When you're selling online with Shopify we reckon you need to make sure you build lots of trust and credibility fast. So lets take a deeper dive into what this means, and how you do it!
Before diving into the design process, it's important to to have a clear understanding of who your target audience is. Knowing your audience's preferences, behaviours, and needs will help guide the design choices you make and ensure your website resonates with them.
If you aren't feeling familiar with your target audience then we think you should conduct user research, analyse customer data, and create buyer personas to gain insights into what your audience is looking for. This foundational knowledge will help you tailor your website's design to meet their expectations and increase engagement.
While your shopify websites design plays a massive role in building trust with your customers. There is another piece of the puzzle brands often overlook. So before we talk about design, let's address content.
Think about the last time you brought a product online. How important was it that the product you were buying gave you as much information about the product possible.
Even better, did that website give you guides and resources for using and selecting the best product for your need?
Producing content that is informative will help you build trust with your audience. And there are plenty of different content types that you can create.
All of this goes beyond social content you would produce top of funnel to generate leads and is really focused on building trust and optimising your website for conversion when users land.
A quality look and feel is the first thing your visitors will notice when they land on your website and is a key moment where users will decide if they can trust you.
75% of consumers judge a company's credibility by its site design. This means 3 in every 4 website leads will judge your businesses credibility based on how good your website looks.
Source - Stanford Universities Web Credibility Project https://credibility.stanford.edu/
This is a small plug for our shopify design and development skills, but we reckon to get the best from your theme, hiring an expert is going to get you into the best shape fast.
And while a quality theme can get you started, customising your theme to your audience takes some experience and an eye for design, and you might be surprised how cost effective getting some custom design for your Shopify site can be.
When it comes to selling on Shopify, your website is all about guiding users towards making a purchase. Make sure your navigation is intuitive and easy to use. But how do you organise your content logically and provide clear pathways to key sections of your site?
There are a few answers to this question, from building out your collections in a cohesive way, through to actually testing your website with real users. We recommend site tree testing and card sorting which are UX exercises that help you determine the best layout for your pages and navigation.
Equally as important as making sure your navigation makes sense. Optimising your website so it functions well on all devices, from desktops to smartphones is often overlooked. Fast loading times, clear calls to action, and accessible content are all vital components of a positive user experience that can change how your Shopify website performs drastically between desktop and mobile devices..
High-quality images and graphics significantly enhance the visual appeal of your Shopify website. Use professional photos and custom graphics that reflect your brand's style and message. This not only makes your site more attractive but also helps build trust with your audience.
While Shopify does have built in optimisation, we recommend putting your images through an image optimiser before uploading. Optimising your images for web ensure they load quickly and don't negatively impact your site's performance.
One other thing people often over look when it comes to putting the images you use on your shopify website- you really need to be using alt text for images to improve your site's SEO and to make your website more accessible.
When thinking about your shopify website, it really needs to be designed to optimise conversions. Think of your website like a retail store.
From cross selling to calls to action (CTAs) It is important you design your shopify website in a way that guides visitors towards taking desired actions. This could absolutely be making a purchasing decision, but could also be signing up for a newsletter, enquiring about a product, learning how your product helps them.
We've created a blog all about designing for conversion, which really goes into depth on this. So check it out here
Designing websites that get real results
Why not get a free, no obligations web health check and we will review your Shopify website and let you know what improvements you can make to optimise your shopify websites design to turn more site visitors into customers.