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When I’m not working on branded campaigns or ghostwriting blog posts, I'm probably playing video games, making new spreadsheets, hunting for dessert or obsessively scrutinizing my Google Analytics data trying to figure out who YOU are.
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Businesses can underestimate the ability of responsive web design to convert leads, increase user engagement, and ultimately create more sales in their e-commerce stores. Optimizing your website for ecommerce ultimately makes it easier for your customers to make purchases, and can even inspire brand loyalty.
Ecommerce optimization is an essential aspect of your website marketing plan, but it’s a practice that takes the assistance of a web design company.
Here’s what you need to know about improving your business website.
An ecommerce website must be easy to navigate, help customers find what they’re looking for, and encourage them to make a purchase. This sounds like a tall order, but utilizing a few actionable tips can help you navigate your customer through their buying journey.
High-quality web design helps customers through the purchasing funnel and ultimately increases your revenue.
We all like to do our research before making any buying decisions. When was the last time you made a buying decision without reading other people’s experiences, first? Product reviews help establish trust for your brand, but they also provide valuable information to your user.
Clothing stores especially can benefit from utilizing product review functionality. Buyers can learn more about fit, length, and color before making their buying decision, which ultimately leads to more purchases.
The number of marketing emails deleted immediately after opening is staggering. The number of emails that are never even opened is downright depressing. Modern marketing teams have learned that the best way to make their email marketing strategies work is to personalize the content. This method helps sales, engagement, and brand value to go up significantly.
Personalized content relates directly to the customer. It’s the extra details in the email that lets customers know a business pays attention to them and is there to serve them. This element makes customers feel important and cared for. They feel a closer connection to brands that put in the effort to get to know what their customers want and need.
By personalizing the content in emails, a brand can count on more engagement with customers. Customers are more likely to recognize a brand and even open their emails if they see their own name in the subject line. Personalized emails stand out in an inbox and add a personal touch among a sea of generic emails. This method offers a way for marketers to stay a step ahead of the competition.
74% of marketers find that customer engagement rates improve with targeted personalization.
Emails that have personalized subject lines are 26% more likely to be opened.
Sales increase an average of 20% with use of personalized experiences.
Today’s online marketplace is more competitive than ever. Consumers can scroll through query options in a matter of seconds, and they make a decision about your brand within a few more. Making a good first impression is essential for enticing prospects, converting leads, and gaining loyal customers.
Your website is the digital face of your company, and the first encounter most customers have with it. Your web design should reflect your brand’s personality, mission, and values. Here is how to do it:
Your logo is the first representation of your brand’s outward appearance. It says who you are, the values you hold, and how you present yourself both online and off. As such, your logo design merits careful consideration and a fair amount of brainstorming on your part. Even if you outsource your logo creation to a graphic designer, your company should be actively involved in the process.
Your brand logo design is equal parts science and art. If you want to appeal to millennials, for example, you might choose brighter colors and designs that communicate a socially conscious or playful image. Conservative brands catering to older generations, on the other hand, might choose fonts, colors, and designs that speak to their conservatism. Your logo will reflect your brand’s personality both online and off, so it is worth hiring a designer to help you communicate these ideas.
There are several elements that go into your web page design, and each one should reflect your brand’s values, mission, and personality. The beginning stages of web design may require some introspection on your part: What are you, as a brand, trying to communicate? Who is your target audience? What values drive your brand’s business? How do you want your customers to see you?
Once you have the answers to these questions, you can begin to formulate a plan for a high-quality web design. A professional website design company can also help you through this process and determine the most appropriate choices for your company’s online presence. The following can help communicate your brand’s personality and communicate your values to customers:
Your website’s color scheme communicates more about your brand than you think. As you design your website, think about the appropriateness of your design choices and whether they reflect your brand’s style and values. Color psychology is not an exact science, but it does help communicate your brand’s mission in a subtle way. Green, for example, reflects good health or environmentalism, so it is the perfect choice for health-conscious brands. Yellow communicates optimism and energy, while neutral grey is calm and conservative.
Your website does not need to be monochromatic, but stick to a simple color scheme. Overloading your website with colors can overwhelm your users and make your website less intuitive – a simple formula for increasing your website bounce rate.
Font is just as important as color when it comes to communicating your brand’s mission and vision. There are two main types of font: serif, which have little “feet” on the typeface (think Times New Roman). Sans serif fonts, on the other hand, tend to be more minimalist and less script-like. Sans serif fonts tend to communicate modernism, while serif fonts communicate a sense of formality and authority. There is an appropriate place for both types of fonts; sans serif fonts may fit well in headings and titles, while serif fonts may work well to communicate authority in body text.
Just as font and color reflect your brand’s personality, the tone of your writing throughout your website will tell your customers what kind of company you are. Choosing the tone of your copywriting requires thinking about your target audience. If your demographic is younger, consider communicating your ideas in a playful or irreverent tone. Humor can be an effective way to draw in younger consumers, if it is appropriate for your business.
If you’re in a serious or conservative business or cater to older generations, your tone should reflect this, as well. Keep your tone serious and authoritative. In some cases, even a lofty tone might be appropriate. The tone of your website echoes through every aspect of your website marketing, and that includes your content. Keep your branding consistent throughout your website – in other words, decide on what tone you’ll use for your copywriting and stick to it.
We all know that a picture is worth 1000 words. Clichés like these often exist for good reason – people readily identify with images, and they communicate that your brand has people working behind it. When customers visit your website, they want to know the answers to a few fundamental questions: Who are these people? Can I trust them? Would I want to do business with these people?
In the online sphere, we don’t meet everyone we do business with, but images and an “About Us” page make it seem like we could. Your “About Us” page is an opportunity to make a good impression and show your company has trustworthy and likable people on staff. A personal bond can go a long way in communicating both authenticity and professionalism – so include photographs and bios of your staff on your website. It’s the digital equivalent of a friendly face greeting you as you walk through the door of a business.
Lastly, don’t underestimate the importance of your website’s organization and navigability. Part of what makes a website intuitive and attractive to the eye is being able to browse it seamlessly. If it’s too confusing to access important information on your site, prospective visitors are more likely to navigate away and find their answers elsewhere – with a competitor, for example.
How can you make your website easier to navigate? This is where professional website design comes in. A web design company can help you create a website that follows current best practices and will make your website easier to use. They can use analytics to address things like load time, bounce rate, navigation, and more. Making simple adjustments can go a long way in making your website more intuitive, and hence more attractive to your customers. Usability and aesthetic design go hand-in-hand.
As you consider how to design a website, think about important aspects like font, color, and photos, as well as your website’s usability and function. Each of these will dictate your brand’s personality and the message you want to communicate to your current and potential customers. Making these decisions will require some introspection, including answering important questions about your brand’s target demographic and ideals. Remember, your branding should remain consistent across all aspects of your web design. A professional ecommerce web designer can help you create a website that accurately reflects your brand’s personality.
