Anatomy of a Brilliant Site

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I love ...
Not only because it sells Bomex ... mug warmers, and gallon drums of plastic ants; not ...
they have a great mascot named Jarvis; and not ... their U I love sciplus.com.
Not only because it sells Bomex separatoryfunnels, mug warmers, and gallon drums of plastic ants; not onlybecause they have a great mascot named Jarvis; and not onlybecause their URL is a clever play on words ("sciplus," soundslike Bugs Bunny saying "surplus." Surplus is their specialty,with an emphasis on science. In this short little url, they getboth aspects in there--and turn it into a punchline to boot).
Ijust dig the whole thing, all around. I visit them to see whatnifty gadgets they're hawking this week, but their hilariouscatalog descriptions keep me coming back just to read thecontent.
"So," you may be asking, "who are these guys, anyway?"Sciplus is actually the online incarnation of American Scienceand Surplus, which has been in existence (in some form or theother) for most of the 20th Century. In 1937, Mr.
Al Leubbers wasjust hanging around Chicago, working for Western Electric. Hehappened to be an optics buff, so when he noticed that thewarehouse next door was tossing out large numbers of rejectlenses (Ping! Went the lightbulb over Al's head) he asked thecompany if he could buy the rejects.
They told him he could havethem if he'd please just *take* them away. Al and his wife Buddyspent the next several weeks polishing lenses at the kitchentable.
They placed an ad in Popular Mechanics, and startedunloading them at 10 for $1, and American Lens and Photo wasborn. The company expanded to embrace general surplus after WorldWar II, and became the American Science Center.
They officiallybecame American Science and Surplus in the early 90s, and havebeen online since '95. Though they're not a strictly e-business(they have real stores in Chicago, Geneva, and Milwaukee) I thinkanyone who's serious about having an online presence (especiallyif you're selling stuff) should take a look at what these catsare up to-because a business dedicated to "discovery andinvention...[and] having fun along the way," intuitivelyunderstands how to build an almost perfect site.Want to know what their secret formula is? Well, part of it is aninborn, twisted sense of humor, but they're also cleverbusinessmen.
Launch your browser, pull up the site, and let'stake the ten-cent educational tour...1. Navigation: Their first brilliant move? They created atemplate page, so that all their pages would have a consistentlook and feel.
When you're cataloging as much information assciplus, you need to have a template, not only for practicality'ssake, but for navigation's sake. They don't make their users re-orient themselves every time they click to a new page.
But that'snot to say that static is always good. Hit "refresh." Noticeanything? That's right.
Their featured products rotated. When youfirst brought up the page, you may have seen goo-goo-googlyplastic eyes, hex keys and assorted plastic drums.
Now you'relooking at dino stencils, glass bowls and coffee grinders.They've programmed the page to rotate up differentproducts...smart!They've also put their most important links at the top (ordering,sale items, what's new) and then listed everything else on theleft-hand side of the page. Also notice that these side links arebroken down into categories: the product listings are at the verytop, and then broken off in a box, we get the fun (but lessessential) stuff.
We have "Help for the stymied surpie," "Who isJarvis?" and "Items flying out the door." Below this are linksfor email updates and a check for users to be sure that the siteis secure.But go back to those product listings. Click on "Containers." Inorange, you'll see a complete listing of pages for every productthat falls under the header of "containers." That way, a user canimmediately jump to the page they're looking for, but not getlost in infinite sub-pages, because that left-side nav bar isalways there to help them get back out again.
Sciplus hasthousands of items, and this is an ingenious way to make theircontent "transparent" no matter where a user is on the site.2. Graphics: If you sell stuff online, chances are you'vealready developed an ulcer worrying about the virtues of quickdownloads vs.
product photos. Well, take a look at what theclever sciplus crew has done: they've used simple (but accurate!)line drawings to represent everything they sell.
These littlegraphics take seconds to download, but the customer still knowswhat they're in for...and I'm sure you'll agree that you wouldwant to know what a flagellation titration flask looks likebefore shelling out ten bucks for it.3. Copy: It's short.
It's snappy. It's funny as hell.
Let me giveyou an example of a product description...for tape. You'd thinkthat describing a roll of tape would be very boring, but lookwhat they do with it:"Very cool tape, whether you're shipping drugs, storing diamonds,or sealing boxes of confidential records.
Seal a package withthis 2" wide dark-blue tape that has Investigational DrugServices Venture printed on it in light blue. Any tampering willbe evident, because the tape cannot be removed without leaving adense blue stripe on the surface, boldly patterned with the word'OPENED.' One roll on a 3" core is 250 ft long.
Whoever wouldathought? Peace of mind from a piece of tape!"Now, I don't know about you, but that makes me want to buy thistape. No matter what you're selling, finding a unique voice willkeep users in your site.
Content DOES matter, no matter whatanyone says. If this tape had been described in a cold, clinicalway, it wouldn't be half as appealing.
I want to buy this tapepartly because the description made me laugh, partly due to thenovelty of it, partly due to the fact that I can think of certainboxes I'd like to seal from potential tamperers. And lo andbehold, right under this lovely description, I see the ordernumber, the product name, the price, and an orange link that saysBUY ME.
I don't have to look for an order page; my impulse buywill not be dampened by lots of clicking. If I fall in love withthis tape, I click right then and there and add it to my shoppingcart.4.
Order Forms: Sciplus has placed all their ordering informationalong the top of the page. Very saavy.
Nothing loses a customermore quickly than an obscure, buried-at-the-bottom order formlink. They also offer customers ordering options, and have codedeach option with a separate color.
This becomes a non-textordering "language" for the entire site. When you see that orangeBUY ME! link you know that it's option number three, because it'scoded orange.
This makes ordering fast 'n' easy, which means theyprobably get lots of sales for those googly eyes, among otherthings.5. Other Miscellaneous Smart Moves:They created a newsletter to update users when new products havebeen added to the site; they distribute a printed catalog, andordering it is a snap online; their contact info is easy to find,as are the addresses of their actual stores.
And the entire toneof the site is full of whimsy, good humor, curiosity andgenerosity. Sure, they want to sell you stuff-but they don't pushit in your face.
What they do push in your face is theinformation you want at your fingertips.So go into the site. Play around with it, learn from it, and I'msure you'll find other features that I haven't covered here.
Andwhile you're at it, be sure to pick up a stainless-steel pillsplitter or some rechargeable sealed-lead calcium batteries. Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com .