With global eCommerce sales expected to be worth £9 trillion by next year, there’s no excuse for substandard online sales portals. Consumers don’t expect to be wowed by shopping sites, but they do look for effective eCommerce design from a robust platform which won’t hang or crash.
The majority of eCommerce sales are made through websites. This is most obvious in America, where a quarter of the world’s internet purchases originate. One in ten retail sales is now made online. As a result, effective ecommerce design is a necessity rather than an aspiration, whether your firm is a local specialist or an international stockist.
If your customer-facing websites haven’t already adopted the best practices, these ten tips really deserve consideration:
1. Prioritize Mobile
If customers can’t complete a transaction as easily on their phones as they could on a tablet or desktop, they’ll defect to competitors without hesitation. Large buttons and responsive menus are essential, as is a mobile-optimised template.
2. Maintain Consistency
Having chosen a responsive site design, the next step involves developing a cohesive aesthetic. Headers, menus, and fonts should be identical on every product page, and even error pages should retain a consistent style.
3. Include all Available Product Data
If you sell refurbished laptops, don’t just list the make and model. Publish RAM and SSD levels, peripheral and port lists, preemptively answering potential queries. Product photos from every angle help, too.
4. Use Common Fonts, Forms, and File Types
An eCommerce site requires stability and reliability, so it’s not the place to deploy obscure WordPress plugins. Stick to classic extensions (JPG, MP4), fonts (Arial, Helvetica) and coding (HTML5, CSS).
5. Beta Test in Every Possible Browser.
Preview the site in Internet Explorer, Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge to ensure that fonts display coherently. Test form fields on Kindles, games consoles, and fringe devices to address any issues which arise.
6. Avoid Clutter.
The previous point should ensure that sidebars don’t appear centre-stage, but clutter comes in many varieties. Hover ads and interstitials ruin the UX, while white space subliminally draws a person’s eye to surrounding content.
7. Simplify and Subtract
Effective ecommerce design requires homepage ‘Buy’ buttons and one-click ordering. Enable customers to shop as guests with a subsequent opt-in for marketing literature, ensuring a simple path between arrival and order completion.
8. Streamline Checkouts
A one-page ecommerce portal should contain a bare minimum of fields. This isn’t the time to ask for consumer preferences. Never hide taxes or postage away until the end of a transaction, and make sure that the ‘Buy Now’ button can’t be clicked twice.
9. Minimise Loading Times
Effective ecommerce design should bolster SEO results, but Google and Bing hate slow-loading pages. Abolish unnecessary code or CSS, weed out dead links and 404 errors, and never autoplay video clips as a page loads.
10. Use Online Tools for an Insider Perspective
Google demonstrates weaknesses in site design across both desktop and mobile sites, while Yoast does the same for SEO. Google Analytics reveals keyword performance and also helps to optimise sites.
Other tips may benefit specific industries or stages of growth, such as a startup firm researching established rival sites for examples of best practice. Sitemap wireframes help designers understand an ecommerce platform’s structure while hosting needs vary depending on bandwidth requirements and database structure. UK2.NET is ideally placed to help with everything from domain registration and site hosting to malware protection and data backups.
Now all that’s left to add stunning content to your new business website…
Creating Content For Your E-commerce Store
Many think that a great product, an intuitive checkout process, and fast shipping are all you need for a successful ecommerce website. However helpful these attributes are, there is yet another ingredient for the perfect ecommerce recipe that contributes towards increased searchability, website traffic, and overall sales goals.
All successful ecommerce stores share one important characteristic: engaging website content which includes a helpful About Us page, product descriptions, and more often than not, a blog. It is often said that content is king and the ecommerce industry is no exception. Let’s take a look at some useful tips that can help you craft engaging content for your ecommerce website that can help promote sales, increase website traffic, and elevate your social media standings.
While you can’t build an ecommerce empire overnight, regularly published content can boost search engine ranking and keep your website fresh. Our list of content tips isn’t exhaustive. However, it will help you get started if writer’s block has you down.
Start with Your USP.
No matter what type of content you plan to publish – blogs about your business narrative, articles showcasing your great employees, or guest posts from others in your industry – just be sure that you always begin with the angle of why your startup or small business is unique.
Be Creative
Don’t be afraid to try something different. In the competitive digital world, it’s hard to capture attention from internet browsers. A little bit of creativity, particularly in product descriptions, can go a long way. Perhaps you don’t want to reinvent the wheel completely, but make sure that you do your best to add a splash of colour and personality.
Know What Works and What Doesn’t
Speaking of creativity, not everything you try is going to be a winning idea. It’s important to pay close enough attention to what is working for your audience and what is not. Sometimes it’s okay to click the “Delete” button or start again if your idea isn’t panning out.
Always Research Well
Far too many content creators are called out because they haven’t done enough research. Don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world when you make a mistake, but do your best to appear as knowledgeable and meticulous as possible.
Understand the Trends
Keep up with industry movers and shakers to know what is trending and what is past its prime. The easiest way to do this is to read as much as you can. You can find great information in blogs, forums, and online newspapers and magazines to stay in the know.
Only Choose The Channels That Work for You
We can often get sucked into a routine and continue to post content on social media and RSS feeds that are not bringing about the same benefits as they once did. If you notice that your analytics aren’t as exciting on Facebook or Medium, don’t be afraid to drop that channel and try something new. You never know what you might find!