Internet retailer web design conference fountainbleau miami beach

10 web design reasons to attend the Internet Retailers Conference (IRWD) at the all-new Fontainebleau in Miami Beach on June 19-22, 2009. Here are just 10 common design mistakes you’ll learn to avoid at IRWD ’09:  

  1. The Home Page Syndrome: You put most of your design resources on the home page and treat product pages as mere information pages—not marketing opportunities. In the session Designing Landing Pages that Sell, you’ll learn that the sale is really made on the product page.

  2. A Design Pet That Bites: You fall in love with one design function, using all the cool graphics you can, at the expense of meeting other key objectives, such as simplifying site navigation. In the session called One Site, Many Masters: Accommodating Conflicting Design Objectives, you’ll learn how to please your pet while not overlooking basic rules.

  3. Beware the Overbearing Geek: You let your IT professional run wild and dictate design parameters that ignore marketing or merchandising needs. In Programmers Are from Mars, Customers Are from Venus, you’ll learn how to let the customer rule the design roost.

  4. Conventional Wisdom Can Be Stupid: You adopt generally accepted design standards but fail to adapt them to how your own customers use your web site. In the session How Your Market Defines Your Design, you’ll learn how to gauge what design elements your customers are looking for.

  5. Do It Now—Ask Questions Later: You make a relatively minor change to your design without rigorously testing it. The next thing you know, your online sales are dropping. In the session called The Importance of Testing, you’ll learn how to thoroughly test the impact of design changes.

  6. The Don’t Fix What Ain’t Broke Mentality: Your site is working so well you don’t think about redesigning it until it blows up on you. In the session called Is It Time Yet? You will learn how to spot telltale signs that your site is overdue for a do over.

  7. Who Are You Anyway: You choose an outside designer to work on your site without checking his/her retail web qualifications or success record. In Choosing the Right Design Partner, you’ll learn how to spot a good retail web site designer before you move forward.

  8. The Anything Goes Attitude: You assume that with broadband web access everywhere, you can load up your site with all kinds of images. In Every Byte Counts, you’ll learn otherwise.

  9. It’s Just A Store: You think web sites are just like stores and need only products neatly arranged. You forget that non-product content is often what attracts people to a site. You will see what we mean at the session What Engages Shoppers Now—And What Will Engage Them Tomorrow.

  10. What Are You—Anti-Social? If your site doesn’t use forums, blogs and reviews, it fails to connect to the community it serves. Retailers in particular miss this, but the session Leveraging Social Technologies Strategically in Your Site Design will set them straight.

Register today at the Internet Retailer Web Design Conference, where you will benefit from the only conference dedicated to retail web site design improvement.