While the skill of designing an e-commerce website may seem easy from the outside, in principle, keep in mind that it’s easy for things to spiral out of hand when tended to by a layman. A flaw in design can diminish the appeal of even the greatest product out there. To make the matters worse, you’ll take one of these bad or inefficient trends as a core idea and later make any correction pricy and difficult. This means that you’ll have to change your approach altogether. With that in mind and without further ado, here are seven design mistakes that will lead to a disaster.
Delaying for too long
One rule of launching a product that may sound counter-intuitive is the fact that if you’re not disappointed by the first version, you’ve probably released it too late. Think about it this way, early on, you’ll struggle to make any profit, anyhow, so, why not start on time. A similar thing goes for websites, as well. On the other hand, there are so many unfinished websites out there that have permanently harmed the reputation of the company. So, how do you deal with this issue? How do you get the best of both worlds? By stating that the first version is still a prototype or in an alpha stage, you can avoid getting a too much bad reputation over a couple of bugs.
Focusing on the design instead of the product
The next thing you need to understand is that an e-commerce website depends on the appeal of its products. Sure, a flashy homepage may seem like a great plan, in theory, yet, more often than not, your audience will proceed straight to the product category they’re interested in. This means that they won’t linger on your homepage for more than several seconds. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you can neglect it, however, you definitely need to set your priorities straight.
Overselling on the features
When it comes to focusing on the product, it’s more than clear that there are several elements you absolutely have to include to the list. You need a photograph from several angles (a high resolution that will allow customers to zoom in and maintain a somewhat decent quality of an image is advisable). You also need a short description of the product (20-100 words long). Finally, you need to make a short list of features. This short is what most people get wrong, seeing as how they try to impress their customers by cramming as many information as possible. Needless to say, this is bound to scare them away.
Simplicity is the name of the game
Overcomplicating is a hazard Sydney web design experts are constantly pointing out as a really risky one. First of all, you don’t want to overburden your audience with more information than they can take. Second, you don’t want to present them with too many options. One research showed that test subjects who were presented with 6 choices had a 10 times greater chance of actually making a decision than those presented with 24 different varieties of the same product. Also, by making your website clean and simple you’re also making it more professional.
Ignoring the website and platform possibilities
Every e-commerce platform is different and this is a knowledge that you can easily use to your own advantage. Think about it, in order to convince their users to go with them instead of their competitors, the creators of these platforms need to offer something new or at least something better than what the competitors are offering.
Underplaying the significance of the color
You need to pick the main color depending on your industry, your product, and your brand. As it is customary, your corporate color also needs to be incorporated into the main theme of your website. This is why, when choosing it, you should go for something that looks great across various different formats.
Aside from this, every color sends a unique subliminal message, that you should fully understand before choosing. There’s a general consensus that yellow makes people happy, red awakens passion while black beams with elegance. On the other hand, there are also some personal memories that may affect a subjective interpretation of the color. This, nonetheless, is not something you can work with.
Not using contrast
People, in general, don’t like being told what to do and where to go. Instead, they prefer to figure this out on their own. The simplest way to “guide” them through your domain is with a cunning use of contrast. Something that’s is a completely different color, shape or size than the rest of the page naturally attracts more attention. This, on the other hand, often gets overlooked by inexperienced designers.
To make the matters worse, all of the above-listed traits are fairly simple factors and elements, which might end up causing you even more grief. The last thing you want is to discover that something fairly simple, even basic, lead your entire campaign on a disastrous road of no return. In order to avoid this, all you have to do is invest some time and effort into your planning stage. See how others are doing it! Talk to experts and read testimonials of your predecessors (learn from their mistakes). These several tips alone should be more than enough.
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