Ecommerce web design is the act of building a website for a business so that it can sell its products to customers online. If you’re a business, regardless of whether you’re selling goods and/or services, you can’t afford to not have an online presence.
A good business website not only retains old customers and stops them from seeking competitors, it attracts new customers as well. Ecommerce web design is a valuable tool, which is why we’ve compiled this guide to help you understand how it works.
How do you design an ecommerce website?
Ecommerce websites revolve entirely around your business. Its design should visually reflect the colour-scheme and imagery associated with your brand. Its functionality should provide your target audience with access to the products they want, as well as the customer support that they need. On top of that, a good ecommerce website ranks high on search engine results, so it can always be more visible than the competition.
That’s why our approach to building websites for our clients involves extensive consultations so we can understand your business and what makes it great. We understand that a business needs to do more than just look good. Our designs look great, but they will also net you customers and sales.
What pages appear on an ecommerce website
The vast majority of ecommerce websites will follow this model and feature these specific types of pages (after all, why fix something that isn’t broken?). When we draft the mockups for your website, these are the types of pages that you can expect.
Home page
The home page is important to nail, because it is the first thing any prospective customers will see. It needs to be visually engaging, but not overwhelming. It needs to be short and succinct, but it needs to have enough information so that the customer knows they’re in the right place. It needs to encourage customers to explore your products, while also giving them easy access to what they are specifically looking for.
In short, home pages need to do a lot. They play a critical role in determining whether your conversion rate or bounce rate will increase. Our websites come with home pages that hook customers and lead to sales.
Index pages
Index pages are basically every page that isn’t the homepage. No matter what the purpose of your index pages is supposed to be, they need to be able to convey information in all kinds of content formats (i.e. text, images, videos, sound, etc.) while maintaining the quality of your website.
Product pages
Product pages are where your customers will be able to find products and make their purchase. The primary objective of product pages is to take the customer right to the finish line where they are clicking that buy button. There are many ways that a product page can achieve this, such as:
- High quality product images
- A simple webpage design that guides the customer to the buy button
- Short bursts of information that let the customer know what they are buying
- Widgets such as reviews that positively reinforce the product’s quality
Product category pages
Product category pages act as a bridge between the homepage and the product page. If the customer has a rough idea of what they want, but is unsure of the specifics, that is where the product category page can help them.
A good product category page aids the customer with website navigation by giving them a means to access the products that they want. It also shows consideration on behalf of the business, fostering a positive relationship between the business and the customer.
Blog Posts
Blog posts are a great way to not only attract new customers by grabbing their attention with high quality articles, but also retain old customers by maintaining a positive relationship with them by keeping them up-to-date on the happenings of the business.
With quality posts, a blog on an ecommerce website can take a life of its own, attracting potential customers who may not have had any intent to buy until said blog post brought them to the website on a whim.
What are 4 types of customers?
When building an ecommerce website, it is important to remember that there are multiple kinds of customers. If you can customise your website to address their sensibilities as consumers, you will be more likely to entice them to give your business a chance.
Here are some of the customers you will encounter online:
Price buyers
These customers will base the bulk of their purchasing decisions on the price of your products. You can have the highest, most renowned quality products available, but that still won’t lead to a conversion if the price of these products is outside of the customer’s budget.
The best way to approach this kind of customer is with discounts. Your website should be able to keep them up-to-date with whatever products have seen a reduction in price. Additionally, your customers should have access to deals via your website that can make these prices more palatable for them.
Relationship buyers
These customers base their purchasing decisions on their relationship with the business. Does your website project that you’re approachable and customer-friendly? If not, this is where certain website functions such as a blog and social media connectivity can come in handy.
If your website is too alienating, or if your customer service functionality isn’t up to scratch, these types of customers will bounce from your website in search of competition, so make sure you keep that in mind.
Value buyers
These customers are concerned primarily with the value of your products, so your websites’ product pages need to express that value effectively and succinctly in order to encourage sales from them.
Your product pages should have information on what qualities set your products apart from the competition. Good reviews should be used to your advantage, as they’re an easy to use seal of approval that will look great on your product pages.
Poker player buyers
These customers are a sort of wild-card. Not only do they fluctuate between price, value and relationships influencing their purchasing decisions, but they will regularly interface with the business in order to try and negotiate their own discounts or deals.
For these customers, you need a website that clearly communicates what sales and deals you have going on at the moment, as well as a comprehensive FAQ section and reliable customer service functionality (i.e. contact forms, social media connectivity, etc). You want to give these customers every means possible to get in touch with you so you can convert them for sales.
What ecommerce web design services do we offer?
Because we have such a strong understanding of what goes into an ecommerce website, we are able to provide high quality web design packages that will suit your every need. Regardless of which package you choose, you will receive the following:
Custom Built WordPress Website
We will build your business a website using WordPress, a powerful and versatile content management system (CMS). This ensures that your website will operate reliably and provide all of the functionality you need it too. It also helps that WordPress websites are easy to update, so you can be adaptable to your customers’ needs.
Google Analytics
With Google Analytics, you’ll be able to keep track of website activity such as session duration, pages per session, bounce rate etc. of individuals using the site, along with the information on the source of the traffic. These analytics are a valuable tool towards determining how your website can reach new customers as well as fix gaps in your current customer base.
Website Strategy Meeting
We don’t just build you a website, we involve you in your website’s creation to make sure that it’s the website that best meets your business’ needs. This is where we get to understand your business so that we can build you a website that compliments it perfectly.
WordPress Instruction Manual
We’ll provide you with documentation that will teach you how to make edits and updates to your website. We don’t just dump a website on your front porch and run, we take the effort to make sure that updating and editing this website will come as naturally to you as it does to us.
Stock Images
We use a wealth of high quality royalty free images to bring your website to life. Not only will your website be populated with content, it will be both aesthetically pleasing and very professional.
Contact Form
Your customers will be able to reliably contact you using the contact form on your new website. Better customer service leads to higher conversion rates, hence the importance of having a functional contact form. Customers will feel safe contacting you, as they know you’ll be able to reply and address their needs.
1:1 WordPress Training Session
We’ll comprehensively teach you the ins and outs of your website, so you’ll have a thorough understanding of how it works. Once you’ve received your website, you’ll be able to maintain it from now to forever.
Website Loading Speed Optimisation
Your website will run as fast as possible, meaning higher conversion rates as well as lower bounce rates. Simply put, people will enjoy using your website because they won’t have to wait.
Mobile Responsive Design
Our websites work on a wide range of mobile devices, including phones and tablets. Our responsive web design techniques ensure that this functionality does not come at the cost of your website’s search engine ranking or loading speed.
Search Engine Optimisation
We specialise in SEO, meaning that we’ll build you a website that ranks high in Google. Old customers will be able to find you with ease and new customers will see your products at the top of the search engine results page (SERP), inviting them to click and make a purchase.
Blog
All of our websites come with a functioning blog, so you’ll be able to keep your customers aware of all of the goings on in your business. That way, they’ll have another reason to keep coming back on top of the quality of your products.
Image Gallery
You’ll be able to show your customers all of the wonderful things your business is doing using the image gallery that your new website provides.
Now that you understand the ins and outs of eCommerce, we can help you boost your Shopify SEO here.
Get in touch if you’re looking for ecommerce website development Melbourne, and you want a website that hooks your customers and gets you sales.