The Do's and Don'ts for Successful E-Commerce Web Design
Besides aesthetic appeal of any web site, it is the character of the site that also matters. When it comes to web designing the sites, the webmasters need to concentrate on the nature of the site and for which purpose it is going to be launched.
Incase of e-commerce web sites, extra considerations are to be made. The e-commerce sites are those sites that deal with monetary transactions. These sites carry on the sales for the company or particular brands. The e-commerce sites give priority to ‘conversion’. The conversion of visitors to e-commerce sites to online buyers depends on how the visitors feel about the sites. Besides textual content, the visual appeal attracts the visitors. Thus while designing any web site; especially the e- commerce ones certain things are to be kept in mind.
There are some do's and don'ts for successful e-commerce web design. Following some of the basic ones the web design for an e-commerce site is bound to be successful.
First let’s know about the dos for an e-commerce web design:
• The language used on the web pages of an e-commerce site should be simple and devoid of jargons as far as practicable. The texts used on the sites should be easily comprehensible to the visitors.
• The webmaster can keep a page on the site to display the products that are currently not available. This page should be regularly updated so that the visitors/ users can save their time by not ordering those items which are out of stock.
• The web design should be friendly enough so that users find it easy to navigate the site. The ordering page for the products on the site should be made to reach by minimum number of clicks. It is preferable that the number clicks for the order page should not exceed three.
• The links provided on the web pages for buying products online should properly work. Thus the hyperlinks on web pages should be checked regularly to avoid any embarrassment.
• The web pages of an e-commerce site should be well linked with each other as far as practicable. Each page should be at least linked with the main section of the site.
• The web design of an e-commerce should be made attractive yet it has to be kept simple. The users of the e-commerce site should be provided with a sense of familiarity. To avoid any confusion, it is better to put the links in the same place. For convenience of users, different colors can be used for separate sections on the site.
There are a number of things that are better not being practiced while designing an ecommerce site.
Some of the don’ts of e-commerce web design are as follows:
• On an e-commerce site, it is advisable not to ask the visitors to download any software to view any particular product(s). The viewers can seek another site where they do not have to face any time consuming or round-about process.
• Use of Flash intros is to be avoided while designing web pages for any e-commerce site. The visitors can leave without even browsing through the pages of the sites that have Flash intros.
• Use of frames for e-commerce web design is also to be avoided. The viewers of the sites do not find themselves very comfortable with the use of frames.
For easy navigation through the pages of an e-commerce site, large images are better being avoided. They take up a lot of time to load the web pages and often block links on the pages creating inconvenience to the users.
