For years, everyone has been looking for the ultimate order page style, design and structure. If you ask me, there isn't one. Bugatti cars can accelerate from 0-60 mph in 2.5 seconds. Is this a good car? Yes of course, but is this the right car for my grandmother? I don't think so.

Same goes for order pages. Flooding our order pages with cross-sales, up-sales, coupon codes, customized fields, and multiple page design is non-intimidating for some clients but it may not work quite as well for others.

So the first tip is - know your clients. If your client base is less tech savvy and can get confused or frustrated by too many options and order page steps, just don't do it.

The way I see it, the order process should be as quick as possible, thus maximizing the sales potential.

Here's an example of a user friendly one step order page:

https://secure.payproglobal.com/orderpage.aspx?products=31109

***this order page can be branded to your liking. Each component can be relocated to any location on the screen that will fit your web site design best.

Looking at the examples above you will see that it doesn't matter what the client does on the order page, the order page will never re-load. Changing the quantity, language, currency and even the payment method will only update the display, but the page will never re-load. You wont need to worry any longer about your client's bad internet connection, or having them lost in the process due to a page load error, which in some countries happens more often than we think.

Use order pages that support Google Analytics tracking code placement. Make sure you place the code on the order page and on the "thank you" page. Google built better macro tracking tools than any payment processor can probably build and it's a shame not to use them.

All the reports offered by the payment processors are good if you want to get a few more sales from the micro data, however, Google Analytics is great and really helps you understand the issues you have in certain areas.

Google Analytics is easy to use and is worth keeping an eye on.

Whatever order pages you are using, make sure they are friendly to the less tech savvy users. Have the order pages provide feedback on every mistake the customer makes while placing the order. The problematic fields should be clearly marked so it is easy to understand where the problem is.

In addition, make sure that whatever payment method the customer chooses, he will receive some indication as to what is about to happen. For example: on the above order page link, once a customer has selected PayPal as payment method he will receive this message colored in red:

Clicking on "Submit Order" will take you to PayPal Secure checkout pages.

It is highly recommended to use the same email address through all parts of the payment form.

Clients want to feel they are buying from a company that will be there for them if anything goes wrong. Stating your friendly return policy is great but more is needed.

I have personally heard of an increase in sales revenue for companies who display an easily noticeable 800 number. Placing the number on both the order page and your web site is very important and very helpful.

Nobody really expects you to answer the phone 24/7, so specifying your working hours is important to prevent your clients from thinking you're a "non-responsive company".

It would be a good idea to present the payment processor's phone number for sales inquiries and your number for technical inquiries. When you are not working, make sure to have a friendly voice mail that states your working hours.

Some 3rd parties offer customer support 24/7. There is no reason not to use them to your advantage and place their number online.

Leaving "Live chat" and "Call me" buttons on your site would also benefit you greatly to be perceived as a friendly and reachable company.

A backup CD and a download warranty is nice, however if offering them does not really add any value to your product than just don't do it.

Same thought goes with multi currency. It's fine to make money with different base currency pricing, however, I've already heard from a few European clients that noticed that they are paying much more and decided not to purchase at all. If you decide to go this route, don't take it too far.

Don't offer too much cross-sale items as promotional offers. Sometimes it's better to close one sale and email additional offers with "how do you like the product so far?" than flooding the order page with offers.