The home page is often the most visited page of an e-commerce site.
The role of this page is to build trust, make sales and retain customers.
Creating an effective landing page can be a difficult task. If you have hundreds or thousands of products in dozens of categories, it can be difficult to set up a landing page that effectively showcases your products without being too aggressive.
The temptation is often to put all you have, which leads to a certain mess that causes users to leave the site in question. For all these reasons, we have chosen to translate an article by Takeshi Young for the Optimizely blog, 36 Ecommerce Homepage Design Best Practices from the Experts.
To help you create an effective homepage, find below the recommendations of several experts in the field of e-commerce, who share their best advice.
Alejandra Meza
UX Director, Stella & Dot
Stakeholders always want a great new design, but often don't understand why or what the problems actually are.
#1 Start by identifying the problems
Understand why your stakeholders want to change the site. Create clear goals and assumptions before designing. It is important that everyone agrees on what the indicators of success will be. Do a full investigation of what is wrong with your site. Work on conversion, bounce rate and getting qualitative feedback from users. Look at different audience segments to identify what the issues are.
#2 Keep in mind what you have learned
The first instinct is to put everything in the trash, when often good deeds have been taken. Prioritize A/B testing, interviews and data, which are the best ways to see which parts of your page are performing well.
#3 Obtain qualitative and quantitative feedback
Obtain qualitative feedback before the redesign, and before your A/B testing. A/B testing often fails to achieve the desired goal, and only through qualitative assessments will you find out why. Doing this before the test potentially saves you a series of later tests.
#4 Test multiple variations
Often your stakeholders want to test only the new version against the old one. The problem is that you won't know how to interpret the test results. Was it the design? Was it the content? Test old content in the new design and new content in the old design. Testing sections of the page is also another way to understand why a design performs or fails.
#5 Have a vision on the next steps
We would all like a 100% success rate, but plan what to consider if the results are not what you expected. Stakeholders may still want to kick off the new design because of all the work and effort. Instead of that, try to focus on how you can iterate on the design or how to accept that the old design performs better. In your test summary, make the distinction between wanting to move forward and sticking to a rough design. The prospect of conversion to induce the purchase being the priority.
Launching the homepage is just the first step. Next, it's important to keep the page updated regularly with fresh content to keep users interested enough to keep them coming back. Create spaces where content can be updated easily, regularly and quickly. Use automated content modules to highlight new or recommended articles.
Therese Kokot
Senior Architect, LYONSCG
The home page is often the first impression that users will have of your site. it is therefore important to communicate your brand message loud and clear. What are the strategies for a successful e-commerce landing page?
#6 KEEP IT SIMPLE
Keep it simple! Retailers have traditionally used the site as a place to communicate about the company and its products. However, studies have shown that the more messages there are on the page, the more your user has to process them, and the greater the cognitive load. The end result is that all messages are diluted, and the user is not guided on what to do next.
Providing a strong, unified message represents your brand, and using that to guide your users can help them get started in the buying process quickly. the A/B testing can help direct messages that improve conversion.
#7 Make research smooth
A home page with no global navigation, and no obvious way to find what you're looking for? Studies have shown that when users can't find what they're looking for, they quickly leave the site.
As a bare minimum, global navigation should appear on the homepage and every page as a way for users to find the products. But it is also very important to also plan to present the most sought-after products. Don't expect your users to be detectives!
#8 Think Responsive
Once upon a time, online retailers had separate sites for mobile and desktop devices. More and more, we see an evolution of e-commerce sites towards the responsive, where the same code base is used, and the content defined according to the medium.
There are several benefits to this approach, including improved searchability, lossless content updates across different devices, and above all a consistent user experience. But in addition, the A/B testing is much easier to do with a unified code base.
Kenny Rosenberg
Designer/Developer, Brand Value Accelerator
Users need to instantly understand what differentiates your brand from its competitors in the market. Why the consumer should choose to buy from you: Are your prices low? Do you have faster shipping? Do you have better product quality?
