Five tips to boost holiday e-commerce

E-commerce is on the rise this holiday season, up 18 percent compared with last year, yet studies show an average of 58 percent of online consumers abandon their shopping carts before purchasing. How can small-business owners tip the odds in their favor?

Lance Loveday and Sandra Niehaus, veteran Web experts who have helped companies such as Hewlett-Packard and WebEx transform their online presence, have authored a new book that answers the question. Web Design for ROI: Turning Browsers Into Buyers and Prospects Into Leads outlines simple Web design changes that can increase online sales and leads as much as 50 percent.

Here are five tips from the book to turn browsers into buyers this holiday season:

1. Don`t make people register to make a purchase. Shoppers know they have to provide their contact information anyway, so why make them fill out a separate form? Get rid of that registration step if possible, and you`ll see more purchases.

2. Reassure shoppers about security and privacy. Have a security/privacy policy on your site, ensure checkout pages are secure and make security icons very visible. Provide a short message like "We value your security and privacy" near requests for credit card numbers and e-mail addresses.

3. Make the "Add to Cart" button large and obvious. The same goes for other important buttons such as "Checkout" and "Complete Purchase." Make these buttons distinct from and more visible than other, less important buttons.

4. Have as few checkout steps as possible. The fewer steps, the easier it is for shoppers to complete a purchase. If possible, get a single-step checkout.

5. Give shoppers a reason to buy from you. Make special offers (such as free shipping) very visible, especially on shopping cart and checkout pages. Don`t wait until the last checkout page–that`s too late.