The greatest temptations to excess come from enthusiasm and the desire to stand out from the crowd This is true in all of the visual arts from the scale of architecture on down. While deliberate excess may be considered a statement in and of itself, on a website designed for eCommerce, it can be a distraction or a turn-off for potential customers.
When the Latest and Greatest Design Isn’t So Great for Your Traffic Stats.
As a merchant, your storefront is the face of your business, and while a lot of ornamentation and flashing signs can garner passing attention, unless the passerby can find the front door you’re not getting that sale. Likewise, in eCommerce the desire for the ‘latest and greatest’ can overburden a site, frustrating visitors with slow loads, freezes, and even browser crashes; turning them from potential customers into drop-offs.
This doesn’t mean you can have only a minimalist website with nothing but whitespace and Arial Black fonts. It’s possible to build a responsive, intuitive website with color, graphics, branding, and content without the bloat. For example, when selling technology items or even software, assume that prospective customers are coming in two formats. The first is technology-adept, thaveve done their homework, know what they’re looking for, and how they need it to work. The second is a technology user, has only a general idea of their needs, and requires more information before making the purchase. Your technology web design has to be compatible with the needs of both.
The Elements of Design: It’s More than Dancing Pixels.
Building a site consists of coding, design, and content; these separate elements must work together to drive the responsive experience that the customer is seeking. The design has to be valid across browser platforms like Chrome, Firefox, Explorer, and Safari. Keeping your coding simple will insure browser compatibility and a smooth flow through the site without freezes or crashes to send your customer stomping off in frustration. A faster loading time for each page keeps the customer in your store and shopping until they find what they’re looking for. Design is not just about graphics, but is also a part of branding your site. Using a professionally designed logo and key elements give a site a unique look and feel, and should mesh with the products on the sales floor. Keep your design subtle and simple; the less code in support of the graphics, the more attention can be devoted to showcasing the product with a content-rich presentation.
Making It Stick with Information-Packed Content.
Presentation is not just a sales pitch. Presentation is building content about the item for sale. For example, a detailed product description ought to contain all the information the client needs to evaluate the product presented in an engaging, intuitive way. The product has to sell itself by merit, without jargon, hyperbole, or superfluous bells and whistles. There’s also more to content that writing. Good content can include videos, tutorials, or even reviews from customers or media. A technology site with these elements working together will give the customer enough confidence in the store and the product to help close the deal.
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