Web design is constantly developing and it has been greatly improved during the last decade. During this time period we have been introduced to many advancements and new technologies, but the biggest innovation is the opportunity to create websites optimized for mobile phones and devices. This thing has enhanced the user experience and has given the opportunity to attract more and more visitors via their handy gadgets in hand.
E-Commerce website designing is one of the biggest changes for mobile users. The mobile e-commerce websites are optimized and they are constantly rewritten and improved in order to enhance their performance and user experience. Thanks to the most modern design techniques, designers are able to create responsive, attractive and functional websites which meet the requirements of each customer. If you are planning to launch a mobile e-commerce website, then you also have to lean about its proper optimization to gain the return you are expecting. Poorly optimized mobile sites can never become an effective tool to drive online traffic through handy smartphones and tablets towards your site. You have to learn how to create optimized mobile eCommerce site to reap the benefit of this latest design trend. For your convenience here we have discussed 6 tips to optimize mobile ecommerce websites successfully. Let’s have a look at them:
1. Don’t Hide the Search Box
Mobile users don’t have time to browse through all the menus, especially if they are looking for a specific item or category. Position the search box in a visible and easy to reach place. Surfing on a mobile device isn’t as easy as surfing on a computer and the search box can make this much easier. Consider placing a search box on each page, so that mobile visitors can access it at all times. An example for the usefulness of this practice is Amazon.com – a website which offers thousands of items and it would be very irritating to browse all the pages through your tablet or smartphone. Thankfully, the website designers have put the search box in a visible place and it is available on every page your browse.
2. Add Social Media to Your Site
Almost everyone who uses the internet is using a social media website as well. Meaningless if we are talking about Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest or others. These are the most popular social media websites and they are often used to share and recommend comments, product reviews, items, etc. Implementing social media in your mobile e-commerce website will allow your visitors to share their opinion with their friends and therefore make your website more popular. Don’t forget that search engines consider product ratings, user experience and many other factors in order to rank your website. The better social media standing you have, the higher you’ll rank in search results.
3. Make a Flexible Website
Website design has become much more difficult, because now websites are accessed by TVs, tablets, smartphones, net-books and other devices. Each of these devices offers its user the ability to display different resolutions and to rotate the display vertically or horizontally. Designers can’t make a different website version for each device, but there is an easy way to improve your website’s flexibility. So keep your web design flexible enough to adjust within every device your visitor is using to reach your site.
4. Flexible Layouts and Fluid Grids
The trick about making a flexible website is to focus on the web browser instead of the device used. Thanks to flexible layouts and fluid grids, the website is able to determine the screen resolution of the device and many other factors and change its appearance based on this information. Creating these grids is very easy if you take advantage of tools like Tiny Fluid Grid, Simple Grid, Golden Grid System and others.
5. Mobile Driven Customer Service
Customer service can make the difference between a good and bad first impression. Optimizing your customer service to meet the requirements of mobile users is the key to attracting more visitors and increasing your website’s popularity. Nowadays, many companies have followed Zappos’ example and they offer customer service via Twitter, online chat and many other features.
Considering that more and more people are using mobile devices to browse the internet then offering qualitative mobile customer service can make the difference for your website. Achieving a good balance between product quality and good customer service is difficult, but if you manage to do it, then you’ll surely have a chance to achieve a fraction of Zappos’ success.
6. Always Be Ready for Change
The tech world is constantly changing and what is popular today can be a think of the past tomorrow. Designers are aware of this and they are always ready to change their plans according the latest market trends. One of the best examples is shown in a study which reveals that the average person changes his smartphone every two years. This means that your mobile e-commerce website will be outdated in approximately two years and it’ll need to be redesigned in order to meet the requirements of the newer devices. The mobile internet is constantly developing and we’ll be able to visit many more mobile e-commerce websites in the future. Keeping up with the latest trends can make the difference between an unpopular website and successful website.
There are many other examples that can show the advantages of having a mobile e-commerce website. The most recent statistics show that the number of people browsing the internet through mobile devices is quickly growing and it won’t be much before the number of mobile internet users evens with the number of people using PCs and laptops to access the internet.
If you are worried about the return of investment (ROI), then take a look at the statistics of eBay, Pandora and Intuit. Mobile e-commerce has a huge impact on every company and although it requires a serious investment, the benefit from it can be really huge than your expectations. So if you have an ecommerce mobile site or going to design one, keep these handy tips for site optimization in mind to make your site a real success online.
Guest post by Shah interested to write about design, tech and SEO. If you want to get great design ideas then have a visit to designer mag today to read about various design trends, inspirations, best ecommerce plugins and much more happening in web design world.