is they sell and decided you might want it. All that text might actually dilute their SEO, IMHO.

Oh and two of those sites use frames. Please don't use frames!
posted by AmbroseChapel at 4:39 PM on May 15, 2006

From my perspective (someone whose only experience is on the buyer's side) the design of the site matters little. (I've bought software from sites that were slick and those that were not.) The only thing I care about is getting to the download/buy page in as few clicks as possible -- regardless of which page I start on.

It's very common these days that when I visit a vendor site either from a link on a blog or a search engine result, I will not end up on the homepage, but on a subpage that more directly features the particular product I'm interested in. In some cases I never even see the home page.
posted by camcgee at 5:18 PM on May 15, 2006

The best style is a site with a link in from someone I trust.
posted by Good Brain at 7:24 PM on May 15, 2006

I agree that if the software is great, the presentation of it on a website isn't necessarily going to dissuade someone from purchasing it, but I feel that the usability of a website reflects the usability of the product, whether it's justified or not. If the website is hard to use and confusing, then you can assume that the software will be hard to use and confusing, etc. (Sorry, nothing profound, just making obvious statements...)

Anyway, I think that Panic's website is great and so is Firefox's, although of course that's free. They're both minimal and catchy, while still being very informative and poignant.
posted by deep_sea_diving_suit at 12:10 AM on May 16, 2006