10 Common Ecommerce Website Design Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

User Experience

Your User Experience is partly comprised of the first two factors, but also includes more aspects of your site’s build. The site should perform well technically and lead users to your goals, but also needs to incorporate features like an easy-to-use site search, and a menu structure that’s helpful, but not encyclopedic.

So now you know the basics, let’s look at where eCommerce sites often go wrong, and remember - if your site is doing this and you’d like it to stop, we’re only a message away.

1. Technical issue - Slow loading times:

• Why it's bad: Slow loading on websites should be a thing of the past. It frustrates your users and makes them more likely to go elsewhere. If you’ve ever tried to buy concert tickets that were in high demand, think about how that made you feel - the frustration is real.
• How to fix it: Some of this is best left to a developer, but there are still things you can do. A common pitfall is putting full-sized images on a website without optimising them. There are lots of online tools that will help you do this, and the result can be worthwhile. Aim for a size that’s in KB, not MB, and the effect will be noticeable. Once you’ve got a developer involved, you can also look at solutions with exciting names like minimising HTTP requests, leveraging browser caching, a Content Delivery Network (CDN), and lazy loading.

2. Technical issue - Poor mobile optimisation:

• Why it's bad: There was a little wobble in 2020 while we were all chained to our desks, but the inescapable fact is that more of your traffic will come from people on mobile phones than on desktop computers. If you’re new to website ownership it can be easy to forget that and concentrate on the thing in front of you, which is your site on a PC, but that’s definitely not how most visitors will see your site.
• How to fix it: Again, this is one to talk to a developer about if your site isn’t looking good. Depending on your website’s architecture it might be a simple job to tidy it up, or it might be a big task that needs professional attention. Either way, talking to a developer will give you an idea of where to start, and how much it will cost.

3. User experience - Cluttered layout:

• Why it's bad: Customers not being able to find what they’re looking for is the kind of thing that makes eCommerce websites wake up in a cold sweat. Add into that the possibility that they might find it and be unable to progress the purchase because your site layout is stopping them from finding the right place to click, and you’ve got a recipe for dissatisfied visitors who won’t buy anything today or come back later.
• How to fix it: A website agency will be able to help you with a design that helps your users instead of hindering them. If you’re not at that stage yet, your website CMS probably allows you to edit the layout. As a minimum, make sure you’ve not got CTAs too close together. Think of the site as being made of blocks (which many sites now are) - you don’t want more than one CTA in a block, and you don’t want lots of blocks with CTAs clustered together.

4. User experience - Complex navigation:

• Why it's bad: A common mistake with websites is to think that every single page needs to be in the menu. That’ll just lead to a menu so big no one will be able to find what they want.
• How to fix it: You can use hub pages to guide visitors to the different sub-sections of your website. It’s also good to remember that if your pages are well-optimised, they’ll act as “landing pages”. That means people will find what they want in Google search and land directly on the product page - they won’t need to go through the menu.

5. Conversion rate - Lack of clear CTAs:

• Why it's bad: |We’ve talked about not grouping CTAs, but you also want to make sure they’re nice and obvious - think of a CTA as a big, red, irresistible button that you want all your visitors to push.
• How to fix it: If it’s a button, make sure it’s labelled with what it does - “Read more”, “Buy now” and “Self-destruct” are all great examples. If it’s something like a link in text, well, that’s not probably the optimal place to put it, but you can make sure it’s bold, underlined and an eye-catching colour.

6. User experience - Poor search functionality:

• Why it's bad: When site search is great, it can help turn one purchase into multiple, by helping your visitors realise there are even more products that they want from you. When it’s bad, it can be the end of a beautiful customer/retailer relationship, as people struggle to find what they want, let alone additional items.
• How to fix it: This one is a plaster that needs to be ripped off - site search can be really expensive to get right. If yours isn’t doing what you need it to, a professional developer is definitely the way to go. They might even be able to save you some money by recommending a more cost-effective solution.

7. User experience - Mixed-up branding:

• Why it's bad: Ever landed on a website, then found yourself on what looks like a different site, then realised it’s still the same site really, but they’ve got a sub-brand set up for whatever you were interested in? That’s the chaos of mixed-up branding, and it’s definitely to be avoided.
• How to fix it: Don’t be lured into sub-brands unless you really, really have a good reason to set one up, and if you do already have them, make sure any pages featuring them are clearly branded to your main site and business identity first.

8. User experience and CRO - Lack of trust signals:

• Why it's bad: Reviews are fairly standard across eCommerce sites, and your visitors will expect to see reviews on both your company and your products. The use of an independent review platform is recommended, and discussed in detail in our article on how to start gathering reviews for free.
• How to fix it: Not to blow its trumpet too much, but… our article is a great place to start on this one. There are several options that will let you start gathering reviews for free on globally-recognised platforms, and ways to then surface those reviews on your website.

9. User experience - Website copy that doesn’t do its job:

• Why it's bad: Your brand will have a voice, which might be serious, fun or completely off-kilter. The writing on your website needs to be true to that voice, but it also needs to include key information in a way that visitors can quickly read and interpret.
• How to fix it: For product descriptions, make them accurate, concise, and highlight key selling points in bullets so they’re easy to pick out. Information about your company and your team should be engaging, and highlight the differences that make your particular product or service the one worth choosing.

10. Conversion rate - Difficult checkout process:

• Why it's bad: Your checkout is where the magic happens, i.e. it allows people to give you money. You want it to be like a waterslide, where you take your visitors on a fun ride which everyone enjoys. Unfortunately, some checkouts are more like in-flight turbulence, and that’s not a good experience.
• How to fix it: Make sure your checkout is as easy to use as possible. If your site offers user accounts, make sure that having one isn’t compulsory when purchasing. If you use e-vouchers, make the field to include the code obvious so visitors aren’t frustrated while looking for the option. The perfect checkout would be customers arriving on your site, the products they want instantly landing in their basket and an immediate checkout, and while it’s unlikely that any of us will ever reach that point, getting as close as you can to it is something to aim for.

Usually these are articles involve as much do it yourself activity as possible, but like electrical work and plumbing, some jobs really are better handled by an expert, and with user experience as a whole, often the results will offset the investment.

If you do want to talk website improvements, we’re always here to help - just get in touch.