eCommerce Site Design – Ten Usability Tips To Keep Your Visitors Happy!
Common errors of site design caused by a lack of understanding ‘website experience’ will simply mean your potential customer quickly becomes impatient, abandons their purchases and clicks elsewhere!
Even more than the high street, expectation levels now of the eCommerce experience show that customer demands are high when it comes to online purchasing. From instant website accessibility, to product/service finding and completing correct payment, just one error or the slightest reason which prevents a quick and easy sail through the transaction process will immediately affect the sale.
Business owners need to engage more often with their website design agency! By working together, and agreeing to make simple adjustments, often overdue for attention, to different aspects of their site layout and functionality, they will immediately see the difference in weekly, or daily traffic analytics – and the all-important bottom line!
Key areas to focus and make improvements on, are :
Use of Flash – can make websites slow to load, and may force users to download the latest version of Flash Player before being able to view! Causes impatience and annoyance, especially if there is a Flash intro which asks you to ‘skip’ and there are accessibility issues for disabled users. Remember – search engines cannot read Flash and this will affect your ranking. Use only for displaying product photos.
Search engine visibility – ensure thorough research and regularly update your specific SEO keyword phrases. There is little point in thinking of creating online marketing campaigns and building your site unless potential customers can actually find it!
Navigation and Search options – continually narrow down and refine the filtering process. A visitor should be able to select and click so they can drill down to the exact product/service item they are looking for – and in as few clicks as possible.
Displaying out of stock products – remove unavailable items from product searches, or prevent users adding these items to their baskets by telling them on the product page. If an item is out of stock, do not let customers begin to purchase it! You simply annoy potential customers once they reach the checkout to be told ‘Product Not In Stock’.
The Checkout – ensure it is not hard to find. You should not have to scroll back up to the top right hand side of the page to click a drop down menu! Ensure a checkout button is visible on every page, conveniently positioned where it is likely to be required at each stage.
Required Information – only ask for just the necessary details to complete the transaction, i.e. delivery address, contact number, and card details. Additional customer details/ data capture for future email marketing can be obtained in a less obstructive, step by step method during the process. Top priority is always to keep the customer engaged, and not cause resentment by having to answer irrelevant questions or fill out complex forms to register.
Customer service / contact options – should be as easy as possible for customers to make any product / delivery queries. A well thought out and extensive FAQs section greatly helps deal with most common – and less obvious – queries. However, it is also essential to include a phone number, which provides the customer a reassuring option of calling with any questions.
It’s long been known that providing a contact address and phone number helps to increase trust as past surveys show that customers would not buy from a site that did not provide contact details.
Delivery charges / Returns policies – always display all the relevant information on the product page. Rather than force visitors to proceed to the checkout to see delivery charges