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5 Common E-Commerce Website Design Mistakes

In the age of Amazon, it’s harder than ever to land online sales. More than half of e-commerce startups fail today, and big-name retailers aren’t the only ones to blame. It’s easy to make mistakes when it comes to the design of your e-commerce website, and this can keep customers from making a purchase.

Are you making any of the most common mistakes? It’s not too late to make a change if your website is in need of an update. This is a competitive industry for online retailers. There’s no room for error today. Make sure you aren’t making any of these 5 common mistakes to your e-commerce website.

You Go It Alone

If you’re not a professional web designer or developer, you shouldn’t manage your initial design yourself. Your users need to know, like, and trust you before they’re willing to purchase from you. This is known as the customer journey. Without proper guidance, you can end up with a website that doesn’t seem trustworthy to your new visitors.

While you don’t need to dish out big bucks on a website, you do need to consult with a professional. Tools like Humanity can help you track remote work if you’re outsourcing your design to a qualified freelancer or agency. The design is central to your brand today. This isn’t the place to cut corners.

Unclear Navigation

You have only a few seconds to make an impact on your customers. If they don’t know where to look when they first land on your homepage, they’re not going to stick around to find out. Your navigation needs to be crystal clear, including key things like customer support, contact, and popular items.

Using artificial intelligence within your design can be an effective way to help your customers find the products that appeal to them most. Navigation should be one of your first priorities when preparing your website for users.

Not Mobile-Friendly

Mobile is the new normal. Everything today is done on mobile devices, whether that means a smartphone or a tablet. Users are purchasing things from the comfort of their phones, and this means you need a website that’s mobile-friendly.

If you don’t have a responsive design that adapts to different screen sizes, you’re losing customers. It’s as simple as that. Over half of adults today make purchases on their phones. This is another reason why it’s important for you to work with a professional when building your website.

Poor Product Descriptions

Product descriptions are one of the first things users check before they make a purchase. When buying something over the internet, especially when it’s from a smaller retailer, users need to get a clear glimpse of what it is they’re buying. If your product descriptions are nothing but replications of the product manufacturer’s description, this isn’t helping you get very far.

Think about your descriptions from an SEO perspective. Redundancy in your product descriptions won’t help users find your listings from search engines like Google. Plus, if you’re using the manufacturer’s description, it will likely be the same as others on the web, thus making your page look like a duplicate in the eyes of search engines.

Lengthy Checkout Process

We all know the challenge of defeating abandoned carts. If customers have to click through too many steps before they finally check out, they’re more likely to click away. Thanks to Amazon redefining the checkout process with their One-Click Purchase feature, it’s now more important than ever to keep your steps to a minimum.

Customers today are emotional buyers. They make impulse decisions online, and you don’t want to allow too much time for them to reconsider their purchase. If you have a lengthy checkout process, it’s worth auditing to find ways to cut down on time spent entering order information.

Optimizing Your E-Commerce Website

Retailers today have a lot to gain by taking to the e-commerce world. However, it’s not as easy as big-name brands make it look. Creating an e-commerce website that sells takes time, effort, and skill.

The time to go digital with your store is now. With more competition growing every day, you need to take advantage of the time you have to get an edge over other retailers in your industry. Get started today with these common mistakes in mind so you can rise above your competitors.


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