Web interface usability is an important factor for any website. It allows users to browse a website conveniently, find the required information in minimum clicks and take the desired action without facing any hassle.
Entrepreneurs make E-commerce websites to sell their products/services to a large number of people all over the world. Therefore, it becomes essential for them to give more importance to web usability. It helps them to keep their existing customers interested in their E-commerce business and attract new customers/clients.
However, there are many E-commerce websites that don't perform well primarily because of several usability issues. Have a look at some common usability mistakes and know how they can be avoided-
1. Navigation issues
Navigation on a website determines whether visitors will stay on not. If visitors face problems to navigate your site, they stop browsing at once and go away. It increases the bounce rate of your site and hurts your E-commerce business ultimately.
Navigation issues are caused by complicated website structure, inappropriate selection of hypertext, use of unclear language, bad navigation interface, etc.
● Solution
Try to keep the navigation on your site simple and easy as per your needs. Add a proper sitemap to your website. It will help users to visit all main pages of your website easily. You can use breadcrumb navigation on your site to let users know their exact location.
2. Information overload
Most of the E-commerce website owners are tempted to make the maximum use of their E-shop. So, they display as much information as they can to attract more and more customers. However, displaying numerous content, RSS feeds, Popups, hot deals, promotions, animated graphics, advertisements, etc, can make your website complicated and drive visitors away.
● Solution
Always keep in mind that you just have a few seconds to impress the visitors that land on your website. So, keep your website structure neat and clean & remove all non-essential items. It will help you to attract more and more visitors and generate business from them.
3. No Responsive Design
These days, a large number of people use numerous mobile terminals to access the websites. All these terminals have their own features and limitations which determine how a website will perform on those devices. If your website is not responsive to mobile devices, users will face problems to browse your site and deal in your products/services.
● Solution
Make your site responsive to all mobile devices. It will allow your site to adjust itself in accordance with the screen size of mobile devices and offer the best browsing experience to users.
4. Cross Browser Compatibility issues
People use a number of Internet browsers to access websites. The problem is that each browser perceives the website code in different ways. So, if your website is not compatible with certain browsers, users may face problems to access your site if they use those Internet browsers.
In E-commerce business, each and every customer is important for your business. So, you can't afford to lose them just because of your site's cross-browser compatibility issues.
● Solution
There are many tools that you can use to find out cross-browser compatibility issues of your website and fix them quickly. It will help users to access your site on all leading Internet browsers without facing any difficulty.
5. Selection Of Inappropriate Fonts
Most of the E-commerce website operators spend a lot of money to make their shopping site look extraordinary and improve its performance. But, they ignore the great importance of choosing the right typography. All your smart works to promote your E-commerce website will go in vain if users face problems to read your site's content.
● Solution
Based on your needs, you should choose the right font type, font color, and size. It will help visitors to use your site easily and go through the content comfortably without straining their eyes.
6. Lack of search feature
E-commerce websites have various product pages. There are many buyers who don't want to visit a number of pages to look for the products and services they need. If your E-commerce website lacks a search bar, then visitors may stop browsing your site and use other similar websites.
● Solution
You need to add a clear and well-designed search box to your E-commerce site. It will help buyers to find the desired products easily and quickly on your site.
7. Broken links
While browsing websites, many times you come across the message “ 404 error (page not found)”. It happens because of broken links (links that don't exist in reality). Such links displease users and dissuade them not to use your site for online shopping (as a result of poor user experience).
When you operate an E-commerce website that receives lots of traffic and several thousand orders for products/services, the availability of too many broken links can damage your reputation. It also impacts the visibility of your E-commerce website on different search engines.
● Solution
It is not an easy task to check and fix all broken links on your website manually. Therefore, you can use some tools to perform this action. Such tools automatically check all broken links on your site and notify you about that. You can eliminate/replace with new ones/edit them to give shoppers the best shopping experience on your site.
8. Database Integration problems
Database integration is a process of adding a database to your site. It helps users a lot when they place orders on your E-commerce website. It also allows them to add, delete or update their information from time-to-time.
When you operate an E-commerce website that gets immense traffic on a daily basis, successful data integration seems like a very challenging task. Due to the inability of website admins (to update the website database) and poor interface, shoppers often find inappropriate results.
● Solution
To solve this problem, you need to update your website database from time-to-time and determine which data is important to operate your site smoothly.
Final Words
Because of fierce competition in E-commerce business and rapidly growing user's demand to accomplish online transactions in the easiest and quickest manner, all E-commerce website owners need to focus on the usability of their sites with high priority. By eliminating the above-mentioned usability mistakes, you can increase the performance of your site and revenues both.