When it comes to running e-commerce websites or businesses, business owners mainly focus on the ins and outs, like processing orders running marketing campaigns, and managing catalogs. It is always tempting to use an existing template rather than investing in a costly custom design. But If you fail to recognize why e-commerce website designs matter, it can take a toll on your business in the form of opportunity cost.
Here, you will learn why e-commerce website designs matter a lot.
Why E-commerce website design matters
When you plan to redesign your website with the help of a virtual graphic designer, you may be surprised that why website design matters a lot. How does it make a great impact on your business and your target audience? Here are some reasons why web designs are important.
Studies show that you have only 50msec to make a good first impression when a visitor lands on your site. According to research, three-quarters of visitors judge the credibility of any website from its web design. And, around ninety percent of first impressions are based on web design.
It sets the first impression
A good web design sets the first impression for your business when your target audience visits your site for the first time. Users judge your business in a fraction of seconds. It means with a good web design; you can make a positive and good impact on your audience in the first few seconds.
It aids your SEO strategy
The web design practices can influence how you can publish content that can affect the indexing of your website in search engines. It means if you have not to work on on-page SEO, then your website may fight an uphill battle to get more eyeballs on the website. There are also available SEO tools that can be used by beginners to help their website rank.
It builds trust with your audience
Websites with good designs build trust with your audience. People don’t like those websites that are poorly designed. Most importantly, if they see a poorly designed website, they will not trust your website. If you don’t update your web design, your audience may view your website as shady or seedy. Suppose a person who wants to place an order with your manufacturing company- means he is going to spend a substantial amount of money by placing bulk order. But if your company’s website design is not good, it will not convey trust. So, he will find another company to fulfill his order.
Connect with customers
Last but not least, great web designs help you foster customer relationships. The best example is the world’s leading e-commerce store, Amazon’s logo that is used on its site, packaging, ads, and others. When you maintain the steady design across your advertising campaigns, website, products, and social media, it can build and maintain brand awareness among buyers and increase online sales.
Web design best practices
Getting this right is vital to online success. It does not matter what you are selling; your customers come to your website because they want to buy something. You have done the hard work by getting them there, now provide them with a pleasant shopping experience, and you increase the chances of them making a purchase.
- Make sure the website is designed to appeal to the types of customers you expect; the website is for them, not for you. Their experience on your site will either entice them to stay and go through the buying process or go to the competition. Why not get independent users to test your website? Their feedback can be invaluable for improving the site design.
- Use appropriate colors and images that make the user feel they are in the right place when they get to your site. A good designer understands how colors connect with emotions, and if they have taken the time to understand your customers, the color should appeal to your target market. Remember, the site is not for you, so using your favorite color may not be the right choice for your target market.
- Use quality, clear images, and make sure they are not distorted when resized by the website. This is particularly important if you are selling items like clothing, cars, jewelry, etc. What you are trying to create with an image is an emotional connection to the product, and if your image is distorted, unclear, and low quality, the customer will have the same opinion about your product and your business.
- Think about the additional information customers may need in order to move forward in the buying process and provide this information as a demonstration, an image, or a description. For example, if you are selling car bulbs, the reality is most customers don’t know the model number of the bulbs in their car; all they may know is which bulb is out. Just listing the bulbs on a website may cause confusion or uncertainty and prevent conversion. However, if you provide all the relevant information for the client in a manner that is meaningful to them, you will increase conversion and get more sales.
- Every industry is different, but most sectors will have a combination of regular customers vs. new customers. You will also have customers that are at the start of the buying process versus customers who know exactly what they need and just want to make the purchase. The design of the website has to appeal to each of these customers; make sure you tell your designer the most common questions you get asked by all types of customers. This will help them in the design process and should result in a better customer experience. Customers are individuals just like you with personal preferences when making a purchase; if you follow these guidelines, you will increase sales.
8 important tips for e-commerce web designing
In today’s fast and frenzied world, shopping online has become the norm. After all, it simplifies the process of buying daily needs as well as satisfies fashion cravings. What has made it popular is the freedom to shop at their convenience, without worrying about closing times of shops. It also promotes the freedom to purchase things from anywhere, anytime. No wonder businesses which have developed an e-commerce website are running more successfully than others.
If your business deals in selling and purchase of consumer products, then it would be wise to have a well-designed e-commerce website.
Before you plunge into designing the website, here are a few things to take care of:
Easy to navigate
A website that users find difficult to use will lose its customers. Most website designers agree, if navigating the site is not easy, your customers would rather abandon their carts than continue shopping.
Offering discounts
Discount coupons and schemes such as buy two, get one free greatly aid in attracting and retaining visitors. They also help in keeping customers happy.
Product details
The e-commerce website so designed by the web design company should be able to provide a description of all the products in detail. Inadequate information leads to visitors going to some other website and thus incurring losses for your business.
Detailed information will not only compel visitors to hit the buy button but will also make them visit your website every time. Hiring good quality content writers can also help in writing the right description as they have experience in using the right keywords and writing enticing descriptions.
Not compelling registrations
A practice that makes e-commerce companies lose companies is to ask visitors to get themselves registered on the website. Not everyone will be making a purchase, and thus, for them, getting themselves registered would be a waste of time.
Reputed web design companies, when designing e-commerce websites, keep them free for browsing so that visitors feel free to go through the website before registering themselves to make a purchase.
Providing full information
Experienced web design companies make sure that when designing an e-commerce website, they include all the relevant information for the customers. Lack of information gives a bad impression to visitors, and chances are they might hop on to some other website.
It is thus essential to provide complete information about every product so that customers can make their purchase with confidence and come back again.
Lack of contact information
This is one of the worst blunders which can be committed when designing an e-commerce website. Not providing the right information keeps customers completely unsure as to whom they are dealing with. On the other hand, if complete information is provided, people know that they are making their purchase from a reliable website. It also helps them know whom to reach out to in case they have any queries when making a purchase.
Improper website design
While it is essential to provide visitors with as much information as possible, it needs to be done in an organized manner. This also applies to the way the products are arranged on the website. Arranging both the products and the accompanying information properly on the website makes it more appealing and purchase-worthy to prospective customers.
Buy button size
In the process of stuffing everything on the website, many web design companies reduce the size of the “BUY” button drastically. This should be avoided because if the visitor is unable to see the buy button immediately, he/she might lose interest and prefer buying from another website. The buy button should not only be adequately sized but should also be placed where it is very easy to see.
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