Do you have a new online store that is not getting any traffic? Or maybe you see a dip in your sales? Or did you notice that people only stay on your page for a few seconds before closing it?
The problem may lie in your website design. According to studies, 38% of users won’t engage with a website if they find it unattractive. That’s a huge amount of potential customers that you’ll lose with an unappealing website.
Web design is not just limited to its visuals either. User experience – how seamless the navigation is, how easily your customers can find what they need, and how fast the site loads – also plays a huge role in increasing conversions and potential repeat visits.
This is why today, we’ll give you a guide on how to create a great website design for your WooCommerce store – from choosing your color scheme to optimizing your search feature, we’ve got you covered.
Let’s dive into it.
Best Practices For WooCommerce Website Design:
A great website design is crucial in forging customer loyalty, increasing sales, and building a stronger brand identity. Here are some tips that you can use to take your WooCommerce store off the ground:
A. Create a visually appealing website
Let’s first focus on how your website looks. A clean, uncluttered, and visually attractive website is more appealing for users. To create one, keep in mind the following details:
- Go for a minimalist and flat design – Flat design is the hottest web design trend right as it makes a website look clean and streamlined. Flat design focuses on using simple layouts and typography. It also favors using white as the main website color and keeping the brighter colors as an accent to keep it from looking overwhelming.
- Choose a harmonious color palette – Follow the rules of color theory and use colors that work harmoniously with each other. This can help in making your website look visually unified. You can go for analogous colors (ex. yellow and orange), complementary colors (ex. orange and blue), or monochromatic colors (an orange gradient going from light to dark).
- Use high-quality images – From your product shots to header images, make sure to use images that are well-lit and in high resolution to make your website look more appealing.
- Incorporate your brand’s aesthetics – While there are many ways to make your website look good, a website that is dripping with your brand’s personality is still the best way to stand out. For example, Gucci’s website is full of high-fashion photography and uses elegant typography to highlight their chic and luxurious identity. Meanwhile, Poppi Soda’s website is full of bright neon colors and whimsical fonts to symbolize their cheerful and youthful vibe. Make sure that you use design elements that work with your brand’s identity, and that your logo design is always visible on your site.
B. Optimize your user experience
Another important aspect of your website is user experience. The easier and more convenient it is for a customer to use your website, the more likely they want to shop there.
First, make your products easy to find. Incorporate product filters such as price range, color, size, material, and more. Make sure to include a search function, and make sure it works as intended. You don’t want your customers to get annoyed when they search for something and it shows unrelated items.
Add detailed descriptions and include all relevant information about the product. Add multiple shots of the product and install a plug-in to enable product zoom or product comparison features. This can help your customers get a clearer view of what your product is actually like.
Second, have a clear navigation structure. Have a clear main category and sub-categories. For example, Women’s Clothing > Women’s Tops > Women’s Short-Sleeved Tops. Your navigation bar should also be the same across all pages. Aside from making it visually consistent, it also makes your website easier to navigate.
Third, use recognizable icons and navigation keys. For example, the three lines or the hamburger icon is universally recognized as a menu icon. The same is true for the magnifying glass and the grocery cart, which symbolize search and shopping cart respectively. Clicking a > symbol means that it will appear horizontally to the right. Clicking the logo will take you back to the homepage. And so on.
C. Have a hassle-free checkout
An easy checkout process should be prioritized. Don’t give your customers a long and tedious form that they need to fill up. Only ask for the necessary information to ship and deliver their items. Keep your checkout page to a single page only.
Avoid forced registrations as much as possible. If your customers need to go through so much effort creating an account before they can buy your items, you increase the chance of them abandoning their shopping carts.
Always use a trustworthy payment gateway provider. Have multiple options as well to appeal to as many customers as possible.
D. Ensure your store’s credibility
Customers tend to purchase from websites that they find credible and trustworthy. How can you make your WooCommerce store one of them? Try the following:
- Add trust signals – Adding signals such as trust badges, SSL certificates, secure payment gateways, or verified checkmarks can help assure your customers.
- Utilize social proof – According to surveys, 94% of customers say that positive reviews make them trust a business. Leverage this by displaying customer reviews and testimonials on your homepage or on the product pages.
- Avoid ads – Nothing makes a site look more scammy than an abundance of pop-up ads. Avoid them as much as possible. Aside from looking less trustworthy, you’ll also distract your customers from their shopping experience.
- No hidden charges – Always disclose the correct cost of your items. Don’t add hidden costs that they will only see when they are about to check out the items. Make sure any promos or voucher rules are also clear, to avoid making your customers feel like they have been scammed.
E. Ensure your site is mobile-friendly
Lastly, make sure your WooCommerce store is accessible even through mobile.
To do this, use a responsive design. It means your site will automatically adapt or adjust to different screen sizes.
Next is to do a mobile-first approach. It means your site’s design and functionality are created with a smaller screen in mind. So focus on simpler designs, simplified navigation, short texts, and shorter forms.
Touch-friendly buttons are also a must. Make sure your buttons are large enough and have enough space so that mobile users can click them with ease.
Conclusion
There you have it! By following the tips above, you can effectively optimize your WooCommerce store to enhance user experience, drive engagement, and ultimately increase sales.
