is…

Okay, I guess I will start off with some honesty. The post title? It was to catch your eye – a trick, a come-on. But that's kind of the point.

Slideshows are a trick – something everyone sees and thinks, "Ooh, that looks great; I got to have one". They always look good in those templates, don't they?

But stop and think about it. Do you, a site visitor, spend time dawdling, waiting for each panel to display on someone else's site? If you do, are you there to buy something? Most likely you don't and even if you do, you probably aren't trying to buy a product.

So why do you think a slideshow is so great? "It's really pretty!" Yep, I'm sure it is. "and they load so fast nowadays"  That they do. But does it sell?

Does It Sell?

That should always be the first question for any decision making on an e-commerce site. Does it sell?

A pretty slideshow that has to be moved out of the way as you scroll down the page. A slideshow that has no links on the images. A slideshow whose links don't lead to products to buy. How does that sell products?

What about a slideshow of featured products with buy now buttons integrated in the product picture with links to the product?  Well, that sounds better. Does anyone ever do that?  Very rarely. Why? Because folks have a picture in their heads of the beautiful slider….not product pictures that have to be edited.

But that's doable.

Buy Now Up Top

This is becoming a mantra for me. If the visitor has to scroll way down on the page, if the visitor has to click through one or more links to get to buy anything now, the likelihood of selling decreases.

I say put buy now links up top – as far up as possible which is the top of the home page. I've started moving the featured, new, specials etc up top on the home page instead of at the bottom. Choose some featured products – yeah, I know you got lots of products but what sells? And what do you want to sell? Make them featured products.

And turn off the new box on the home page. Set the new function to the past month or something. Just don't let the new box include all products which is the default for Zen Cart. The reason is simple – it's site hog – a real drag on the database and can be a real drag on your page / site load time.

So, slideshow or no?

My advice is no – don't even think about it. If you insist on one, then be sure it's something easy to handle, to change. I wrote a slideshow that integrates with the banner manager. (At this moment, it's only available if I work on your site. I don't want it in general use. I don't want it showcased.)

If you just have to have a slideshow, be sure to change it out – don't have the same one up for years as I've seen happen. That has no value at all. Having a banner that integrates with banner manager makes it easy to switch out the images and links. Oh, and that means someone has to design those banners, get them the right size and optimize them.  Umm, maybe having a slideshow is expensive and time-consuming? (If done right, mind you.)

Fuggedaboutit

Just don't do it – work on making your site better, rewriting your text, optimizing your SEO, introducing new products, having sales – all those things that might actually make you money.

Delia has spoken – no slideshows in shopping carts!