Increasing Online Sales with Web Development Tricks and Tips

Many merchants aren’t aware that the design of their website, from the landing page to the shopping cart, can have a direct impact on the success of their sales. Your conversion rates can all hinge on the smallest of design elements, which means that every decision you make has to be done with cautious consideration of your customers. All businesses want their customer’s shopping experience to be as intuitive and pleasant as possible, but some get carried away with their designs, leading to flashy animations and awkward features which can slow down a browser and lead to problems.

An important part of ensuring that your website appeals to your target audience and draws in as many potential customers as possible is performing regular A/B tests. There are various ways in which different elements of design can have an impact on your visitors, and testing helps to put into perspective whether your website features are having a positive, or negative effect on sales.

Start by Cleaning Your Product Pages

Neatly organizing the product pages within your website is an essential part of helping you to draw in customers using appealing information and engaging design. Think about what your customer wants to see, and make sure that they have direct access to it. For example, where are your customer reviews displayed? Reviews can be an important part of gaining the trust of a new shopper, but they do not have to be the first thing a consumer sees. Too many elements cluttered onto one page can be confusing, and you might benefit from having a clearly marked tab for users to click on if they want to see the reviews of the product. Remember, the first element on any product page should be the image of the product, the name, description, and price. Your customer wants to see exactly what he or she will be getting for an exact amount of money.

Make sure your ‘Add-to-cart’ Buttons are optimized

Visitors want clear and concise instructions. When you’re creating an ‘Add-to-cart’ button, it shouldn’t be something that has a vague message such as ‘learn more’ or ‘see details’. Provide a button that is straight to the point and direct, ‘Buy now’ is perfect, and provides a call to action which can elicit a more positive response from your customers. Another important thing to remember with these buttons is that color matters. Red and orange can actually harm your sales, whereas colors such as green and blue are gentler and more welcoming. However, it’s always a good idea to use shades that match the overall theme of your website.

Make Your Shopping Cart Visible

Once a customer adds a product to their shopping cart, they want to know that the item they have selected has been registered. This means that you should always have an element on your website page throughout the shopping process that lists the number of items your customer has added to a cart, as well as other relevant information for checkout. Having data such as this available can help to ease the transition from simply shopping on a website to the checkout procedure. Remember, simply placing your cart information somewhere on the page isn’t enough, it needs to stand out from the rest of the page so that your consumer can find it easily.

Get Rid of Checkout Distractions

When your customer finally progresses to the checkout stage of purchase, you want them to be moving in a specific direction. This means that when you design a checkout, you should remove items such as sidebar navigation in order to encourage a direct route to the goal. Typically, checkouts with a single page experience the highest rates of conversion, and simplifying your checkout process is a great way to improve your chances of a completed sale. In one page, your customer should be able to fill out their necessary information, including billing or credit card details, and shipping directions.