18 Ecommerce Web Design Tips for Higher Conversion Rate

Having a well-designed ecommerce site is the key to gaining more customers. After all, one of your goals is to make the user’s customer experience a rich one, which in turn, boosts the conversion rates for a website.

When starting a useful and engaging ecommerce site, it isn’t hard to turn potential customers into buyers. But designing a site that easily converts isn’t easy. If you’re frustrated because you’re unable to increase your conversion rates, don’t worry. In this post, we will talk about some creative ecommerce web design tips that will surely boost your conversion rates.

Alright, let’s get into it.

1. Keep in mind the 8-second rule

People are getting more and more impatient when surfing the net. They want quick answers and solutions to whatever problems they are facing.

Consider the 8-second rule. It is the length of time that you can convince a web user to stay on your site. This rule is based on the fact that approximately 50% of sites lose around half of their web visitors in the first eight seconds of coming into their website.

That means, when it comes to your site speed, every second is vital. Solving issues related to site speed is essential. You must also create an excellent first impression of your site one that encourages them to stay.

2. Always consider the visual hierarchy

In its most basic form, visual hierarchy is the arrangement of layouts in order of importance. Because the eyes keep on scanning based on what it sees to get vital information, it’s crucial to focus on one thing at a time.

For instance, instead of using carousel sliders, focus on letting a user view one slide at a time. That way, you’re sure that they aren’t bombarded with so much information all at once.

3. Do not neglect typography

Typography is a crucial element in your site. Consider it as the primary vehicle to communicate your message. Do it the right way, and it becomes powerful. Get it wrong, and everything goes down the drain your entire design fails, no matter how much you’ve considered your code, and writing.

When a user easily gets frustrated with a site, it’s common for them to click and tap away. Meanwhile, well-crafted typography can make the entire experience as frictionless as possible and delightful.

4. Try implementing the rule of thirds

The rule of thirds is a vital photography principle that you can effectively apply in your site design. Many ecommerce web design agencies have started using this rule to significant effect. The rule of thirds helps them arrange their product photos and information in a way that’s pleasing to the eye and subconsciously draws visitors in for a closer look.

According to this principle, you’re supposed to visually divide a web page or image horizontally and vertically into thirds. The four intersection points in the middle are pretty strategic. When you place various elements on these points, it creates a more powerful image or design.

5. Provide user-friendly navigation

It shouldn’t be hard for your users to find what they’re searching for on your site. For instance, most websites have the primary navigation menu positioned horizontally at the very top of each page. If you have it someplace else, then you can easily confuse your visitors.

Also, focus on having choices on your menu. That way, users wouldn’t have a hard time finding what they need. Remember that the more options you give someone, the harder it will be for them to make a decision.

Having an intricate design and navigation will crush your conversion rates.

6. Choose an excellent colour scheme that suits your brand

The colour choices that you make in your brand are more important than you think.

The best way to pick your colour scheme is through branding. Go back to your brand logo. Do the colours in your site fit your brand image? If not, then it’s high time to make a change.

7. Use high-quality photos only

In the physical world, users can directly touch or look at a product they are purchasing. However, online, that isn’t the case. One of the reliable factors users look at is product imagery.

You don’t want to represent your products through lousy photography. You need to make great product photography that makes an impact. Here is a comprehensive guide for DIY product photography.

8. Provide an informative product description

Product descriptions aid prospects in deciding whether they want to purchase something or not. It entices customers to purchase something by letting them know about the product’s benefits, and how the product can improve their lives and solve their problems.

It also serves to ease customers’ worries by answering their questions, and effectively addressing their concerns. That way, they’re more comfortable clicking on the purchase or buy now button.

9. Have clear call-to-actions

You shouldn’t bury CTAs on your site. It needs to be big, bold, and powerful to stand out.

The thing is, only 47 of the sites have a CTA button that can be seen in less than three seconds. CTAs are so vital because you can’t drive conversions in them without an effective CTA button.

