Websites / Ecommerce Web Design Best Practice: What You Need to Know

Ecommerce Web Design Best Practice: What You Need to Know

Andy Thorne
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The better your website design, the better your chance of converting leads and achieving profitable growth. Here, we explore eCommerce web design best practice, to make your business success more assured.

Attracting traffic to your ecommerce website, then converting leads into sales, are two different disciplines.

You will waste money on online advertising and other digital marketing activities if site visitors click away too quickly. This is often due to neglecting the steps involved in creating a strong user experience (UX) on your site.

Your ecommerce pages must grab attention, then hold on to it. Guiding customers to the products they seek, then seamlessly transitioning them to your checkout page. Of course, abandoned shopping carts are still possible even at this last stage.

So, what are the principles of end-to-end eCommerce web design best practice?

Site registrations v guest purchases

To encourage customers to register for an account, offer an incentive such as 10% off your first purchase

In their haste to secure customer information, some eCommerce ventures insist visitors register or subscribe, before making their first purchase. It’s the sort of hurdle that puts consumers off.

The best practice for online retail UX is to offer incentives for customer registration. Such as exclusive discounts or product news. However, site visitors should also have the option to make their purchase as a ‘guest’. This shortens the time it takes to buy from your online store.

Anything that makes purchases quick and convenient wins sales and makes it more likely customers come back for more.

Succinct but impactful product descriptions

Strong content and descriptions heavily impact customers buying decision. Ensure to go into as much detail as possible

The key to all forms of digital marketing is well-constructed content. Particularly on product pages designed for successful eCommerce.

Your product profiles need to clearly show the benefits to customers, using both text and strong visual content. Of course, you need the basics (colour, size, price etc) but also strong USPs (unique selling propositions).

It’s a great idea to caption images to drive home brand messages. For example, what size is the model wearing and how does that clothing make her/him feel?

Don’t make your product pages too busy or overwhelming though (see below).

Make content easy to visually ‘digest’

Bulleted lists and breaking up text with images is a great way to ensure your content is easier to read

Your site visitors are impatient to find the products they want, with all the features they need, at a price that’s attractive. So, your ecommerce pages must be simple to visually scan.

Use bullet points, short brand statements strategically placed above the fold (top half of the page), and good quality images.

As evidence suggests website users only read around 20% of the text, make every word count.

Avoid complex product page layouts, such as fast scrolling images or zoom features that make visitors dizzy. Plan pages to be attractive, but make it easy to pin down product choices at a glance.

Mobile Optimisation

With over 50% of people who shop online using their mobile phones, ensuring your website is optimised should be your top priority.

This is not only Ecommerce web design best practice, it’s a top priority for all websites! You must optimise your website to perform well on all devices and browsers, including voice-activated technology.

Well over 50% of people who shop online use their mobile phones to search for products and engage with retailers. So, if you don’t have a responsive website designed to perform brilliantly on small screens, you’re turning off half your customer base!

Online retail sites often experience a shockingly bad lead conversion for ‘M-commerce’. Users find their pages hard to see or navigate around, and their forms impossible to complete quickly on phones. Something easy to rectify by using a responsive website designer to make sure your ecommerce site is mobile optimised.

Seamless eCommerce Payment gateways

Keep your checkout process, short and sweet. Allow customers to finalise their purchase with ease

The checkout page on your ecommerce site is crucial. Yet some online retailers put all their attention into marketing and sales, making payment gateways a nuts and bolts afterthought.

The best practice for eCommerce web design entails having clear and easy to use checkout pages. No complex forms, last-minute stock messages or unattractive shipping information. Preferably, you should also offer customers a choice of payment options.

If you choose payment gateways based on costs to you, make sure they’re one’s site visitors recognise and trust. Such as PayPal, ApplePay, WorldPay, Clearpay and Google Checkout.

Building best practice into new or improved eCommerce websites

Do any of these important web design priorities sound like a warning bell? Could they be the cause of your poor lead conversion?

The best way to achieve online sales success is to have a unique website designed, with powerful UX built-in. However, it’s sometimes possible to upgrade and improve eCommerce websites to achieve steady growth,

Get in touch with Factory Pattern, as we are the best, at making the best practice possible!