Top 5 Mistakes When Creating a Website: What Will Get in the Way of Advertising?
Website development for ecommerce is a meticulous job with many intricacies to consider. That said, there is a range of nuances that could directly affect website performance, traffic, and other metrics. Technology has a significant impact on the way businesses operate nowadays. Online commerce is a source of profit and has many advantages, such as 24/7 customer service, global access to purchases and communication, and greater audience outreach.
There are several options for selling goods online. Some merchants create their online stores, while others prefer to use marketplaces. Both methods are good, and the choice depends more on the seller's financial capabilities.
Someone who is willing to launch a selling point faster and invest more in advertising, then they would choose marketplaces. Others prefer developing a website tailored to their unique requirements. However, in any case, sellers often seek the help of developers, whose task is to design a convenient and fully functioning retail platform.
Creating an online store can be compared to science, which doesn't tolerate or forgive mistakes. Unfortunately, a large number of websites fall into the same trap.
In this article, we will analyze the five most common pitfalls of ecommerce websites, which took place even in the year 2021.
Major Mistakes in Website Development for Ecommerce
In the global confrontation of marketplace vs. ecommerce website, the stumbling block is not the choice of a platform for business, but how it is developed, and what kind of mistakes can affect its performance and the result of advertising campaigns as well.
1. No Responsive Design
In 2021, any resource, whether made on a CMS or developed from scratch, should have an option to add a responsive design. Internet traffic mainly comes from smartphones, including the visitors brought in by advertising. That said, marketers should remember that a mobile-friendly website boosts chances to attract more target audiences and make an advertising campaign successful.
You need to work out a strategy and make 100% sure that your website perfectly looks and works on a smartphone. People spend a lot of time browsing on the “go”, scrolling down their feeds, looking for information and even making a purchase from their phone. The biggest mistake is to ignore this fact.
2. Ineffective or Missing CTA
It may seem that CTA is just a little button, but it is the one that calls users to action: “click here”, “call now”, “buy now”, “download for free”, etc. A missing or poorly designed call to action in the process of website development may cause visitors to leave the website frustrated.
Launching an advertising campaign without a CTA on a website or landing page is a blunder as well as a vague call to action, probably making a customer feel confused. That said, s/he leaves the site or page without making any interaction at all. Plan the CTA. It can be a button, a text, a form - in any case, an easy-to-perform action.
3. Overload of Information
The hierarchy of website development is a visual principle used to show the significance of each web element on a platform. The information should be in a consistent and logical order to guide audiences through the following way: getting to know you, finding what they are looking for and finally, taking action in the form of a subscription, registration, purchase, etc.
In other words, we can call it the user journey formed thanks to an elaborated design and the correct content layout.
To avoid this mistake when creating a website, it is necessary to clearly understand, and articulate who you are, what way you want users to perceive you, as well as what actions they should take. Remember when you decide to run an ad, it should link to information clear to visitors. Prioritize messages for users and only then plan your advertising campaign.
4. Hidden Navigation and Poor Design
This point is the exact opposite of the previous one. Sometimes in the pursuit of the minimalist trend, developers can overdo it and make the navigation almost hidden. For example, they leave just a hamburger menu without identifying marks.
What makes the situation even worse is that this menu can be poorly integrated into the visual design of the page, completely lost in it. If a visitor can't find the features, how long will s/he stay on the page? As strange as it may sound, users need instructions and tips. All the main elements should be in prominent places: navigation, CTA, the information that got customers to click your link.
So, what are the common mistakes in website design? They are about poor contrast, heavy web elements, overloaded with images, illegible fonts, which directly spoil the user experience and stop the journey before it barely starts.
5. Lack of Analytical Strategy
If there are no tools to track user behaviour on the site, you have nothing to do, but guess why the traffic decreased. It is impossible to manage an advertising budget without knowing the sources of conversions. And if you don't analyze the click map, it is unclear what is distracting customers from making a purchase.
So, when developing an online store, it is worth considering the factors that will affect a website's rankings in search results. Analytics helps identify and assess weaknesses and strengths in a marketing campaign to make needed changes on time.
Conclusion
Before launching an ecommerce website, an entrepreneur should think about the following details:
- Mobile-friendliness of an online store;
- Clearly expressed CTA buttons;
- Elaborated design and content layout;
- Convenient navigation;
- Analytical tools.
All the above mentioned plays an essential role in how successful an advertising campaign might be, or at least what can a business owner do in advance to boost its chances for success.
In your opinion, what additional factors can contribute to the outcome of the advertising?