We’ve all heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” And yet, that’s exactly what we do — we judge everything by its cover.
Ecommerce sites aren’t any different. In fact, it only takes a visitor about 50ms (0.05 seconds) to make up their minds about your ecommerce website.
What in the world can you show them in 0.05 seconds that will matter?
- Layout
- Product photo
- Price
- Color Palette
- Balancing and Spacing
- Text versus Images
- Font Styles
And in some cases, design opinions can be made in just 17ms!
So, how do you design an ecommerce website that can convert your web visitors into paying customers?
That’s what we’re going to show you.
Optimize Your Product Pages for Conversions
Because your ultimate goal is to get truckloads of ecommerce sales by optimizing your website, you need to be laser-focused on this bit. Otherwise, you’ll suffer the consequences.
Don’t do (or add) anything in your product pages that will distract them from doing other things like sharing or commenting about your product — do those later.
Focus on sales.
That being said, be sure to make your “Buy Now” buttons stand out.
Make sure that your product photos are crisp and clean.
Also, be sure to add testimonials and trust badges to remove whatever doubt your would-be customers have about your products, making it easier for them to take out their wallets.
Once they’re done with their purchase, you can send them an email asking for a product review or for them to share your product with their network.
Remember, your primary goal is to influence them to make a purchase — not to get shares, likes, or comments.
Use the Right Logo
There are companies that you know simply from their logo.
Companies like Nike and the “Swoosh,” Air Jordan’s with the “Jumpman Pose,” and the McDonald “Golden Arches” that invoke a certain amount of giddy in every kid, all have a unique logo that people remember.
This is what you want in your logo.
Sagi Haviv, a partner of Chermayeff & Geismer & Haviv, says that a good logo should never be love at first sight.
In fact, he recommends tabling the first idea you fall in love with and look at many other options related to it.
In the end, you’ll fall in love with the right one, not the first one.
A logo is literally the first thing people will recognize from your company. What you have to say, what you offer, what you do, it’s all behind your brand and your logo.
That’s why companies spend millions on crafting the perfect logo.
As a freelancer, your job is to create a clean, simple, and compelling logo without spending millions. Don’t rush through this step – take your time, make multiple options, refine the designs.
You can also play around with the colors and designs using free online logo generators like FreeLogoDesign.
This way, you can save some time and effort by getting logo design ideas from tools like these.
Use The Fold to Your Advantage
A lot of developers waste some of the most prestigious retail space on an ecommerce website with flashy headers and rotating banners.
They should be highlighting their elevator pitch, instead.
For those new to web designing, websites have an area called “above the fold.” This is the first thing that a visitor sees when they load your ecommerce website.
You have roughly 15 seconds before a visitor will make the decision to stay on your online store or leave without buying anything.
Why waste it on flashy headers and rotating banners?
Don’t give them a reason to leave. Make your visitors want to learn more about you.
A perfect example of this is the Oberlo website. Everything you need to know about them and what they do can be found above the fold. You can tell that Oberlo is a reputable ecommerce solution that helps dropshippers find amazing products for their stores in minutes.
In under 15 seconds, you already know if you need to look deeper or move on.
Oberlo maintains that strategy consistently throughout the site, too.
In their Resources > Dropshipping Hub page, for example, you would see and understand what the page is about: a wealth of dropshipping guides.
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As you land on the page, Oberlo establishes themselves as a credible resource and entices you to explore the materials to help you in your dropshipping venture.
If you’re someone who’s hungry for more dropshipping knowledge, you are convinced to stay because of Oberlo’s established authority and their page’s assured supply of guides.
You are quickly hooked — because they presented their pitch right at the beginning, above the fold.
While a flashy header and rotating banners look cool to your client, they won’t convert the same as a properly crafted hook.
Highlight the Benefits
Next, don’t waste your visitors’ time trying to convince them why your products are the best.
Instead, focus on what they really care about…
- Their pain points
- Having a better life
- Avoiding problems
- Your product benefit
You can bet your family jewels that anyone looking at your ecommerce store is looking for products that can help make their lives easier.
If you want to make money, then you need to address their desires and needs.
For example, if your website is all about helping business owners find the best workspaces for their remote employees, then you can write an article detailing how an awesome workspace looks.
By doing this, you are addressing your customers’ needs, making it easier for them to transact with you.
At the same time, you are adding value to your product by offering related content to your website visitors.
Keep It Simple
Visitors want a clean, fast-loading, easy-to-navigate ecommerce website.
Don’t make them chase down the information they need using special navigation bars, deep links, and/or external videos.
Instead, make sure that they can find everything they need in three clicks or less. While this is an unofficial rule, it’s not a bad practice to follow.
If you make your website too complicated, the visitor can become overwhelmed (especially in under 15 seconds) and leave your site without buying your products.
Increase user engagement by ensuring your that site visitors can find what they need within your website in the quickest and most efficient ways possible.
Is It Mobile-Friendly?
Did you know that 57% of internet users said they won’t recommend a business that has a poorly designed mobile website?
As an ecommerce website owner, you have to make sure that your website is mobile-friendly, clean, fast-loading, and easy-to-navigate.
If 1 out of 2 people isn’t recommending your online store, you are losing A LOT of business.
And 85% of adult users expect a mobile website to perform as well, if not better than the desktop website.
In 2019 and beyond, you cannot skip designing mobile-friendly websites. As smartphone dependence increases, so will the need to have a high-functioning mobile website.
Go Beyond A Contact Form
Contact forms are like sending a letter through the mail … it’s slow, and nobody wants to do it.
And, while you may have a phone number for people to call, it’s easier to stay online and communicate with your customers immediately — it’s what they want too.
In fact, 42% percent of your visitors prefer live chat over email (23%) and social media (16%).
So, incorporate a live chat option and start setting up your chatbots whenever you can. There are a number of live chat options which can be integrated into your ecommerce website.
Using live chat allows your visitor a chance to reach you immediately should they have inquiries about your products. Remember, you have 15 seconds to capture their attention when they first visit you.
How much time do you have to respond to their questions before they go somewhere else? Roughly two minutes…
Since your visitors want instant access to you, live chat options make the most sense.
What’s Next?
Too many designers focus on the flash and splash, and less on the actual elements of a website that can convert web visitors into paying customers — such as creating killer content for link building as part of their marketing strategy.
While your website might look awesome, you’d have to ask if your site’s new look is improving your conversion rate.
Make no mistake, the purpose of having an ecommerce store is to generate more sales.
Whether you’ve decided to bolster your website’s blog to make money or you’re into selling ecommerce products straight-up — your goal is to make more money.
When designing your next ecommerce website, focus on the following:
- A product page optimized for conversion
- A simple, clean, recognizable logo.
- Keeping the hook above the fold.
- Providing benefits to the visitor.
- Maintaining a clean layout and design.
- A clean, easy-to-navigate mobile-friendly layout.
- Providing instant access to customer support.
If you follow these principles, you should easily be able to convert your visitors from “browsers” to customers.