Users make a decision about your website within the first 10-20 seconds of loading the page, therefore you must capture the customers attention and leave a good impression within the first 10 seconds or they will most likely leave the site.This is why good web design can make or break your website, especially in the initial launching stage. Customers are more likely to browse if you have engaging web design and actually stay long enough to find out what you’re about. Keep on reading to find out the top must-have design elements to keep customers engaged and interested in your site.
###Clear Navigation When users go on to your site, they want to find what they’re looking for quickly and easily. If your navigation is cluttered and hard-to-use it will discourage users from engaging with your site. A well designed navigation should give users the information they need and more within the first 30 seconds. Your navigation should be simple and foolproof. The most common way to set out your navigation is with category headings that contain all products/services relating to the category.
###Good Copy As I mentioned previously, you need to set a good first impression within the first 10 seconds. Good quality web copy matters just as much as the overall design, and can be the difference between a customer staying and obtaining information or leaving for the next site. It’s important for your website’s message to be clear and precise. Your copy should reflect your brand and align with your website design for overall consistency. Good, clear web copy keeps your audience engaged on the page for longer. ‘Less is more’ is the key to a good balance of creative and copy, and definitely something to keep in mind when designing your overall website. One of the most common mistakes we see is web designers trying to relay every bit of information they can on the landing page. This just gets messy and confusing for the user. Use clear headings with a few simple, easy-to-understand paragraphs. Link to other pages for more information if necessary.
###Mobile-First Design With the astronomical growth in mobile devices, responsive design is now more important than ever. In 2019, your whole focus should be on Mobile, in fact you should design your site for mobile before even looking at desktop. Last year, 58% of overall website views were from mobile, and this is presumed to double within the next year. This means you could potentially lose 58% of your customers due to a poor mobile experience. Responsive design ensures your audience has a good experience on your site, regardless if they use an Iphone, Samsung, Huawei or LG. Your website should be able to adapt to any device and resize to fit all types of screens.
Keep up to date on our blog feed for more tips on how to get the best out of your ecommerce platform.
Users make a decision about your website within the first 10-20 seconds of loading the page, therefore you must capture the customers attention and leave a good impression within the first 10 seconds or they will most likely leave the site.This is why good web design can make or break your website, especially in the initial launching stage. Customers are more likely to browse if you have engaging web design and actually stay long enough to find out what you’re about. Keep on reading to find out the top must-have design elements to keep customers engaged and interested in your site.
###Page Speed You can have the best web design on the net, but it won’t matter if your customers don’t get to see it. Page speed is crucial to a well functioning website. Customers hate waiting for slow loading pages. If your site takes too long to load, your customers will lose interest. They will click the back button and go to another website instead. A lot of things can affect page speed, but the most common are file types and file sizes, plugins, javascript errors and server hosting. You can check your page’s speed by using Google page speed insights. This tool allows you to test how quickly your pages load and shows you how to make improvements. A good score is considered around 85 and a great score is anywhere between 90-100.
###CTA Buttons (call-to-action) Once you have customers on your site, you want them to convert. The easiest way to guide your customers in the right direction is call-to-action buttons. CTA buttons should stand out on your page, but also align with your overall website design. The customers eye should go directly to these buttons. By integrating CTA buttons into your website’s design, you’ll help drive better results on your page.
###Consistency One of the most important elements of web design is consistency, it helps build brand recognition and keeps your audience engaged for longer. A user should be able to go directly to any page on your website and know exactly what website they’re on. A style guide will help you keep a consistent brand image on your website and should contain every detail including buttons, font, text-colour, spacing, padding, alignment and functionality. A style guide is a great foundation to have in place when building a site from scratch, as when your brand grows, the amount of people contributing to your site will also. A style guide makes it easier to keep all website design consistent and flow throughout the whole site, no matter who’s working on it. When you have consistent design across your website, the site becomes more cohesive and easier for the user to absorb information. Your customers will engage on your site longer and help you convert later down the line.
The most important design element in keeping your customers engaged is you! Keep your content up-to-date and change it out regularly. The last thing you want is to lose customers and make a bad impression with out of date information. To set up a well-designed website is one thing, but maintaining it is a whole other level of commitment.
Keep up to date on our blog feed for more tips on how to get the best out of your ecommerce platform.