According to Innovators Forum guest blogger Susan Fantle, B2B freelance copywriter and consultant specializing in direct marketing, here are the top ten common e-commerce design mistakes and how to avoid them:

1. Build it and forget it attitude.

Too many people put up a website and then sit back and wait to make sales. These are the people you talk to that say, "Selling online? I tried that and it doesn't work!" Continuing to add to and make changes to your website is vital. From customer retention to keeping the Search Engine Spiders happy, if your site isn't growing, it is dying. Regularly add content or products, or put up new specials and/or messages on your home page. This way, returning visitors (and the search engines) have a reason to be excited about coming back.

2. Too many clicks to get to the "buy now" button.

Keep in mind that you shouldn't have a customer with more than three times to get to a "buy now" button. With a great shopping cart, you can get people to the product in 3 clicks on a single page, and let them choose the attributes directly from the product page. Most websites didn't take enough time to map out the navigational structure before they started building their site. Don't make it difficult for visitors to need to take the time to start off on a category, subcategory, some of the subcategory, the last category, then finally the product. Most of the time this happens because they try to go in and fix what they did improperly the first time. For example: To make a purchase on an embroidery clothing website, the visitor must click on men's clothing, shirt, then on the actual product. The next steps would be to show the following: options, size, color, Upload logo, Company name, Select Font, Select thread and color. In this example, the client only clicked three times to get to the product they wanted and then was swept away and engaged in the configuration experience.

3. No media elements to keep people engaged.

A successful web site is all about keeping customers on your website for as long as possible. Adding video to your website can increase your conversion rates by up to 300%. Beyond video, adding interactive media such as blogs, customer reviews, or anything else that stimulates more than one sense are all great ideas. People want more than text, images and descriptions. In online sales, the customer can't touch or feel the product and if all you offer them is a picture or two, it can be a barrier to the sale. Adding these additional rich elements will help keep the potential buyer on the website longer, giving you a better opportunity to sell to them.

4. No follow-up after the sale, failure to ask for the next sale.

People want to know you took the time to quickly deliver information and are inviting them back with an incentive to buy from you again. Many sites do not generate automatic e-mails letting the customer know their tracking number, thanking them for their order or giving them a coupon to use on their next visit. Most websites focus on getting the sale, but spend very little time on finding out if the customer's happy with what they bought. Automation can help you quickly communicate with your customers and gave e-mail notifications every step of the buying process. You want to be able to customize the messages being sent out - be sure to use things like mail merge fields. Many web sites do not send out emails to their customers with related items that complement what they purchased the first time. If they were happy the first time, they are most likely to buy from you again. But the reality is, they probably forgot who you were and how they found you the first time. Reach out to them with a customized email reminding them that you have other great things to offer.

5. No long-term follow-up plan for non-buyers and failure to remind their clients they were happy the first time they bought.

Many web site owners do not capture information from their visitors unless they buy something. Most web sites don't encourage people to enter an e-mail address to send out additional information or tips, to sign up for a news letter or receive a free "e-Book". You want to create a reason above the fold to have people enter their e-mail address and first name at least. Then send out information to them in a conservative fashion - do not spam them, just basic communication. And think outside of the box, the communication doesn't always have to be about a product it could be about the education of why you need the product.

6. Many web sites are "the best kept secret" in their industry.

There are some truly dedicated site owners who have taken the time and spent the money to build a world-class website. And nearly all of them have the same complaint - "Why don't I have any traffic?!" Just because you have a website doesn't mean you are going to be on page one of the Google search results. The fact is that there are so many websites out there today competing for the same 10 spaces on Google, and unless you are paying for professional SEO work, chances are you will never get there. If you don't have a marketing budget, you need one. You need to spend that marketing money in the right places. I've seen site owners wasting huge sums of money on Print advertising and even roadside billboard ads! Picking the right online marketing company is as important as picking the right website company.

7. Poor web site design. When someone comes to your site you have about 5 - 10 seconds to "WOW" them. If they aren't impressed with what they see right off the bat, they will click away and give their business to someone else. Not only do customers not like template design sites, but neither does Google. Additionally, if your site layout isn't user friendly, or important information isn't immediately visible on your home page, even a beautiful design won't convert your visitors into customers. Successful sites have a phone number, return policy links, and a simple navigational structure.

8. Home page tells the wrong story.

If someone comes to your site because they have back pain and they are looking for a massage chair, first show them that you have the chairs, and then show them the features and your extensive inventory, not the other way around. Too many business owners think they know what their customers should be interested in, but in reality have no idea what the customer really wants. When selling face to face, you have time to tell the story about your company - years in business, awards won, etc. but in online selling your first priority is to show the customer that you can fill the specific need that brought them to your site in the first place.

9. The Wrong Foundation.

Many web sites are built on platforms that doom them to almost certain failure. Sites built on older programming languages or that incorporate cheap shopping cart solutions that lack the features that consumers and business owners both need. Solutions written in dated programming languages like PHP are, by definition less than "search engine friendly." Solutions written in C-sharp are the most SEO friendly available. Next, the solution itself must not only have the features your customers are looking for right now, the company must be dedicated to updating and adding new features otherwise your website will end up "dated" very quickly.

10. Buying based on price rather than on quality.

If you were looking to buy a product like a big screen TV set and all the 60" sets cost $3k - $4k and of the sudden you see one advertised for $900. Do you really thing you are going to be happy with the quality of the $900 set? And when you show up to buy the set, would you be surprised if the actual cost of the set was actually much more than the advertised price? People who look only for "the best deal" make it easier for unscrupulous businesses to rip them off. If the company you are looking at says they can do X,Y and Z but can't show you examples of companies that they have done it for, chances are they are lying to you. Believe it or not, there are companies out there that will promise you anything to get your money in their pocket. So how do you find one of the good companies?

Do your research - BBB, RipOffReport, etc. Check their references. Look at their client page and then go on the client sites. If you don't like the sites on their client page, chances are you will be unhappy with the site they produce for you as well. If you spend a little more than you had intended and get what you want, you've spent a little extra money for good reason. If you go on the cheap and get a bad website, you've wasted all your money.