8 Crucial Design Mistakes that Can Ruin Your E-commerce Business
Last updated on September 15th, 2023 at 08:17 am
Your web design can make or break your brand’s success. And your web design is more than just how it looks. The way your site functions and the ease of using it is also crucial.
You only have 10 seconds to leave an impression on your audience. Otherwise, they’ll leave.
In another study, you only have less than a second to make an impression and make visitors stay on your page.
The reality is, that building trust online is harder because people are less likely to see the people who run the business. They’re already judging your brand the second they arrive on your site. So, without a doubt, your site design can have a huge impact on your conversion rates.
Here are eight design mistakes that can negatively affect your e-commerce business:
1. Poor navigation design
It doesn’t matter what you’re selling, and how many videos, images, and content you have. Navigation is key to allowing your site visitors to view your products and services after they land on your site.
If you execute the right navigation tactics, it’s easier for users to complete the action that you want them to take such as asking them to buy or subscribe.
On the other hand, if you have confusing navigation, your audience will quickly leave, never to come back to your site again. That’s why your site should have easy navigation so that visitors can easily find what they’re looking for.
2. Incomplete product information
When people buy from a shopping mall, they can easily touch and feel the product by their hand, even feel the packaging.
But when they buy from an e-commerce site, they are deprived of that experience. So, you must provide as much information about the product as possible.
Let’s say you’re selling clothes online. State the size, color, and details about the material so that you can give buyers a better shopping experience.
3. Not optimized for mobile users
The average human behavior has changed dramatically ever since mobile devices entered the picture. People are using their smartphones while they’re on the go ‒ on the commute to work, their bedrooms, and even their bathroom.
Moreover, the number of mobile users has now overtaken the number of desktop users. That’s why you can’t afford to ignore responsiveness if you don’t want to lose out prospective clients.
If your site isn’t responsive, then you won’t be able to target tablet and mobile users. Therefore, responsive site design is a necessity and not just something nice to have anymore.
4. Complicated checkout process
If you want to improve your customer experience, don’t make your check-out process too complicated.
As much as you can, don’t add steps and fields that are unnecessary and will force users to place unwanted information in the checkout process. Chances are, most users don’t have the patience to go through a long procedure. They tend to leave your site without buying any product, and your conversion rates will suffer.
Make the entire process easy for them so that they can easily buy from you.
5. Missing “About Us” or “Contact Us” page
One of the most common mistakes a lot of e-commerce brands make is to leave out their “about us” and “contact us” pages.
How will you gain the trust of your prospective customers? A lot of people avoid buying products because they don’t trust brands that they don’t know.
A contact and about us page will ensure that your company information is placed on these pages with the right information for customer support. Moreover, you can also place your contact and other information about your business at the footer of your site.
6. Use of low-quality images
Images are considered a fundamental part of the design, and a lot of users these days are obsessed with visual media.
It’s true ‒ images are worth a thousand words. And placing visual content on your site tends to drive more engagement, as long as they’re relevant, meaningful, authentic, and of the highest quality.
Meanwhile, using stock photos for your images undermines your brand’s credibility. It also sends the wrong message to your audience.
Every image on your site must have the sole purpose of pushing them towards a conversion goal. Also, ensure that they aren’t cluttered all over your site.
Even if you use images that are too cool but confuse your site visitors about where to go what to click on, and how to get on the next web page, your conversions will still suffer.
7. Too many popup ads
A lot of users know that you want to earn from your site. But if you suffocate them with too many ads and pop-ups, you will come across as cheap ‒ worse, inconsiderate.
So here are the things that you should be careful of:
- Don’t place screaming ads on the top of your pages: Remember that most people come to your site to look for a solution. Therefore, an ad is probably something that they don’t want to see when visiting your site.
- Keep away from intrusive pop-ups: This is one of the sure-fire ways that people will leave your site because they can’t view what they came in for in the first place. It’s also bad for your SEO.
- Stay away from ads that take up space more than your content: This decreases your credibility. It’s like going to a store, and half of it is filled with screens that display ads. Always prioritize your store over pop-ups and ads.
8. Bad customer service
Your customers are crucial to your company’s growth. However, keeping them happy and satisfied isn’t always easy, especially if you have bad customer service.
Most of them always want to solve their issues as soon as possible. They expect to call or email without any difficulties. That’s why you need to maintain excellent customer service.
Improve your customer support teams, and take advantage of AI technologies like chatbots and online chat systems.
Over to You
In today’s highly competitive marketplace, your website should be an effective business tool. If you’re not focusing on this asset, and keep repeating the same mistakes, you won’t be leaving leads, sales, and money on the table.
