According to research gathered by HubSpot, the majority of businesses are dissatisfied with their conversion rates.
Only 22% are happy with how many of their visitors are actually turning into customers. This statistic is significant. Marketing is crucial, but if your marketing is not transforming the people who land on your site into paying customers, it is ultimately worthless.
Two User Experience Principles
As one e-commerce expert has noted, “The heart and soul of a site is the sum of the e-commerce design and content choices on each individual page.”
There are many tactics for creating a website that is the best possible experience for visitors. But all the advice about what to do really boils down to two key principles:
1. Your site should be eye-catching.
2. Your site should be easy to use.
You want your website to get people’s attention. It should be clean and visually appealing. It should also grab people emotionally, whether through creating a sense of urgency or through a powerful message.
And you want the user experience to be easy. When people land on your site, they should be able to find what they’re looking for (and more).
You need to anticipate your customers’ needs and put the information that will meet those needs in locations that are simple to find, but not distracting.
There are four types of website pages to which these principles apply: the home page, category pages, product pages, and the checkout page.
First Impressions
The home page is your visitors’ first experience of you. It is crucial that you hook them as soon as they land on it. Use bold, striking colors and imagery. If possible, feature a promotion or sale that is happening for a limited time in order to create a sense of urgency.
Even if you’re not running a sale, you can still feature a central message or value that your brand advocates. Again, make sure you use compelling imagery in order to communicate your message. For example, a background video without sound is an unusual and interesting way to capture people’s interest.
You might also try the strategy that many companies do of featuring your mobile app on your home page. This is a way of getting people to connect with your brand even if they choose not to buy something right away.
Just be careful that your app offer doesn’t distract from the purchase of your product.
When keeping the user experience in mind, you always want to be aware of how your site design will impact mobile users.
Mobile commerce is the future — after all, smartphones are essentially little computers we can carry anywhere. So the easier your site is for people to access through mobile, the less likely you are to lose your followers’ attention.
One strategy for appealing to mobile users is putting icons on your home page similar in appearance to how apps appear on the home screen of a smartphone.
Pleasant Journey
Always keep user expectations and UX at the forefront of your design priorities. When it comes to your category pages, make it easy for customers to find what they are seeking.
Consider Amazon as a primary example. The company is so influential that when shopping online, people now expect their e-commerce experience to be the same as when they shop on Amazon.
One tactic that Amazon implements very well is suggesting products based on customer interests. Use your customer data to suggest merchandise that your visitors are likely to want to buy.
If your mobile load time is dragging, eliminate any superfluous content on your category pages.
You can also use carousels to showcase items at the bottom of the screen (something else Amazon does). This feature is useful because it prevents people from having to load an entirely new page just to view more products.
Viewing And Buying
Many e-commerce experts agree that your product pages are the most important pages on your site. If you have a killer product page, people will want to buy what they see there.
As with the other types of pages, the same UX principles still apply. You want to show off your products by making them look as appealing and easy to access as possible.
Use high-resolution images. Enable people to see an item from a variety of angles and, if possible, in action.
Consider implementing virtual reality on your product pages. VR can be an incredible way to show off your merchandise and is likely how people will experience online shopping in the future.
Make product reviews prominent so your customers can see that past buyers have been very satisfied with their decisions to purchase from you.
Make sure the page looks clean and that users can find all the information about the items that they could possibly need or want.
Checkout Process
It should go without saying that when someone decides to purchase, your checkout process should be as simple as possible. At this point, you’ve almost gotten your visitors to convert into customers. You don’t want to lose them now!
Make your cart easy to find on the page, typically in the top right corner of every page. Consider having a special, faster checkout process for returning customers.
Every additional step in the process is a potential exit point for your buyers. This is why Amazon has a one-step checkout. Strive to have as few steps as possible.
Do not require buyers to create an account in order to purchase from you. Allow them to get all the way through their purchase and only then provide reasons why they may wish to create an account (to track their order, for example).
Many people are so tired of signing up to sites that you could lose customers if you demand they create an account before they have decided to buy.
Ask users only for information that you absolutely need, and allow them to confirm the details of their orders before purchasing.
Be Reachable
Ensure that if customers need help, they can easily contact support. Many businesses do not want phone calls, but being able to reach a warm human being is a major comfort.
So is having sincere information and photos on your about page. Potential buyers who visit that page are more likely to convert provided what you display there makes your business more real and trustworthy to them.
Put Yourself In Your Customers’ Shoes
The most important question you can ask when evaluating your site’s design is this: based on the other e-commerce sites on the web, what will the average person expect when he or she lands on yours?
When you determine the answer to that question, ask yourself if your site fulfills those expectations. The bottom line is that you need to put yourself in your visitors’ shoes.
Understand what experience they anticipate having when visiting your site. Then do your best not only to provide it for them but also to exceed their expectations.
