7 Factors to Avoid When Building Your eCommerce Website!

ECommerce Website

Millions of people patronize online stores when they need to purchase an item. According to Statistica, revenue from e-commerce in the United States alone is expected to reach 875 billion in 2022 and 1.3 trillion in 2025. For such a huge industry, an eCommerce website is more than just buying and selling products online.

eCommerce site and store owners have to implement specific marketing strategies to impress customers and make a profit.

The layout and design of an eCommerce website are one of these strategies, which many entrepreneurs ignore. This negligence has a direct negative impact on sales.

This article aims to inform eCommerce website owners about common mistakes in website design and easy solutions to these problems. 

Factors that Improve the Growth of an eCommerce Businesses

Having an eCommerce store offers numerous advantages to a business. It helps to increase reach and show up in front of potential customers, especially when the website is SEO-optimized.

It also helps to improve engagement and brand awareness since people can communicate with the business from their comfort via social media, responding to email marketing campaigns, or reviews and feedback systems. 

However, growing your eCommerce business and customer base from zero requires skill. If you are looking to improve your online business’ performance, here are a few factors that you must consider:

1. Branding

Answer this question honestly – what does your target audience think about your business? Every business communicates a message to its target audience through its values, mission, and vision. You must create a brand message for your business and stick to this unique identity at all times. 

2. SEO

According to Search Engine Journal, Google is the most used search engine platform globally. Most people use it to search for whatever they need, and you can use this to your advantage. With Search Engine Optimization (SEO), you can convince Google to bring out your page when a user searches for a product or service that you offer. 

3. User Experience

Google can direct customers to your website but making them stay on the website is up to you. If your site is not optimized for user experience, people will be discouraged from using it. Ensure a smooth customer journey from the landing page to the checkout page.

One way to optimize your website for a better user experience is by utilizing nearshore artificial intelligence services. With the help of AI, you can provide personalized recommendations, improve search functionality, and create chatbots that can assist customers with their inquiries. These features can enhance the overall user experience and help convert potential customers into loyal ones.

4. Engagement

Organic engagement is a great way to grow your eCommerce business. Find the right social media platform where your target audience is most present and engage with them. You have a wide range of options – Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Reddit, etc.. 

How your eCommerce Website Should Not Look

ECommerce stores are created to store products. However, there is psychology attached to achieving this goal. Business owners need to make sure that they implement specific strategies to attract internet users to the website, convert them into customers, and ultimately make them loyalists.

One of the biggest mistakes that business owners make happens in  eCommerce site design, and here are some of the typical errors:

1. Lack Of Design Consistency

You can explore several options for your website design – and if you check your competitors, you will find many different ones. However, you cannot afford to keep changing designs across different pages on your site. Start with a unique design and ensure consistency across the whole website.

2. Low-resolution Images 

Size is not the only thing eCommerce stores can get wrong with images – their resolution is essential for a better customer experience as well. Images with excellent quality are essential to optimize your eCommerce website, and you should employ a professional designer to ensure they are not too small or too big for the content they are used for.

3. Too Many Pop-Ups

Using pop-ups was popular in the 1990s when website content was limited. Today, including too many pop-ups on your website will piss off customers and distract them. If you must use pop-ups for your website, ensure that they are limited and related to the content.

4. Lack of Interactive Design Elements

No customer wants to waste time on your website – they want to find what they want, checkout and move on with their regular activities. You must ensure that your scroll bar, pointers, buttons, and other interactive features are fully functional to help customers have a great shopping experience.

5. Undefined Target Audience

Intentionality is crucial when you are designing a website – you must identify your target audience and design the website to look appealing to them. Not defining your target audience will affect their shopping experience. 

6. Faulty Navigation and Shopping Process

When it comes to user experience, it is wrong to assume that your website users know the next step to take at any given time. Help them navigate your website quickly and reduce possible distractions that can hinder their purchase.  

7. Wrong Text Alignment

Many eCommerce entrepreneurs overlook this point, but your website content’s wrong alignment can be detrimental to user experience. Arrange your website text in a consistent format so it’s easy to read and understand. 

How to Design your eCommerce Business?

If you are guilty of any of the mistakes listed above, you don’t need to beat yourself too much about it. You can make corrections to your eCommerce website and increase sales for your business. The following strategies will help you find your way back on track.

1. Be Simple and Professional

Keep your website design simple. Adding too many features to your eCommerce website design distracts customers from the website’s primary purpose – patronage.

2. Prioritize Branding

Branding answers the questions “who are you?” and “what do you do?”. It helps to connect with your audience on a deeper scale and ultimately increases sales. If you have a hard time figuring out if you have a unique brand, think of your business from a visitor’s perspective. What differentiates you from your competitors and makes people patronize you over others?

3. Use Colors And High-quality Images

Colors and images can be used to do more than words. If you understand the hidden psychology behind the use of color, you can use it to your advantage and improve the customer experience.

For example, red is used to show passion, and blue for credibility. Images are also crucial for increasing conversion. Customers would love to see pictures of what they are buying before making payments, and the best way to convince them is by using high-quality images.

4. Make Content Scannable

Using lengthy content on your website does not necessarily mean that customers will go through it. If you want your customers to read it all, make it scannable. The more scannable your content is, the more likely customers will read and absorb it. 

5. Use Social Proof

New customers have no reason to trust your business unless someone recommended it. Reviews are effective in building brand trust and if you have gotten positive reviews about your business in the past, feel free to flaunt them on the front page of your website. Happy customers will help you get more customers. 

Add a section of your website where customers can leave reviews and give your business a five-star rating.  

6. Make It Easy To Navigate And Check Out

Think of your customers as novices who do not know how to use a website. When they get in, what are they supposed to do? Map out your ideal buyer’s journey and develop a navigation system that makes it easy for customers to quickly move from the landing to the checkout page. 

Conclusion 

Designing an eCommerce website has several perks, and this article has provided quality tips to help you design your website for high conversion. Of course, you want a website that converts like crazy and increases your sales.

Do not make any of the mistakes listed above, and you can benefit from the advantages that eCommerce sites offer businesses. 

 

FAQs

Is it challenging to build an eCommerce business?

Many platforms allow eCommerce business owners to build and manage a website. You can consider these options, choose a platform, and develop your website quickly. 

What is the best eCommerce platform to use?

There are several eCommerce platforms where business owners can build a store. Some include BigCommerce, Zyro, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, etc. Each of these stores has some advantages over the other. You need to research and find out which one works best for your business and niche.

What are the different types of eCommerce businesses?

eCommerce exists in three different types – business to business (B2B), business to customer (B2C), and customer to customer (C2C). Shopify, Amazon, and eBay are respective examples of these types of eCommerce businesses. 

eCommerce site article and permission to publish here provided by Darko Dodig. Originally written for Supply Chain Game Changer and published on June 15, 2022.