Professional Email Address
Appearance is everything. How you look, how you present yourself, is usually what grabs the attention of people rather than the actual substance of what you do. With this being the case, one of the biggest ecommerce faux pas would be to have a business email address that is, say, a Gmail or Yahoo account. This is the epitome of unprofessional, like turning up to Le Bernardin wearing a thong and bunny ears. If you choose to use DotGO as the host for your ecommerce website design, you will receive a professional 1GB mailbox – which can be integrated with all devices – at no extra charge. The difference between how customers view websites with professional emails and how they view those without is like night and day.
Proper Security
This should have been priority number one as you were setting up your ecommerce website design. Any online platform that takes money from people needs to be watertight and totally comprehensive when it comes to security. All the major platforms are. If you don’t meet the same standards, customers will not view your ecommerce website as professional. This means that you must tick all the boxes: SSL certificates; two-factor authentication; and a recognisable security badge, like McAfee, that shows up during the checkout process. Complete security serves as the backbone of any successful and professional ecommerce website design.
Multiple Payment Options
Any professional ecommerce website design pays remarkably close attention to its checkout process. This is the moment of truth, after all. The customer experience has to be easy and one that they can instinctively trust. As a result, the payment options – and how they are structured – needs to be very carefully thought about. The first option, of course, needs to offer the choice of paying with all main types of VISA – credit and debit – followed by the option of PayPal, an option preferred by many given that it only requires confirmation of email address if the user is already logged in. Also give the option of Apple Pay. These three payment channels will give your ecommerce website design a truly certified feel.
Branded Packaging
To start with, having completely uniform, branded packaging for all products is not a primary concern for someone running an ecommerce website. You will probably just want to make sure that packaging is cost-effective and shipping is done properly. Over time, however, this area is worth looking at. Many major online shops are careful to use a biodegradable, sized-down type of packaging, along with having their logo imprinted on the design. When customers see that level of personalised branding, there is no doubt in their minds that your ecommerce website design belongs in the realm of the professional.
Great Photos
Once you have figured out security and all the other important minor details, the next concern is, of course, your products – or, more specifically, your product images. You know plenty about your products and their merits, but do you know how to present them to your customers in optimal fashion? This is such an important part of having a ‘professional’ ecommerce website design. Every image has to be in high-resolution and marked up against a colour palette that brings out – rather than nullifies – the product’s features. But that’s not all. Every image has to be exactly the same as the other in its dimensions, and there must be more than just a couple of images for each product. High-resolution, uniform, and plentiful – your images have to satisfy these three pillars before you can be considered professional.
Optimise for Mobile
More people are using their mobiles to shop for products online than ever before. Worryingly, though, the cart abandonment rate on mobile is nearly 80%, which means that there is remarkably little room for error when it comes to optimising your ecommerce website design for mobile. You do not want any overlapping buttons or links that don’t go anywhere on mobile. Everything needs to be scaled properly, with key buttons – such as home page and checkout – always readily available for the customer to click. Any faults with the mobile view of your ecommerce website design is a big red flag to visitors. Make sure that you are prepared.
Do you own an E-commerce website but feel like you are not getting the most out of the tools at your disposal? Feeling a bit confused over some features? If so, don't worry - we've got you covered all the way.
DotGO doesn't just offer brilliant E-commerce website design tools; we also provide an extensive range of easy-to-follow, straight-to-the-point support videos that run you through everything you need to know. Whether you want to set up a professional email on your phone or add a downloadable product to your store, we have videos that run through the process, step by step.
Make sure you don't miss out on the amazing tools at your disposal. Take a look at our list of support videos and unleash the full potential of your online shop in no time.