The first online purchase was made in 1994. Since then, online shopping has overtaken shopping at brick-and-mortar stores in popularity. The amount of online shopping only increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. With this increase, e-commerce stores have started seeing more traffic than ever before. However, e-commerce companies must have well-designed websites to gain traffic and attract new customers. Let's take a look at how e-commerce store owners can create optimal websites.
1. Create a Compelling User Experiences
Any business's top priority is creating returning customers, and the e-commerce industry is no exception. Since the store's website is the visitor's first impression of the business, web designers should make it so visitors will want to return to the site. Web designers need to make sites visually pleasing and easy to navigate. The attractiveness and usefulness of a website is referred to as the user experience (UX). There are many different aspects that go into creating an optimal user experience.
2. Visual Design
Internet users want the websites they visit to be visually appealing. Many customers will leave a site if they think it looks outdated, so web designers should make e-commerce websites look fresh and modern. Web designers should also make sure that the website design isn't too crowded. Animations and scrolling text should be used in moderation.
In general, web designers should use white or lighter backgrounds so that they won't distract from the product images.
3. Think About Branding
The visual design of a website works alongside its branding. When e-commerce stores are selling products, whether it's clothing, electronics, or home décor, they need to consider what their ideal customers look for in their favorite brands. When creating a brand image for a business, the first thing to do is create a logo. The logo will appear on the site and make customers think of the brand. Web designers should also consider color and typography when creating the site's brand. If a website is too crowded or has a clashing color scheme, many people will exit the site. The website should also look modern and professional so potential customers know that it's a site they can trust and feel comfortable inputting their credit card information into.
4. Navigation
A well-designed website should also be easy to navigate. There should be a menu on every page of the website, so visitors can easily find everything they're looking for. One way to implement this is to use product categories so visitors can find a specific product. Larger websites can have a "hamburger menu," which is represented by three horizontal lines. Hamburger menus hide the bulk of the menu from the main site and can make it less cluttered. Other navigation methods that can be used include on-site search and footer pages. Footer pages are located at the bottom of the web page and can help improve the site's SEO.
5. Use Social Proof
Social proof is when people decide to make decisions on what to purchase based on the opinions and endorsements of others, such as friends or celebrities. People are more likely to buy a product if someone they trust gave it a positive review E-commerce website can use social proof by having a reviews and testimonials section. When potential customers see that other people with their interests are leaving positive reviews of a particular product, they are more likely to make a purchase from that site.
6. Mobile Responsiveness
More people than ever before have decided to surf the web using mobile devices instead of computers. In fact, 75% of consumers have admitted they will leave a site if it is not optimized for mobile. Therefore, e-commerce stores risk losing potential customers if their website isn't properly structured for mobile. Web designers should ensure that images and texts are properly sized and spaced so mobile users won't have to zoom in. Pop-up windows should also be avoided since they obstruct the user's view on mobile devices.
Conclusion
Online shopping has rapidly increased over the past few years and will only continue growing. Therefore, many people have started e-commerce businesses. In order to gain traction, these e-commerce stores must have well-designed websites that are visually pleasing and easy to navigate. For this reason, many e-commerce store owners have used the services of website design companies or freelance designers. These web design service providers will design the website to reflect the company's branding and ensure that the site will appear in search engine results.
Zorbis has provided web design services to companies of all sizes and industries since 2003. Zorbis's web design services include branding strategy and SEO. For more information on how Zorbis can assist in e-commerce website design, contact us to schedule a meeting with a team of experts.
