Several factors determine the success and growth of your ecommerce business, including your branding strategies, customer service, return and refund policies, and more.
But there is one thing that outperforms everything else when providing your buyers with a frictionless and smooth shopping journey.
Yes, you guessed that right.
We're talking about ecommerce website design.
If you think ecommerce website design is only about choosing the right fonts, colors, and pretty pictures, then let us tell you it is a lot more than that.
Getting a shopper to find your website and stay on it isn't as easy as it may sound. Since there are many ecommerce website essentials, it is easy for anyone to lose track and commit mistakes.
We have created this post to help you design a more user-friendly and feature-rich website that persuades your visitors to take action.
The digital space is overcrowded with online businesses. The key here is to understand that not all online businesses are created alike. An ecommerce website is very different from a portfolio or a general awareness website. So you need to know the basics of an ecommerce website before you even plan to create one for your business.
What Is An Ecommerce Website?
Simply put, an ecommerce website is a platform that facilitates buying or selling of tangible/digital products or services.
Unlike in the past, when ecommerce transactions were limited to emails or phones, today, everyone needs a website to boost ecommerce sales and ROI.
The benefit of having these websites is it enables you to handle everything from a single platform- be it order processing, customer support, or payments.
Types Of Ecommerce Websites
The type of ecommerce website you should choose for your business depends on the nature of your business. For example, if you sell SAS products to other businesses, you'll need a B2B website. Similarly, businesses that sell to final consumers may want to invest in a B2C website.
How To Build An Ecommerce Website?
After determining your needs, the next step is to choose the best ecommerce website platform. There are different options available, including WordPress, WooCommerce, Shopify, BigCommerce, and Wix.
This step is critical, and if you're not confident about your website-building skills, it is a good idea to seek professional help.
Why Is A Good Website Design Critical For Your Ecommerce Business?
Your website is the heart and soul of your business. According to research, your site's web design and appearance contribute to 94% of the first impressions you get for your business.
The same research also reveals that 75% of website credibility comes from an impeccable web design.
With more and more people using social media and mobile commerce, the need to create your brand identity and raise awareness is critical than ever.
Ecommerce web design can make or break sales for your business as more than 89% of customers move to the competitor's website if they find your website tough to navigate and explore.
Here are some of the benefits you can expect when you invest your resources in creating an attractive website:
Helps Create A Better First Impression
The first impression is the last impression. No matter how premium your product range is, nobody will buy anything from your website if it is too slow or complicated.
A well-designed ecommerce website will provide visitors a good first impression, and they're likely to spend more time on it to explore different options.
Improves Search Engine Rankings
A well-designed, professional website will attract more traffic. That goes without saying that Google and other search engines rank those sites better that receive lots of organic traffic.
So, if you want your ecommerce website to rank higher on SERPs, you must consider investing in an appealing and responsive website.
Builds Trust
Visitors only trust websites that offer incomparable user experiences. Nobody is going to wait forever for your website to load. Similarly, if your products are scattered all over your website, you can't stop your prospects from hitting the back button and checking out other available alternatives.
Makes It Easier To Add Advanced Functionality In The Future
Website is a one-time investment. When you choose to go with professional design options, you get a chance to enhance the functionality of your website if you feel there is a need down the road.
Reduces Bounce Rate
A well-designed ecommerce website will not only attract your potential clients but also help them spend more time on it. This reduces your bounce rate and increases your likeliness of getting long-term customers with the potential of turning into brand advocates over time.
Increases Conversions
When your customers spend more time on your website, they get a chance to explore your entire product range. As a result, you're likely to receive more orders, which will positively impact your conversion rate.
Helps Outperform Your Competitors
Having a professional website gives your business an edge over your competitors. Therefore, it is critical to invest your time and resources into knowing what your competitors are doing in terms of website design and performance.
Helps Establish Brand Identity
Your business website is your ticket to earning long-term customers. The key here is to establish your brand identity that helps your target audience know your brand. A professional business website allows you to share your brand story in a persuasive manner that inspires your visitors and helps them convert.
Saves Money
Having an ecommerce website with poor design and slow speed can ruin your objectives. It saves you lots of money when you have a professionally built website from the beginning. First, you don't have to bear the cost of having more unhappy customers on your list. Second, you don't have to pay a premium cost to upgrade your website in the future.
10 Must-Have Ecommerce Design Elements To Drive Sales And Increase Conversions
So you see, there are many benefits of choosing a professional ecommerce website design for your business. But as we said earlier, hitting all the spots right can be challenging than you think.
