For e-commerce businesses, a website is the equivalent of a physical shop. And an effective site is one that drives profit by inducing sales. Designing one is no easy feat, as it requires a lot of technical knowledge and research. Some small businesses opt to do it themselves, by downloading e-commerce themes and setting up their own domains. But for some, it may be easier to hire web design firms like www.webdesignperth.com.au, to get professional and personalized insights about their site.
Investing in a website is critical to ensuring success. Here are 4 reasons to help you understand why a great web design is of primal importance to e-commerce:
- It makes a good first impression
First impressions count. Every user who lands on your website is a potential customer. It’s important to have a website that’s clean, professional, and direct to the point. Think of it as going to the mall and looking at the shops from the hallway. Would you go inside a store that looks messy and disorganized? Definitely not. But a shop that has attractive banners, welcoming staff, and a clear product display is more likely to attract a customer.
- It’s easier to tell what products you sell
Having a clean layout helps your visitors identify what you’re trying to sell. In fact, visitors should be able to tell what you offer just by your website address. A good web design showcases your products in a clear manner. Here are a couple of helpful elements that should make it easier for your visitors to identify your products:
- Descriptive product names
- Detailed product information
- Quality product images
- Product videos
- It offers an engaging user experience
Designing for success is all about user experience. It’s important for a website to be user-friendly and idiot-proof. An effective website should guide your visitors on a hassle-free journey from start to finish. You don’t want your customers to get lost on your site because they can’t find what they’re looking for. Make sure that everything is easy to find and the pages aren’t cluttered. Here are a few important things to consider when promoting a fluid user experience:
- User-friendly navigation
- Easy checkout process
- Detailed product pages
Great content is also essential in keeping your visitors and encouraging them to come back. Blogs generate traffic for your site and are a great feature to your ecommerce website. It also builds your audience and improves SEO. And for some reason, it helps to know that your website is active and is being updated regularly at least.
- It converts visitors to customers
Which is why you setup up shop in the first place, right? All the elements you put on your site should eventually turn your visitor into a customer, driving sales. Visitors should be guided properly to your goal, whether it’s a shopping cart, a contact form, or a download page. Consider the following features that help convert visitors into leads:
- Clear value proposition. Visitors should be able to tell immediately what you’re trying to sell them.
- Quality Images. Visuals are incredibly important to visitors before deciding to buy something
- Clear and bold call to action. Buttons and links like “Add to cart”, “Download now”, or “Call us” must be placed properly.
Competition is always tight on the world wide web. It helps to have a competitive design that helps you stand out from the crowd and improve sales.
Great article!
I like how this article is aimed at the client, but provides great ideas for us web designers as well. I certainly will use some of these ideas in future projects, as well as transmit them to clients. I love the idea of information gathering being the first step many clients tend to give you only bits of info at the beginning.
Thank you for writing a great easy-to-read article