10. Make your website compatible with all devices

These days, mobile internet traffic has now surpassed desktop, as this trend continues to rise. Another thing that you need to take note of is that 57 per cent of web users won’t recommend a business to others if a site’s mobile website is poorly designed.

People will judge whether your site is responsive or not. If you have a website that isn’t responsive, then it needs to be fixed and solved immediately.

11. Optimise your websites speed

You might be wondering what your site speed has to do with design. Well, everything. Whenever you’re adding various elements to your site videos, images, and multiple media files, your site loading speed is also affected.

Remember that sites with slow loading times lead to higher abandonment rates. If your page is taking too long to load, then it could be troublesome for you.

That’s why it’s essential to:

• Reduce the file size of your images.
• Decrease HTTP requests.
• Utilise browser caching tools.
• Combine and minify your files.

12. Keep it all simple

Have you heard the mantra, Keep it Simple, Stupid, before? Well, it also applies to your ecommerce site design. When it comes to driving conversions, simplicity is vital.

Each time you’re creating a page, ask yourself how you can make it even simpler. Not only that you’ll come up with more aesthetically pleasing results, but it also converts better.

13. Highlight top-performing items front and centre

By highlighting your best-selling items or spotlighting popular categories, you can drive more sales by increasing customer engagement.

Whether it’s the latest smartwatch model, eco-friendly skincare items, or a midi dress that is for all body types, showcasing the hot-selling products on your home page does send online shoppers into a frenzy. Because customers easily notice them and become intrigued. And to showcase your top-performing products, you can use visual cues like contrasting colours, larger images, eye-catching text, or special banners.

14. Implement effective SEO strategies

SEO is important in web design for a comprehensive user experience. If you skip it by mistake or on purpose, you will not just struggle to get ranked on search engines but in gaining a higher conversion rate as well.

Because SEO tactics cover mobile responsiveness, readability, website navigation, alt tags, metadata and many necessary components during website design. So, for an outstanding ecommerce web design that is optimised for search engines, make sure to pick the right ecommerce website builder that will come with built-in SEO tools.

15. Build brand consistency

A website is the first exposure your potential customers have to a business, which is why branding is important to your website in improving the recognition of your company. Maintaining consistent branding and a professional look will build credibility and financial value and bring in new customers. Your business logo holds utmost importance; place it strategically.

From the colours to layout to fonts to words, represent your brand in all ways possible and give your audience more insight into what the brand is all about. You can also try on adding personal details like a real name, face or story to add genuine human touches to your website.

16. Make the content scannable

Most web users don’t read each word of a website. They simply scan the text and look for key information. So, when you produce scannable content, it will help your visitor consume your website content in a chunk in the minimum possible time.

To make the most important and relevant information on your site easy to find, implement the right scanning pattern and implement an understandable visual hierarchy considering the size, colour, proximity and contrast. Use visuals to convey the central message and create a bulleted or numbered list to organise data or information.

17. Include testimonials

Using customer testimonials in your content will put your brand in front of more searchers. Why? Because testimonials are those content that search engines can crawl to rank your site higher, they also these works as first-hand proof to your potential customers that they put trust on.

Reviews, social media posts, quotes, and customer interviews are some of the most popular types of testimonials that are often used to build trust in your business. As trust is one of the key factors in gaining new customers, testimonials are crucial.

18. Add a search bar

By having a search bar on your website, you get a much better understanding of what your customers are hoping to find on your website. And you can utilise this as an advantage to modify your page content, hierarchy or design. In addition, a search function provides a positive user experience as it allows visitors to find what they need faster.

Otherwise, it turns difficult to search a particular topic or page just by clicking around between a bunch of categorised pages available on a site. There are many places to display your search bar. Mostly, it is used at the top right or top centre of the web page.

Conclusion

Now that you understand these 18 design principles, it’s time to apply them to your site and see the results in the long run. Remember that your choices will have a significant impact on whether your website will be successful or not.