8 Common E-Commerce Website Designing Mistakes to Avoid

The last few years have witnessed the rise and rise of e-commerce. The COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, has compelled businesses all over the world to focus on developing and improving their e-commerce presence. While the popularity of e-commerce presents tremendous opportunities for companies, the increasing number of online businesses also means only the fittest will survive. In other words, it is vital for companies to make sure they make their e-commerce websites stand out – which means avoiding the designing mistakes that we will be discussing in this blog.

 

Common E-Commerce Website Designing Mistakes to Avoid

1)    Lack of customer support

Many businesses feel that customers won’t require support or assistance since they would not be making in-person purchases, – a feeling that could not be farther from the truth. If anything, customers purchasing online will require additional customer support.

Make sure that your e-commerce website makes it easy for customers to ask questions and receive adequate responses to those questions. In addition, you need to provide multiple payment methods, and have mechanisms in place for returns and refunds.

 

2)    Poor product descriptions

Once again, it is important to put yourself in your customers’ shoes, and think about the information that you would have required about your product. When preparing product descriptions, you need to make sure you answer any important questions your buyer might have about your offering. Make sure that the descriptions address every selling point for your product or service, including its essential functions and how it can help solve a problem for the buyer.

You should also include the raw materials, processes, and techniques used to manufacture your product, as well as cover any details about the warranties.

Avoid using the manufacturer’s republications as your descriptions, as search engines like Google will see these descriptions as duplicates. This means your website will not show up anywhere near the first page of the search results.

Your product descriptions are perhaps the most vital piece of your website content, and it is crucial that you give them the kind of attention they deserve.

 

3)    Inadequate images

Much like the product description, the images play an important role in providing information about the product. Since customers will be unable to feel or examine the product physically, it is vital that you allow them to see what they are buying.

Hence, make sure to include multiple, high-quality images for each product. If you offer any products that come in multiple colors or designs, you need to add a distinct picture for each color and design.

 

4)    Complicated checkouts

Once a customer has chosen a product, they want to complete the purchase as quickly and smoothly as possible. This means a good e-commerce website should allow its buyers to complete the purchase process within a few clicks or touches.

If customers find the checkout process too complicated, they might turn exasperated and end up abandoning the purchase. Your e-commerce website should offer a ‘guest checkout’ option so that customers are not compelled to go through the tedious process of creating an account. If possible, try to restrict the entire checkout procedure to a single screen; so customers do not have to spend time waiting for the screens to load at every step.

 

5)    Poor search capability

Businesses that sell a large number of products should offer appropriate searching options on their e-commerce websites. The customer should be able to obtain their required information by entering certain keywords.

According to research, customers who conduct online searches to look for products are around three times likelier to purchase. This means that an absent or inadequate search option might cause you to lose out on a significant number of potential conversions. Make sure that your product descriptions are enriched with tags and keywords for SEO.

 

6)    Inadequate social media presence

Social media is perhaps the most potent modern-day tool for e-commerce businesses. In other words, you cannot hope to have a strong business presence without effectively utilizing this tool.

Make sure you leverage the power of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube to promote your business and interact with your target audience.

 

7)    Not having a mobile-friendly design

Gone are the days when desktop computers were the only gadget that people used to access the internet. Today, an increasing number of people are making use of portable devices such as cell phones and tablets to surf the web and make online purchases.

For this reason, it is essential that your website is designed to be compatible with multiple devices. You do not want to lose out on customers simply because your website did not give your target audience the flexibility to use the device they prefer.

 

8)    Poor or complicated navigation

Nothing is more discouraging for potential customers than a website that is hard to navigate. Excessive font colors and types, difficult-to-locate information, and excessive or inadequate buttons all serve as major turn-offs for website visitors.

You need to ensure that your website is easy to navigate with a design that allows customers to easily locate any essential information such as product descriptions or images.

 

In Summary

To sum up, the world of e-commerce is getting more competitive by the day, which means that it is essential for businesses to get things right from the get-go. We hope that this blog will help you develop a website design that attracts customers, increases conversions, and boosts revenue.