Best Practices to Optimize Ecommerce Homepage and Convert

by Digital Marketing E. Online Marketing Professional

If you own a virtual shop you already know how much the setting of the site is fundamental in terms of functionality and effectiveness. Here's how to create an optimal homepage for your ecommerce

Imagine you are a user who lands on your site for the first time. If the site convinces you and meets your expectations, continue browsing and (perhaps) proceed with a purchase. If the site does not live up to expectations, you leave it with a non-positive impression.

Do you know how long it takes people to make that choice? About 50 milliseconds - a blink of an eye. This is the time you have to turn the casual user into a potential lead, and the ecommerce homepage is the trump card to grow your conversion rate. Let's see why and above all how to fully exploit its potential.

Effective Ecommerce Homepage: Why Does It Matter So Much?

1. Corporate brand

2. Navigation menu

3. Ecommerce homepage design

4. CTA

5. Reviews

6. Contact information

Conclusions on how to optimize an ecommerce starting from the homepage

Effective Ecommerce Homepage: Why Does It Matter So Much?

The ecommerce homepage is the online equivalent of a shop window: it allows you to entice the potential buyer to 'go inside' for a deeper look and, why not, for a purchase.

In ecommerce, the homepage serves to involve the user , so that they can deepen their knowledge of the brand, easily browse the product catalog and get a good enough opinion from it that they add your site to their favorites.

In most cases, a few 'tweaks' to the homepage are enough to make it performant and able to significantly increase conversions . Regardless of your conversion goal - signing up for a newsletter, selling a service, downloading a podcast - it all starts from the homepage.

To implement the best strategy, the most effective way is to study a user 's navigation and purchase process with the ultimate goal of improving the user experience on ecommerce . You will have to offer an easy and engaging experience, through intuitive navigation and attractive graphics, keeping in mind one fact: 70% of online businesses fail due to bad usability.

Here are 6 things to look out for on the ecommerce homepage.

1. Corporate brand

' Make yourself recognizable ' is the main mantra in branding and its practical application also goes from the front page of your website. Company logo and slogan are the traits that characterize your business and, of course, they cannot be missing on the homepage.

Position and graphics are essential to make the logo stand out and it must emerge in a 'natural' way without being excessive. Equally important is the concept of consistency : users familiar with your brand expect the site to be in line with the style and values of the company.

Finally, don't forget the claim and / or slogan that give voice to your business. Also in this case the position must be strategic and if the writing is accompanied by the logo, it must be legible and clear through a skilful use of colors and graphics.

2. Navigation menu

Looking for a tool that gives users a reason to stay longer on your website? The navigation menu is the answer. To make it functional, the items must be understandable: using standard titles is not a limitation to creativity, but rather a facilitation for surfers . The items " Catalog ", " Our products ", " Shop " are what you expect in an ecommerce site and yours cannot be an exception. While titles such as " Who we are ", with the company history and " Privacy Policy ", for the management of personal data are transversal .

The navigation bar, to be usable, must be in a prominent position . While as regards the type, for example fixed during the scroll, it is advisable to evaluate according to the design set. Please advise your webmaster before choosing. If you decide to opt for the sticky menu solution , or blocked even in the scroll phase, make sure that some elements are always present, such as the logo and possibly the Call To Action .

The "Search" function on the site is not an option : the internal search engine is the most immediate means that customers have to find the product / service they need. It is estimated that about 50% of users do not proceed with the navigation because they cannot browse the catalog and find what they are looking for.

3. Ecommerce homepage design

94% of negative user feedbacks refer to the design in terms of responsiveness and navigability . A fact to reflect on, don't you think?

After all, it is not just a question of visual impact, but also of practical consequences in the usability of the site. Being able to be essential, focusing on quality and practicality, pays from the performance point of view.

But " less is more " is not as easy to implement as it seems: if you manage an ecommerce you want to put your cards on the table and immediately show users all the extraordinary opportunities on your site.

Well, by doing so you risk confusing your visitors. Arranging the elements that users expect , exactly in their place, matching incisive texts and quality photos: here are the steps to capture the attention of visitors, guiding them without interruption in the navigation of the site.

The use of 'negative space' also plays an important role in this dynamic , the white that lightens the fullness and allows the message of the contents to be highlighted.

4. CTA

The Call To Action (CTA) depends on the goal you have decided to convert. In any case, it cannot be missing on the homepage of your ecommerce. After all, the user expects to be involved : if he finds the site he likes, he will want to be informed about the latest news through the newsletter, or he will be happy to register to take advantage of any sales.

Regardless of the type of call to action, the basic rule is: keep the low profile , which means that the CTA will have to stand out from the elements present in HP, without 'being shouted'. In this regard, investigations have been made regarding the Call To Action on the homepage and a couple of interesting indications have come out on how to achieve it:

Colors : red and orange are the most used colors, but the determining factor for success is finding a graphic that can 'detach' the CTA button from the background.

Standard text : in the Call To Action it is important to use terms that give an immediate answer to questions such as “ How do I? "," May I know? ", That's why CTA buttons often have keywords like" Buy Now "," Learn More "," Sign Up for Special Offers ".

Ecommerce homepage CTA examples

If you are a professional and sell services, your ideal CTA is " Request a free quote " which allows you to increase your customer database and create profiled lists.

If your shop is an online wine shop , you could invite users to subscribe to the newsletter in which you present the various wines of your 'cellar' and show the possible combinations. Visitors may be tempted to buy wines thanks to the content you offer. In this case the CTA can be very creative, for example “ Sign up for our free sommelier course ”.

If you have a physically localized activity , however, the CTA must encourage the visitor to come and visit you, in the case of a restaurant " Reserve a table immediately ", or " Choose your menu ", in the case of a " Fixed an appointment "and so on.

5. Reviews

Reviews build a sense of trust in your business and help build a good opinion in whoever is visiting the site.

We are talking about testimonials, true and authentic, of those who have already tested your service, or have already bought your products: their voice and their faces (if you decide to use photos, remember to ask for the release for the image processing, ed ) are a quality mark in the eyes of new users. In some cases, for example for restaurant businesses, it is possible to link the site to reviews from third parties such as TripAdvisor.

6. Contact information

Last but not least, remember to be found in every moment of the navigation. On the homepage of the ecommerce and of each website there are, often at the footer , the contact information with email address and telephone number / Whatsapp .

Just as it is a good habit to put buttons in the header that refer to company social accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Linkedin etc.).

In other words, every useful tool to cancel the distance between you and your user must be clearly visible and this is the reason that explains why the " Contact Form " never goes out of style for those looking for information on products / services.

Conclusions on how to optimize an ecommerce starting from the homepage

As you will have understood, the motto to optimize your ecommerce homepage and increase the conversion rate is " User First ". The user must be enabled to have a facilitated and engaging experience, through the correct design settings.

Which means putting both professionalism and creativity into play: only in this way will you be able to effectively highlight your products and at the same time brand your HP in a unique way with original and quality content.