The following section highlights the 10 best ecommerce website design practices that help you drive sales and conversions in no time.
1. Include Action-Driven CTAs
Adding clear and actionable CTAs is essential to convert leads into paying customers. Generally, ecommerce websites use 'Buy Now' and 'Add to cart' CTAs to influence their visitors to take their desired action.
If you're using similar CTAs, make sure you use contrasting colors to set them apart from the rest of the content available on your pages.
You can even play around with creative CTA wording to target different types of demographics. Some businesses use content to create a sense of urgency or scarcity to encourage their customers to take timely action. So, you can also do the same to boost ecommerce sales.
2. Make Branding Your Top Consideration
Picture that: You enter a store where you see two pairs of shoes with a more or less similar price tag. One is Nike, while the other pair comes without any brand tag. What would you do?
If you chose Nike, you're not alone.
Branding matters…
People like to buy things from well-known stores, and they don't mind paying a steep price for that as well.
Your goal as an online seller is to build your brand that your audience recognizes whenever they see your logo or hear your brand name.&
Your branding acts as your business's lifeline representing who you're and what you offer to your customers. It also provides your buyers a reason to trust your brand.
It is also critical to keep your branding features in mind before you design your ecommerce website. From your website design to colors, typography, and content, make sure everything reflects your business as an established business entity.
3. Easy Checkouts
Present-day customers are busy, and if you think they'll spend hours and hours filling out your checkout forms before making a $100 purchase, then let us tell you they won't.
That's the reason why many ecommerce brands are following a one-click checkout process to speed up everything.
Many customers abandon their carts only because they feel the checkout process is either too lengthy or complicated.
In addition to that, you must also make your checkout pages look more promising for your target audience. Showcase trust seals and quality certifications to help build a professional and reliable seller's image in front of your buyers.
It's also critical to give your buyers choices in terms of payment and delivery so that they feel accommodated and don't leave your site without completing a transaction.
4. Create Attractive Product Pages
The biggest disadvantage of shopping online is buyers don't get a chance to experience an in-person buying journey as they tend to do while shopping offline.
That's why it's essential to build product pages that include every possible information your customer might need to choose and buy a product.
Add high-quality product images, videos, and clear product descriptions to help your customers know the real product benefits. Having customer reviews on these pages is also a great idea as they will act as social proof and help your customers trust your offers.
You may also check out our blog on PDP in ecommerce if you are considering creating a product detail page for your online store.
5. Include Visuals
Did you know adding relevant images to your ecommerce website design can increase conversions by up to 40%?
If you don't have images on your website, then chances are you'll get more queries in your inbox. So why not display those images in the first place to gain the trust of your potential customers?
If you deal with products that involve specific measurements or features, you should demonstrate them with the help of professionally clicked images.
When your buyers know what they're buying, they're more likely to invest their hard-earned money into your products.
6. Add Scannable Content
You don't have to spend your day and night creating long descriptions as nobody will read them. According to research, online customers only read 20% of the text displayed on the ecommerce website.
So it's essential to create content that is scannable and easy to read. Instead of creating chunks of content, it is better to break down your content into bullet points and short paragraphs so that readers won't find difficulty digesting it.
The significance of optimization is crucial, though. Include the right keywords to help your content rank better on SERPs.
7. Sprinkle Reviews
Customer reviews act as social proof that helps build trust and attract other potential customers to trust your brand. Embed customer reviews throughout your website, as they will represent a professional image of your brand, and your buyers will feel more confident about purchasing from your store.
8. Optimize For Mobile
With more and more people using their cellphones to purchase online, it is more critical than ever for ecommerce businesses to optimize their site for a seamless mobile experience.
There are several ways you can get this step right. For example, avoid using large-sized pop-ups and banners that hide the entire screen. Similarly, your CTAs should be clear and visible on your mobile user's screen. Last but not least, keep your best-sellers at the top so that mobile users won't have to scroll down the page to find them.
9. Keep It Simple
When it comes to ecommerce website design, less is always more. The more you clutter your website pages, the more it makes it cumbersome for your buyers to purchase.
Keep your design clear, navigable, and user-friendly, and you'll witness a noticeable boost in your ecommerce sales without even spending extravagantly on your paid marketing efforts.
10. Offer Easy Signups
The more subscribers you have, the better. That's why it's better to keep the subscription process on your site simple and easy. Do not display pop-ups again and again, as it may annoy your customers. Having a module at the end of your website is enough to remind your customers that they can sign up to get notifications from your website.
