Websites are now a standard tool among small businesses, especially those engaged in ecommerce. They act as your business’s digital storefront, allowing online users to browse your products and become customers. It’s not surprising that only 28 percent of small businesses do not have their own website.
But of the 71 percent of businesses that do have their own site, how many are designed and managed by well-versed experts?
Learn why effective website design is crucial to the prosperity of your e-commerce business.
Why is Web Design Important?
Website design is one of the cornerstones of great ecommerce businesses because it facilitates so many possibilities. Just like how a decorator spruces up the façade and the interior of a store to attract new customers, so does a website designer ensure that your ecommerce business’s website remains appealing to online users.
Here are some reasons website design is vital for digital marketing efforts and your own enterprise’s profitability.
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Guides the Eye
Great web design is essential in guiding the eye movement of online readers. This may not seem like an important facet of web design, but this can help users avoid getting overwhelmed by text. It also ensures that there is a natural flow to your web pages. This makes it easy to scan your pages, which means users will be enticed to read all the way to the end and become more likely to convert to customers.
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Evokes Professionalism
Cluttered and unappealing websites will spook customers away because they do not look like they belong to businesses that know what they’re doing. A sleek, well-designed website is more likely to increase user’s confidence in your ecommerce business.
For example, people are more likely to enter a physical store if it’s neat, has attractive advertising outside and the interior is well-kept. The same principle applies to your website.
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Emphasizes Products
Your e-commerce website should always emphasize the product or services you are offering. Too often bad web design can emphasize the wrong thing, such as a picture or a banner.
Good web design immediately draws an online user’s attention to the main product you want to sell. This can capture their curiosity and increase the chances of them wanting to learn more about it, maybe even become a paying customer.
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Eases User Experience
Finally, a well-designed website is essential if you want online visitors to have excellent user experience. User experience is a vital metric to keep an eye on as it can determine whether or not an online user will keep coming back to your website.
Poor website design can also lead to users not recommending your business to their friends or peers. Ensuring your design appeals to customers is crucial in keeping them coming to your site.
What are the Cornerstones of Good Web Design?
If you are now considering redesigning your website or enhancing what the design you already have, you must know what sort of efforts can help improve your website design.
The following methods can not only help you ensure your website looks good, but also that it manages to attract more customers.
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Show Space
Too many website owners cram too much information and features into their webpages, especially their home page. Although it is important that your pages are full of great information for users to peruse, too much can make your webpages look cluttered and overwhelming.
Instead of cramming words and images into one page. Make sure there is sufficient space between pictures and paragraphs. This gives the eye much needed room to relax and avoids overwhelming readers.
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Use Right Font
Decorative fonts have their use in website design, but more often than not they are nuisances. All the curls and elaborate décor of some fonts make them unsuitable for quick perusal.
What’s more, not all browsers and computers are equipped with some decorative fonts which makes them unwieldy. Stick to simple fonts that are not only easier to read but to load.
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Mobile Optimization
More and more people are using their smartphones to access the internet. Catering to the needs of smartphone users and their capabilities is essential if you want your e-commerce website to succeed. Mobile optimization refers to a series of processes that ensure your website can transition smoothly from a desktop format to a mobile platform. This means changing font size, features and other details to make it easier for mobile devices to process it.
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High-Quality Images
Finally, pictures are important for e-commerce websites, especially if you are selling physical products. These pictures are the only way potential customers can peruse your goods. This means your photographs need to be well-shot and of high quality.
You should also ensure that every product has shots from multiple angles to give customers a complete look of your product.
Achieving excellent web design is a continual process and it’s all right to start slow. The tips listed above are just a few ways you can begin ensuring your e-commerce websites look as good as possible.