eCommerce Website Design Things You Must Know Before Website Development

• By Jennifer Garner
• 17-10-2024
• E-commerce

With an estimated 12 million to 24 million active e-commerce sites worldwide, an online store can quickly become lost in the crowd. E-commerce website development is creating the technical aspects of your e-commerce website, such as how it works, accepts payments, responds to user actions, and looks visually appealing.

Consider an online store where every click, image, and word on the screen is meticulously planned to capture visitors' attention, engage them, and convert them into loyal customers. Imagine a shopping experience so easy and intuitive that customers can't stop returning for more. This is the promise of effective e-commerce design—which we'll explore deeply in this blog post. We'll explore 14 key things to remember during eCommerce website design Orlando development.

13 Things You Must Know Before Website Development:

1. Product Showcase and Descriptions

Any successful e-commerce website must effectively showcase and describe the products on offer. After all, the primary goal of any online business is to sell its products. To achieve this, several key elements must be considered when presenting your products to prospective customers.

Your first step should be to capture visitors' attention with eye-catching visuals. High-quality product images are the digital equivalent of your storefront's window display. They enable customers to see the product in detail and understand how it would appear in their lives.

This is especially true for mobile users, who will quickly abandon your site if it loads slowly. Furthermore, the web should perform well and be responsive to any user action.

Beyond enticing visuals, your product listings must include comprehensive and accurate information. Given the lack of a physical in-store experience, online shoppers rely heavily on your information to make informed decisions.

Choose high-resolution photos that clearly and accurately depict your products. These images act as a virtual showroom, influencing decision-making for further exploration.

2. Keep it simple!

Keep your e-commerce website's design simple. Complicating things causes you to overlook the obvious. In other words, if you use fewer CTAs, blocks, colors, and pop-ups, the page will become cluttered, impacting performance.

A well-designed and functional e-commerce store attracts visitors, improves loading time, boosts sales, and reduces costs. Use a limited color palette based on your logo. Also, use plenty of white space!

3. Website safety and security

No Internet user wants to catch a bug while browsing the web, but it's not just their computer's security at stake. As an eCommerce business, you store a large amount of data about your products and the users who register to buy on your site, so security is one of the most important eCommerce website requirements. Any breach of this data puts your business at risk; your leads' contact information may be stolen and sold, or you could permanently lose essential data.

An unsecured website gives you a bad reputation on Google and other search engines. Google recently began flagging sites that do not have an SSL certificate or use the HTTPS protocol. These are more than just warnings or recommendations; with these two components, users can visit the website Design Orlando company, and if your certificate expires, you may lose potential orders.

4. Optimization before and during eCommerce website development

Regarding bad reputations, Google's new feature for users is the ability to flag websites with slow loading times. Previously, people would click on a link, wait for it to load, and then return if it did not load quickly enough; now, they may even avoid visiting a website with a slow load speed altogether.

According to Think with Google research, if a page takes more than five seconds to load, the likelihood of visitors bouncing increases by 90%. That's all the more reason to consider optimization and ensure your site performs at peak performance.

The purpose of SEO is to enhance your sales by making your website rank higher in search engines using various strategies and techniques. Part of it is to include keywords in your website's content and meta information in page titles, descriptions, and images. Many specialists forget that customers can find you via image search, but only if you add 'alt' descriptions with your visual content.

5. Ease of Checkout

To maximize conversion rates and encourage repeat purchases, ensure the checkout process is quick, simple, and customer-focused.
First and foremost, prioritize simplicity. The checkout process should be as simple as possible, avoiding unnecessary friction. A cluttered and convoluted checkout process can discourage repeat purchases and result in cart abandonment.

One effective way to streamline the checkout process is to use a single-page checkout. Multiple pages can be overwhelming for customers, increasing the likelihood of abandonment. You can improve the user experience and increase conversion rates by providing a concise, one-page checkout.

Another vital element is optimizing the checkout form. It should only request the information necessary for the delivery process. Avoid excessive fields that may turn off customers. Ask for the basics, such as the shipping address and payment information, but keep it brief.

6. Visibility of critical elements

This is one of the most important e-commerce website design tips for all entrepreneurs. While shopping on Amazon, you've probably noticed the dynamic shopping cart icon in the top right corner of each product page.

While the website's navigation is almost always visible, it disappears as soon as you begin the checkout process.

The point is that the visibility and absence of specific elements can help increase conversion rates, which you should remember during the website design Orlando process.

When designing your e-commerce website, include a 'view cart' button at the top or in the navigation corner. Ensure that it changes in real-time and is recognizable, similar to a shopping bag. Follow similar accessibility guidelines to earn more psychological points.

