eCommerce Website Designs that Increase Conversions

Wendy and I work with a variety of small business supporting their online marketing efforts.  Over the past couple of years, we’ve experienced a growth spurt in the support of eCommerce shopping websites for local business retailers.  One of the most common questions from these particular clients is, “What else can I be doing to ensure I’m making the most of my online sales conversions for my online store?”  Although we could pontificate on this topic for hours … days even … here are a few things to consider when working on the design of your online store.

Color - Ask yourself, “To Whom Do I Sell?”

• Impulse buyers:
  • Red, orange, black and royal blue
• Budget shoppers:
  • Navy blue and teal
• Traditional buyers
  • Softer colors - pink, sky blue and rose

More thoughts on color …

• Buttons - Red is the color that creates best conversions
• Borders - Yellow as a border color - never big blotches or backgrounds of yellow
• Green - environment / nature, or for increasing wealth
• Blue - you can trust me - it's ok to use a couple different shades of blue
• Orange - Alternative color choice for buy now buttons
• Purple - Soothing / Calming - used a lot in fashion / beauty
• Pink - for teenage girls
• White - the best color for website backgrounds

Buy Now Button

• Red (orange is ok) – countless testing always ranks red buttons the highest.
• Rounded corners
• Larger than other buttons on the page
• Average size is 150 x 35 pixels
• “Add to Cart” is the most common phrase of the button, with “Buy Now” being second
• Consider adding a cart icon to the button - it helps increase conversions

Fonts – Do they really matter?

• There is no difference in readability between serif or san-serif fonts (Times New Roman vs. Arial)
• Fonts with wider kerning and greater line spacing are more easily read.  Verdana is an example of wide kerning and larger line spacing.

Arial 12 pt

The fence was jumped over by the quick brown fox.

Times New Roman 12 pt   

The fence was jumped over by the quick brown fox.

Verdana 12 pt   

The fence was jumped over by the quick brown fox.

Hero Images – Still popular, but a slowly fading fad.

• Text on hero images … make it larger and use shorter words (calls to action).  Long sentences are not read.
• Rotating hero image - with up to three images, and one image advertising a special offer or sale
• Consider a video testimonial with a powerful quote from a customer

Search Box

• Make the field larger and longer
• Increase the text size the user types into the search field

Call to Action – that actually will increase your conversion.

• Use the word "get" - it is short, one syllable and is user-focused.
• Use the PAIN approach - Define the pain, and show how you can alleviate it
  • Anticipation pain - pain that something negative will happen
  • Actual pain - pain the customer actual has right now
  • Loss avoidance - pain of losing something (this is twice as powerful (psychologically) as the joy of gaining something)

Elements that should be a part of your eCommerce Home Page

Customer Support - easy to find how to call / chat with a representative right away

Trust Indicators -

• SSL cert - & other badges / certifications
• privacy policy
• Customer Reviews and Testimonials
• Social Proof - reviews on google+
• Review Starts - microdata (for display in the search results)
• Multiple payment methods

Localization - helps increase foot traffic in the brick & mortar door

• Local ads
• Store finders
• In-store pickup options

Recommended Products -

• Other people ALSO purchased … helps increase the overall invoice per purchase

Featured products on the home page

• Use a grid layout for the categories showcased on the home page
• Use lifestyle images to showcase categories on the home page

Navigation -

• Less is more … subcategorize and group into a few top level categories, and use dropdown menus to get to more specific category pages
• Never go beyond three levels deep
  • Must have a search function to be able to search all product items

Final Thoughts … Content - Urgency & Scarcity

• Urgency is about timing.  It is encourages the user to act/buy now.  Urgency makes the buyer feel the need to act quickly to complete the purchase.
• Create a deadline, such as "Sales ends on …"  or  "For the next 24 hours …."
• Use words like "now", "hurry", "instant", "immediately"
• Use urgent colors include red, orange,  yellow - for your call to action (such as buy now) buttons
• Use buttons instead of just link text for call to action buttons

• Scarcity is limitations placed on the product/service.  FOMO (fear of missing out) is what encourages the buyer to make the decision to buy.
• Low supply of inventory - limit quantity left in available stock.
• Sale end dates

It’s time to take a look at the design of your online site and ask yourself, “Am I doing everything that I can to convert my customers?”  Use this blog as a check list to determine where you can easily implement a few minor tweaks, and produce a result that includes an increased return on investment!

Share this post!