Great, functional design is essential for a website to make it user-friendly, productive, and efficient. Something that is unique to e-commerce websites is that each page is important as it is likely to be a product or service pages. So each one of the pages that make up an online business website will look and function differently depending on the type of web design – and each may require a different design strategy.

Necessary Functions

E-commerce sites require different functions than the average website. This is because they may be catalog or shopping cart-based sites, where purchases are made directly from the website. Following are some of the web design aspects that are needed to allow a website to properly function.

  • Navigational Menu – E-commerce web design must provide a well organized, easy-to-use navigational menu with category and product pages that have clear, descriptive images.

  • Sitemap and Search – Another important feature of an e-commerce site is a sitemap so products and pages can be easily found. A search element should be prominently displayed in the same location on every page so that visitors can find what they want. Losing a sale because a potential customer could not find the desired item is sadly common and could be avoided with an advanced search function.

  • Checkout System – A functional checkout system must be included on an e-commerce website. It should allow visitors to easily find products and then quickly proceed to the checkout page.

Once the above has been set up and is working well, other items such as a blog, social profile links, customer rewards, and even gift registries can be designed to make a website user-friendly and functional.

Know Your Audience

Knowing the targeted audience is important with any web design in order to be able to accurately predict how they will the website and they will do once once there. This is even more critical with e-commerce websites.

First the targeted audience must be able to find the website. Once a visitor accesses the website and begins to browse or search, shoppers actions must be anticipated to enhance their visit. A web design should be uniform, easy-to-use, and appealing to that audience. E-commerce website design must be geared to looking at each page from a customer’s viewpoint. All parts of the shopping experience must performs as it should, with no stumbling blocks that would allow shoppers to be confused with dead end pages, poor instructions and any type of check-out difficulty.

Remember the Mobile User

The mobile version of any e-commerce website is a necessity as many people make purchases while on the go, which requires the use of responsive web design. More and more visitors use smart phones or tablets to access the internet. Failure to do this may result in fewer site visits, fewer purchases, abandoned shopping carts, and other signs of incomplete visits.

Provide Business Information

E-commerce web design must also make business information easy to locate. Customer service email addresses or phone numbers should be prominently displayed; all shipping and return policies must be stated in easy to understand terms. Contact information and return policies can make or break a sale if a buyer has questions and is not able to promptly and easily get them answered.

E-commerce business on the internet is rapidly increasing, so competition is indeed fierce. Advertising, SEO, and other types of marketing are essential in order for websites to be a shopper’s best choice. Look at some of the popular ones and learn how they are doing so well. After winning the battle to get visitors to a web page, web design must keep customers there and allow them to easily complete all purchases!

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