10 Deadly UX Design Mistakes You Should Avoid in 2016

User Experience design is key to engage users. In ecommerce sites it is now more about creating unperturbed shopping experience. More than so called product deals online buyers now want to see browse and see the products themselves. A satisfactory user experience invariably leads to better business conversion.

A glitch free shopping experience involves visually optimized product display, easy search option with multiple filters, crisp, short and helpful product description, product review and video, smooth checkout process and consistent clutter free design throughout. Besides all these, you need to give priority to mobile users and have SEO elements for search engine to discover.

Let us have a look at 10 deadly UX design mistakes that ecommerce sites should avoid in 2016:

1. Addressing and readdressing users

Ecommerce visitors seldom buy anything from an online store at the very first visit. According to a report by AdRoll, almost 98% of online shoppers do not buy anything when landing on a store for the first time.  Naturally, the bigger portion of the traffic and potential buyers are not converted at the first instance. But by retargeting them with your campaign you can bring them back and push conversion.

Furthermore, such retargeting can also help in bringing back the customers who have purchased something from your site. Users who visited your site and did not buy anything are more likely to return within a week or days and they should be targeted as a potential lot for business conversion.

2. Not doing visual marketing

As we all know, an image makes more impression and convey more than words. For ecommerce sites they play an incredibly important role as high quality images of a product can instantly offer customers a real-life like touch and feel of the product.

Images of a product taken from all dimensions and angles with hovering effect to scrutinize the product from close, allows real-store product handling experience to customers.

A product video displaying the product in all dimensions and explaining the uses and benefits can also deliver immersive shopping experience. According to a recent study of comScore, 64% of visitors show more likelihood in buying a product when it is displayed and explained through video.

A majority of studies indicate on an average a visitor stays on a webpage much less than 15 seconds at a stretch. Most visitors have a habit of quick scanning through the page in search of what they need. Naturally, long paragraphs and solid blocks of text in most cases are of no value.

Providing text contents in a glanceable, decipherable manner with bullet points and small paragraphs can help getting more traction.

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3. Not A/B testing enough

A/B testing of every page element is very important for ensuring traction. What is actually working and what is not should be identified and addressed before it is too late.

By A/B testing all design elements like layout, buttons, color, typography, navigation, etc. you can help boosting user happiness and gain in conversion rate. From the product page to the checkout process to the site design, each and every element should be A/B tested thoroughly.

4. A design not enough friendly for mobile

With the mobile shoppers accounting for the majority of online transactions, the ecommerce is being reshaped into ecommerce. Naturally, your design first and foremost should address mobile users. Today mobile first approach in design or responsive design is not just a choice any more, but it is the necessity for any business to make their web presence for people.

Mobile optimization for ecommerce sites involves addressing an array of aspects including finger-tap friendly CTA buttons, clutter free and simple design ideal for a good view on small screen, easy navigation and product search, quicker and easier checkout, etc. If your products do not look great on mobile screens, you are losing lot of buyers.

5. Design inconsistency

After perfecting all your design elements how an ecommerce site can make an impression that lasts in visitors mind? Yes, it is through a consistent design approach that reveals your brand value and your commitment. Besides proving detrimental to your brand image on the web inconsistent design also leads to confusion. From CTA buttons, layout design, typography, formats to color and contrast schemes all elements should offer a coherent and consistent look and feel.

6. Lack of social media integration

Social media is a powerful influencer for shaping buying decisions. A recent study revealed that 68% of online buyers before buying anything over the web check out companies across social media platforms. Most successful ecommerce sites are benefitted from their loyal social media followers and community. A robust social media presence with regular and relevant posts on your product niches, video posts and social media marketing with offers, discounts, freebies, etc. is necessary.

7. No SEO focus

Still a vast majority of online search on almost anything happen through search engines. To be listed into search engine results with all relevant keyword searches related to your products and services is necessity that no business websites or ecommerce sites can disregard. A good SEO focus begins with keyword research.

Secondly the site should offer regular and unique content posts on the searched products. A search engine optimized website structure, product category architecture and unique contents for boosting the rank of new product pages, all these can help make your search rank better.

8. Non-optimized CTA buttons

CTA buttons are actionable area in your webpage that make a visitor take a positive step towards business conversion. It should be prominent to grab attention, easily clickable and tappable with mouse or fingertip, and properly contrasted with the background. Moreover, CTA buttons should always be provided contextually in places where visitor is more likely to take an action.

Just as too much salt spoils the meal, too many of CTA buttons creates a design clutter enhancing confusion and making visitors lose focus. Primary CTA button should always relate directly to sales followed by buttons like ‘view products’, ‘browse products’, etc.

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9. Slow page loading speed

More websites are abandoned by users for slow page speed than any other reason. A delay in loading product image or loading the product description or slow checkout process leads to huge bounce rate. Statistics confirm that just one second of delay in page loading results in loss of 7% conversion.

Moreover, slow page speed also makes a negative impact on your search engine rank. You need to optimize images, video files, denounce flash and take help from CDNs to boost loading speed.

10. Poor Product Page Design

Finally, it is the product page design that plays important role in pushing conversion. A clean product page design optimized with high quality images, description and several search filters makes browsing through the store easy and consequently helps users stay on the page longer. Description should be original and convey relevant details of the products.

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