Tommi West - Adobe Business Catalyst: Design full-featured websites without the hassles of development

Design Full-Featured Websites without the Hassles of Development

Tommi West and John Ulliman

Adobe Business Catalyst
Design full-featured websites without the hassles of development
Tommi West and John Ulliman

This Adobe Press book is published by Peachpit.
For information on Adobe Press books, contact:

Peachpit
1249 Eighth Street
Berkeley, CA 94710
510.524.2178
510.524.2221 fax

For the latest on Adobe Press books, go to: www.adobepress.com
Peachpit is a division of Pearson Education.
To report errors, please send a note to:

Copyright 2012 by Tommi West and John Ulliman

Editor: Rebecca Gulick
Copy Editor: Liz Welch
Technical Reviewer: Pau Rodriguez Masgrau (Clubcard, LLC)
Production Coordinator: Becky Winter
Interior Design and Compositor: Danielle Foster
Cover Design: Charlene Charles-Will
Proofreader: Patricia Pane
Indexer: Valerie Haynes Perry

Notice of Rights

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact .

Notice of Liability

The information in this book is distributed on an As Is basis, without warranty. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of the book, neither the authors nor Peachpit shall have any liability to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the instructions contained in this book or by the computer software and hardware products described in it.

Trademarks

Adobe and Business Catalyst are registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and Peachpit was aware of a trademark claim, the designations appear as requested by the owner of the trademark. All other product names and services identified throughout this book are used in editorial fashion only and for the benefit of such companies with no intention of infringement of the trademark. No such use, or the use of any trade name, is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with this book.

ISBN-13: 978-0-321-80957-5
ISBN-10: 0-321-80957-2

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Printed and bound in the United States of America

Tommi West

My husband David has been a constant source of inspiration and encouragement throughout this project. I am so thankful for his endless love and enthusiasm. I dedicate this book to him and his amazing brain.

John Ulliman

Id like to thank my wonderful wife Andrea for her love, support, and especially her patience.

Thanks to Danielle Beaumont, Group Product Manager, and Adam Broadway, Adobe Product Evangelist, at Adobe Systems, Inc.

Thanks also to Damon Hampson, Marketing Manager, and Nancy Davis, Editor-in-Chief, at Peachpit/Adobe Press. Thanks to Liz Welch for her excellent copyediting services. And to Mario Gudelj and Pau Rodrguez Masgrau for their tech-editing help and Business Catalyst skills.

And a very special thanks to Victor Gavenda, Rebecca Gulick, and everyone at Peachpit/Adobe Press who helped make this book possible.

The Internet has completely transformed the way products are marketed and sold. Technology is evolving very quickly and businesses are constantly reinventing themselves. Customers want more for their money. They have learned to shop around to find the best value. They compare reviews to purchase the highest-rated items. As the expectations of potential buyers continue to increase, it is up to businesses to engage customers in new ways. Its not enough for a business to simply have a searchable site. Static web experiences and stale product catalogs do not inspire online sales.

Successful e-commerce websites require a new level of sophistication. In addition to offering secure and simple payment transactions, they must be able to track site activity and collect visitors information, and to market products to potential customers. Business owners need the tools to easily access this critical data, use site analytics to optimize their inventory, add promotions to increase product sales, and target existing customers using strategic marketing campaigns to encourage repeat purchases.

Its important to create a portal that facilitates two-way communication. Site features such as blogs, comments, and forums allow visitors to become involved with a business. The exchange of feedback and personalization generates a buzz of interest. Visitor interaction draws new customers to participate with a site, just as a lone person walking down the street is drawn to investigate the store with a crowd of shoppers inside.

As a web developer, your goal is to produce this online presence for business owners. And it makes sense to use a system that is scalable and flexible. It should be easy for you and your clients to update and maintain the site. A high-traffic site with constantly rotating inventory, timely sales promotions, and immersive features is critical to building a sustainable business model.

The site launch is no longer the moment of handoff when you move to the next project and your clients site becomes frozen. A freshly published online business is the beginning of an ongoing partnership between you and your clients. They reap the rewards of your consultation services to help them review their site data and optimize their store, while you enjoy a predictable monthly revenue stream.

In this book, youll learn how to use the Adobe Business Catalyst Platform to build successful online businesses. Youll find hands-on, step-by-step instructions that cover all the aspects of creating a modern and effective online sales mechanism. Youll discover how easy it is to combine your unique designs and layouts with your clients project requirements to deliver a custom website. Youll also see how to improve a live sites performance to increase online sales and exceed your clients expectations.

The Adobe Business Catalyst Platform is a hosted CMS (Content Management System) that includes all the features needed to create online businessesfrom displaying simple photo galleries to developing shopping carts. You can use your web-design skills to build complex websites quickly and efficiently. The pages use industry-standard HTML, CSS (Cascading Style Sheets), and JavaScript code. Programming experience is not necessary, and you dont need to purchase additional software. All you need to get started is a browser with an Internet connection.