8 eCommerce Web Design Mistakes You Should Avoid
No matter what niche you’re in, having a website that looks and feels good isn’t a choice anymore. Now, it’s essential, and if you want to sell online, you’ll have to follow some rules. Play by the book, and you’ll attract customers to your site, engage them, and make them come back. But, on the other hand, if you make one of the eCommerce web design mistakes, you won’t see much good from your online store. To make sure you stay on the right path, we’ll tell you about eight of the most common mistakes and how you can avoid them.
- Using Low-Quality images
Let’s face it — you wouldn’t buy anything online if the image didn’t draw you to it. Your customers think the same way. Hence, if you use low-quality images, they won’t do justice to the product, and people won’t be eager to get it.
Furthermore, you shouldn’t resort to filling your site with stock images. These are common around the web and won’t make your brand stand out. On the contrary, they’ll make your site look similar to all other ones that use the same pictures.
Instead, you should put time and effort into creating your own product visuals. Show off your products from all sides, and try to put them in a lifestyle context. Of course, you want to show people what they’re buying, but don’t be afraid to ”sell it” as well.
- No Consistency
To make your user experience high, you need to make your style consistent. And although this seems simple, a lot goes into it. You have to pay attention to your visuals, copy, and tone. And all three aspects have to be top-notch at all times. If one fails, it’ll draw the other two with it.
Here’s how to create a visual identity for your eCommerce website:
- Pick a font you’ll use throughout your website
- Choose a neutral color palette that goes in hand with the messaging of your brand
- Don’t overcomplicate it
People like simplicity, and you’ve got to give them what they want. If you mix and match different styles, you’ll confuse your visitors, and they won’t like spending time on your site.
On top of that, you need to think about the tone of your copy. You can’t be formal on one page and talk to your visitors as your best friends on another. You need to stay consistent.
- Complicated Check Out Process
When people browse your online store, you don’t have much time to make your case and make them purchase from you. Even if they decide to get something, if your checking out process is complex, they’ll simply abandon the cart, and you’ll lose the sale. Luckily, there’s a way around it.
Making your check-out process as short as possible will suit your customers. It’ll reduce shopping cart abandonment and encourage them to buy and come back for more. And if your customers have to go through a few steps to complete the purchase, make sure to number the steps or put a progress bar to let them know how much more they need to do.
- Not Enough Customer Support
If you want your customers to stick around, you need to support them throughout their buyer journey. And in a time when everything is just a click away, we don’t want to wait for help and assistance. If there’s a problem, they’ll want an immediate solution, and it’s your job to provide it.
The easiest way to provide instant support is to install a live chat widget on your website. Your customers will be able to get in touch with you or your employees right away, and they’ll find it convenient. As a result, your engagement will rise, and you’ll sell more products on the bottom line.
Still, don’t rely on live chat only. You need to make sure that there are enough options so people can choose how they want to contact you if they need to.
- Bad Product Descriptions
Not paying enough attention to your product descriptions is one of the biggest eCommerce web design mistakes you can make. Your descriptions must be easy to read and understand, in line with your brand tone, and give all the information about the product.
If your product descriptions are inadequate, you won’t sell much. And if you put yourself in your customer’s shoes, you’ll see why this is. They want to know they’re paying for something they need. If you don’t provide enough information, they won’t be sure about their decision and will look elsewhere.
And the final step to effective product descriptions is search engine optimization. If your product pages pop up on the SERPs, your store’s visibility will go way up.
- Complex Buyer Journey
Similar to product descriptions, your buyer journey must be simple and easy. If your site visitors can’t find what they’re looking for, they’ll bounce right back to search and try their luck with the next result.
No one will spend time figuring out your site if the way to use it isn’t immediately apparent. So, go out of your way to make your site navigation as intuitive as possible. You want your visitors not to think twice before they end up on the check-out page.
To ensure everything is as it should be, test the website yourself and ask other people to do it. They might point out something you overlooked.
- No Effort in Customer Retention
Some business owners these days focus on attracting new customers so much that they forget how important it is to retain the ones they have. And it might be even more critical.
Loyal customers are worth keeping around because they become your brand ambassadors at one point, which has great potential. They’ll recommend your site to their friends and family, and they’ll all end up on your pages. It’s a lot of traffic, and you don’t have to do much to get it.
If you want to build a loyal customer base, it’s enough to create a simple customer retention plan. Set up a referral program or a loyalty scheme, and watch your revenue grow.
- Not Enough CTAs
When you have an eCommerce website, calls to action are your most powerful weapon. You can use them to get your customers to follow you on social media, sign up for your newsletter, make more purchases, or do anything else you need them to do.
Of course, CTAs are simple on the surface, but they can pack a big punch if you do them right. So, don’t hesitate to point out the obvious and tell the visitors what exactly you want them to do. You’ll be surprised by how many of them will follow through.
Conclusion
And these are the eight most common eCommerce web design mistakes you want to avoid. Plan your way around them, and you’ll give yourself a good chance of making your site successful. If you feel stuck, check out a few of your competitor’s sites, and see what you like and dislike about them. You’ll get an idea of how you want your site to look.
Photo Credits in the order as the image appears in this article:
