Designing and developing e-commerce websites is a puzzle with thousands of pieces. Not only are the layout and structure of your Web store important, but you also have to keep the user experience and conversion rates in mind. These are what, in the end, really convince your client’s customers to click that shiny “Buy now” button.

In this book you’ll be studying the universal principles for successful e-commerce websites, which include improving your check-out process and making your product displays more attractive. In reality, optimizing your conversion rates takes little effort. Find out how to resolve small usability issues to immense effect. Are you familiar with A/B and multivariate testing? Use them to figure out how customers respond to minimal changes in design, content structure and check-out convenience. Customers decide whether to stay on a page in just a few (milli)seconds, so you better make them count!

Only outstanding articles have made it into the book, according to Smashing Magazine’s high-quality standards. Our authors are professionals, and their careful research figures largely in the book. Take the advice of experts who know exactly what they’re writing about.