Few Tips For Designing an eCommerce Website
eCommerce web design is an art in itself. However, if the beginners understand few underlying principles and concepts, they can also manage it easily. Whether beginning from scratch with HTML editing software, or with a free web site template, it is important to leave a great impression in the first go. Following are few eCommerce web site design tips that will help you in designing a website that catches the fancy of the visitor at the first site and thus keeps her or him browsing for more:
Capture the customer’s attention with a crispy or interesting headline or title or a thought provoking question. The headline is the first thing that attracts the visitor’s fancy. A catchy headline will force him to read further. A first time visitor will not spend more than a few seconds in deciding whether he should browse further or not.
Make sure that the website loads rapidly into any browser keeping in mind the animations, flash presentations, graphics to a minimum. Use these features only if they add to your overall message and not only for the entertainment value.
Avoid busy background patterns or overbearing color schemes. What may look good on a drawing room wall may prove to be irritating to an online customer. Background colors for the text or written area should be limited to pale or white shades, with black or dark color faced front (i.e. verdana or aerial) so that visitors can read easily.
Create your key messages to focus on the customer’s desire, interest or needs. Then slowly describe how the eCommerce web site can help in fulfilling those desires. Few customers will be attracted in the business history. If data is essential, place it on the “about us” page.
If possible, inject a conversational or informal style into the message and the text conveyed. In most of the cases, it is advised to avoid technical jargon or dry corporate syntax. Use these only if the eCommerce sites cater to the customers who understand these languages. A site portraying personality and human element is more attractive.
Majority of the people-using internet are educated and intelligent, so always proofread text for grammar, spelling and punctuation.
It is imperative that an eCommerce web design should be clutter free and clean. Ample white space adjoining graphics and text areas makes it easy to read. The text of each paragraph should be limited to six or seven lines.
For an easy navigation, place a standardized menu on each website page. A customer should easily be able to navigate between and among web pages. For larger sites, divide the content into different sections and then create separate pages accordingly.
Openly display the company or owner’s name, an address including e-mail link and other contact method in every website design. Before putting the website on the internet, check and validate HTML code for various errors by visiting HTML validation site. The above-mentioned tips will help any beginner web master to develop a successful and effective eCommerce web site design.
