Regarding e-commerce, websites serve as online stores where you can embody your business’s values and display your goods and services in the best light. A well-optimized website will undoubtedly convert your leads into customers.
There are many factors to consider before making an e-commerce website – from the visual appeal to the practical features it should have. If you are not sure where to start, click here now to partner with a web design agency that will help you create a perfect website for your business.
To understand what is desirable in website design and what is not, we’ve prepared a list of Dos and Don’ts that every web designer or business owner should consider.
The Dos
Here are some of the things you want to incorporate into your website:
Set Up Google Analytics
To understand what brings profit and new leads the most, you need to know who is visiting your website and what they are looking for. You can use different analytic tools to find out how to improve your business.
Google Analytics is the most popular analytics tool out there. This tool helps you learn more about who visits your website, how long they stay on it, and what they usually search for. Having this in mind, you will further define your target audience and develop your marketing strategies.
Actively Use Social Media
Your presence on social media should be overlooked either – 40% of people buy from a business because of its social media influence. This is because social media users trust a brand more if they have an excellent presence on social media and keep in touch with their followers.
Make Your Homepage Look Memorable
Your homepage is the first thing your leads see when checking out your website. It determines the first impression of it, as well as your whole business. You want your homepage to look memorable, and you do that by establishing a design system that will stay consistent on all web pages.
Things like logos, typography, pictures, and color palettes are what catch your leads’ attention. You can also incorporate call-to-action buttons to encourage your leads to shop from you.
Use Different Colors for Visited Links
Many website visitors open several links at once and often get confused about where to go next or how to go back to the webpage they have already visited. For that reason, websites usually use different colors for those links that a visitor has already visited.
Typically, websites use an underlined blue font to make the link stand out from the rest of the text. Once the users click on it, it switches from blue to purple. Of course, you can always choose other colors based on your website’s color pattern.
Make Navigation Menu Simple
Navigation is one of the critical elements of a website because it guides visitors to the information they require. For navigation to do that, it must be well-organized and clear to follow. The usual rule of good navigation is to use up to seven options that when clicked on, give more suitable options.
The main options in the navigation should have clear labels, such as Home, Products, Contact, etc. These will vary depending on what your business is offering.
The Don’ts
Now, let’s see what practices you should forget about if you want to have a successful e-commerce website.
Don’t Go Overboard With Colors
You might be tempted to use many colors to make your website lively and exciting. However, the effect could do quite the opposite – the visitors will find it overwhelming and confusing, move on to another website and forget about you.
Pick a few colors that will represent your brand and make it memorable. You also want to make your color palette based on what emotions you want to evoke in your visitors. For example, warmer colors like red, orange, and yellow bring excitement, confidence, and warmth.
Avoid Using Too Many Different Fonts
Similarly to colors, too many different fonts might look exhausting to the eyes. Pick a maximum of three font families and their sizes. Most websites use sans serif typography since the shape of letters is much simpler. Thus it’s much easier to read.
Keep in mind that different fonts evoke different emotions and give extra personality to your website. Instead of picking different ones, you can play with their weight and color to highlight the most important parts of your web pages.
Don’t Forget to Make Your Website Responsive
Mobile phones have replaced desktop computers in many ways, including online shopping. In fact, 91% of mobile users shop online using their smartphones because it saves them a lot of time. Therefore, your website should also be easy to use on smaller devices.
You don’t want to lose your potential customers because your webpage takes too long to load or is impractical. Not making your website adaptable to smaller screens could cost you a lot of profit loss, and not having a responsive website could also make your business look unprofessional.