#9 Establish a clear value proposition
From the moment the user reaches your site, you need to instantly realize an impact. A good clear example of a value proposition is on Indochino.
The first banner the user sees says “Bespoke modern suits made from the finest wools, just in time for fall”, then a “Buy now” action button is associated with it, and “Save 50% on a selection of swimsuits for the fall”.
So not only are users aware that they can have quality tailored suits, but they also know that they can get a good price for it. This instantly lures the user one step closer to a conversion.
#10 Use captivating images that point directly to product collections
Why Drive Traffic to Collections Pages? It is important not to isolate the user in a specific product, give him the opportunity to explore multiple products and freely browse your collections without hitting the back button. They need to arrive at your collections pages through images of the models or some other type of image, you need to make the user experience even more enjoyable for them.
A good example with watches from MVM extension. Once you land on the site, you can easily click on your favorite product category.
#11 Simplify your navigation, add a search bar
Help users find what they are looking for with the least effort. Consider adding a search bar and giving your target a minimalist approach. It's what you put in the navigation that will make the difference. Many brands will want to put a lot of stuff in the navigation thinking more options are better. The reverse is true. The more options, the harder it is to shop.
Rick Wilson
President COO, Miva, Inc.
First impressions are crucial for a brand. The design choices you make could determine whether users continue shopping or leave your site for good. Become aware of important role of the homepage is the key to creating a thriving online store.
#12 Navigate your users away from the home page
This may seem to contradict the sentence above, but it is true. You want users to make purchases, unless you're just selling a product, these purchases will not be made on the home page.
Your homepage should offer clear navigation and a smooth flow to keep the user intrigued enough to discover more.
#13 Do not oppress the user
We've all heard the arguments about whether or not you should keep all the important content on your site above the fold. No matter where you stand, the fact remains that the highest visibility of a page is the top part of it.
This should give you one more reason not to link every pixel to links, messaging, or even promotions. The less you give the user, the easier it will be for them to make a decision on what to do next. Simplify navigation and messaging to limit decision-making to broader categories, and leave complex filtering to your subcategory pages.
#14 Know your target
Before making design decisions, dive into your data and learn more about your customers. What browsers or 'devices' do they use? What search terms do they use to find you? Which products or categories are the most popular? Knowing this information will help you display the most relevant content on your homepage.
#15 Be remembered
What makes your online store better than any other competitor? If a customer makes a purchase, what should be done to encourage them to make another one?
The homepage is the perfect place to show off your competitive edge, your personality, or something really cool and unique about your business. Leave a lasting impression and give your homepage a soul! The homepage is a powerful gateway for your business, and can be a major difference maker for your online sales, if leveraged correctly.
James Spence
Lead Web/UX Designer, Bonanza
Here at Bonanza, we recently launched a complete overhaul of our e-commerce platform. We have studied and successfully practiced an important point that you should find useful for your own homepage graphic redesign projects.
#16 Tell a story
Your homepage is a chance to create a good image about your business, not just about what you're selling. Showcase who you are and why people should buy from you. As users browse, make them learn more about what sets your brand apart from others.
If your catalog is rich, balance your pages with reviews, testimonials, unique collections, and brand-specific content. Use the navigation to highlight what you offer different from your competitors.
TAKE AWAY
Even a beautifully designed homepage will fail if it is not helpful to users visiting the site. Find out who is coming to your site, what they are looking for, and why they will choose you over your competitors. Use this insight to determine what is happening on the page, and measure how they are performing.
Do not hesitate to share with us your advice for creating a home page that is not only well designed from an ergonomic and graphic point of view, but which also helps to retain active users. The goal is always to optimize the conversion process.
I also invite you to read the article Good e-commerce practices which will help you identify which are the different user profiles.
SOURCE
36 Ecommerce Homepage Design Best Practices from the Experts, Takeshi Young, @Optimizely
Contextualisation and translation: Kaouthar, UX-Activist @UX-Republic
