Ecommerce Website Design : What To Do And What Not To Do

Although social media is taking over the online world and proving itself to be an essential component of every effective digital strategy, a business’ website is still the first and main port of call.

Your site shows consumers who you are as a brand. It tells your story and shows people what makes you unique.

If you get it right, you will be unstoppable, but get it wrong, and you could seriously limit your own success.

For businesses that are based solely online, e-commerce website design is arguably even more important. No one will buy from a site that doesn’t impress them or appear legitimate, especially with there being so many online stores these days that have strong website designs nailed down.

To make sure your business doesn’t make any faux pas, here are some important do’s and don’ts for e-commerce website design inspired by the world’s best web design companies.

E-commerce website design do’s and don’ts…

Strong branding 

When people land on your site, they should be able to identify your brand immediately. At a time when internet crime and scams are so common, no one will trust a site if it’s unclear which company is behind it – it’s as simple as that.

If you don’t feel like your brand has a unique look or selling point, tackle this problem before you go about improving your e-commerce site. Work with professional web designers to make sure your logo, brand name, and colors are consistent with the look and feel of your site, otherwise, you risk confusing consumers. Confusion tends to lead to people dropping off your site and your business missing out on valuable sales opportunities.

To avoid making big mistakes with your e-commerce website design, it is always best to work with experienced professionals. Bigfoot Digital is an e-commerce web design agency based in Yorkshire who help many businesses across the UK by creating and building sites that are completely unique, highly functional and that bring in conversions. If you need support with your branding and/or website design, get in touch.

Effective color scheme

Believe it or not, the color schemes used for websites can hugely affect the user experience. Colour has the ability to tap into human psychology if used effectively, so make sure to take full advantage of this. Depending on the type of products/services you offer, use color to trigger the relevant emotions in your target consumers.

To illustrate this, ‘urgent’ colors like red can be used to create a sense of urgency, whereas neutral pale colors would be recommended for more placid buying, such as clothing or shoes. When working with professionals for your website design, always think about the pain points and needs of your target consumers – if you want your site to convert.

Simple user journey

The appearance of your site is crucial, but if it doesn’t function in a logical and easy-to-follow way, people will drop off before making a purchase.

If your e-commerce site has a vast number of products, think carefully about how to categorize these so that consumers can still easily find what they’re looking for. As well as having simple categories, make sure that your site allows browsers to filter their product search further. Many businesses have capitalized on the ‘filtered search’ feature of e-commerce sites, such as popular online clothing stores, where users can narrow their search down in terms of style, size, color, price, and much more.

Social proof

Whilst it’s important to display your products in the right way, if there is no trust established, your sales will suffer. Having plenty of social proof behind your products/services can be the deciding factor in a browser’s buying journey. Seeing one glowing review or top rating alongside a product can hugely push people to hand over their money.

If your business has a product/service to be proud of, ask your customers for a quick review or star rating once they have made a purchase. If people are happy with your site experience and service, they will no doubt be happy to hand some credibility your way. Build a positive reputation for your products and it will boost your conversion rates no end.

Responsive and speedy

Most browsing these days is done on mobile devices. So, if your e-commerce website design doesn’t account for this, people will find your services elsewhere. Your site must be responsive to all devices and function just as effectively on a smaller device as on a desktop.

Using platforms like Magento will take this worry away, as all their sites are responsive. Plus, a web design professional will/should understand the importance of a site being responsive, for functionality but also ranking purposes!