Ensuring the visibility of critical elements on your website is key to guiding users effectively and achieving your business goals. Critical elements are those that directly influence user actions, such as navigation menus, calls to action, and essential content. Here’s how to make sure these elements are always visible and accessible:

7. Website search and filtering functionality

People use search bars even on websites that sell nothing, so if yours does, it should include advanced search functionality. For example, an advanced feature could be a visual search, in which users can upload a photo of an item they like, and your search engine will attempt to find a similar product, if not identical.

Browsing categories is only necessary if users still determine what they are looking for and need inspiration. In other cases, a simple search will yield the desired product in just a few clicks. Some users may not remember the exact name of a product, so you should tag it with keywords or synonyms.

8. Use premium images and videos

According to Salsify's 2018 survey, 60% of shoppers in the United States look at three or four images before purchasing from an e-commerce website. Furthermore, 48% of shoppers watch product videos before proceeding with other steps.

These figures made one thing- images and videos can move your customers from consideration to conversion. Include high-quality images so that your buyers can carefully examine the product. Keep the background plain to put more focus on every single detail of your products.

9. Page loading speed

Slow websites turn off many clients. Loading speed heavily affects your visitors' user experience (UX). A page that takes more than 3-4 seconds to load degrades visitors' browsing experience. They may even leave your site permanently, which is the last thing you want to happen.

You'll need a hosting package with enough processing power, RAM, storage, and bandwidth to ensure your site loads quickly.

They can handle your site even if traffic increases or it becomes heavier as more pages, images, and videos are added. Additionally, optimize the elements on your site (images, videos, etc.) to improve web speed.

Page loading speed is critical for e-commerce websites as it directly impacts user experience, search engine rankings, and conversion rates. Here’s why page loading speed is important and how to optimize it:

Page loading speed measures how quickly a webpage's content appears after a user clicks a link. Faster load times improve user experience, boost SEO rankings, and increase conversions. Factors affecting speed include image size, code efficiency, and server response time.

10. CMS Integration

A content management system (CMS) helps you store and manage all your visual and written content and marketing documentation in one place. You can edit or add new information; the changes will be reflected on the website once published. A CMS can also help your employees respond quickly to customer tickets.

You can use a pre-built solution like PrestaShop, OpenCart, or Magento. These open-source options can be integrated into your website design Orlando code.

CMS (Content Management System) integration involves incorporating a CMS into a website or application to manage and update content efficiently. Depending on your needs, this can include integrating with platforms like WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, or custom-built systems. Here are some key aspects of CMS integration:

• Selection of CMS: Choose a CMS that fits your needs, considering factors like ease of use, scalability, support, and security.
• Customization: Tailor the CMS to your specific requirements. This might involve developing custom plugins, themes, or modules to add functionality.
• Content Migration: If you're moving from an existing system, plan how to migrate your content to the new CMS without losing data or SEO value.

11. Shipping rates

Shipping rates play a pivotal role in the online shopping experience, and how you present this information can significantly impact customer satisfaction and conversion rates.

Provide complete shipment options and pricing information upfront to avoid cart abandonment due to unexpected shipping costs. Include a prominent link on each product page to make this information available to customers, allowing them to check shipping rates before starting the checkout process.

One common e-commerce pitfall is offering inexpensive products that only charge significant shipping fees at checkout. Such surprises may cause customers to reconsider their purchase and, in many cases, abandon their carts. It is important to understand that extra costs are the number one reason customers abandon their carts.

Integrating shipping rates into your CMS or e-commerce platform involves setting up the system to calculate and display accurate shipping costs to customers during the checkout process

12. Make navigation clear

Navigation on e-commerce websites is super important. If your visitor can't find the product he's looking for, he'll quickly leave your store and head straight to your competitor's.

You probably don't want that to happen. Organize your product categories and pages properly. Divide them into clear sections, and only include important links on your main menu. If your store has many pages, organize them into second—or third-level menus. Many online stores also use footers to help people navigate to relevant pages.

13. Include reviews and testimonials

Almost everyone reads online reviews before purchasing, except those with strong brand loyalty. No, we're not creating this.

Almost everyone reads online reviews before purchasing, except those with strong brand loyalty. No, we're not making this up!

According to Big Commerce, 91% of people read reviews, and 84% believe them as much as a personal recommendation. Long story short: reviews are unavoidable.

Ask your web design service provider to integrate a review module below the product description. This will make it simple for verified shoppers to provide reviews and feedback for future customers. If you intend to launch a multi-vendor marketplace, this is critical!

Conclusion

Launching an e-commerce business varies in complexity, as do the platforms available. Whether you begin with a complex platform or a turnkey solution, you may require additional web development assistance at some point during your business's lifecycle.

You're ready to get started now that you understand the role of the web developer in your e-commerce launch and maintenance process, the functionality to consider when evaluating tech specs, and the steps to take before launch.

SoftCircles has a strong network of service and solution professionals ready to answer any questions if you need assistance.