No matter what field you are running an online business in, you have to compete with at least thousands of rival. To retain your customers
1. Ain’t nobody got time for slow loading page
10 years ago, we were willing to wait several minutes for the Neopets page to load. It was the age of dial-up, so that was forgivable.
Nowadays, one additional second in page-loading would cost Amazon $1.6 billion in annual sales. For Google, an additional 0.4 seconds would cost 8 million searches a day.
In 2009, 47% of users expected webpages to load in 2 seconds or less, and almost 50% of users would abandon the web page if the loading time took more than 3 seconds.
There are many ways to speed up page-loading, from easy tweaks to advanced tricks.
For starters, do not use images that are too high-resolution, even though you can set the image size attributes in HTML. Resize your images to their appropriate size before uploading.
Avoid using picture formats that are not optimized for web (e.g. TIF); use web-optimized image formats like GIF, JPEG or PNG instead.
P.S. If you have done everything you possibly could to speed up your site, but it still loads slow at times, you might want to consider changing your customer’s perception that the wait is worthwhile.
2. Don’t keep customers guessing
When people visit a site, they should be able to tell what the purpose of the site is.
If they have to guess what the site is supposed to do, then there’s a good chance they won’t be staying.
Ensure that your website communicates the following clearly:
- Have your company brand name and logo placed in a prominent location. It is your pride and joy, after all.
- Explain what your company does (e.g. We provide the best automated referral marketing software to online retailers).
- Provide clear indication of what to do next (e.g. provide clear menus and buttons for users to navigate).
TOMS homepage. Note the brand logo, menu bar, product highlights and brand philosophy.
In the case of TOMS’ homepage, it is obvious that they sell footwear. The menu is visible, and their most important information is shown clearly: their new fall collection and their “One for One” brand philosophy.
Social media logos on sharing buttons can also be accompanied by text instructions like “Share this on Twitter”, to minimize guessing.
As seen on Mashable. While the logos are easy to understand, the instructions removes any guesswork.
3. Horizontal scrolling – It’s not natural
Anecdotal evidence collected by the Nielsen Norman Group suggested that most users scroll using the scrollbar, and dragging it horizontally can be a chore. In fact, many people who were asked about horizontal scrolling displayed negative responses, with some even stating that they hated it.
Vertical scrolling is also easier and more habitual than horizontal when considering physical apparatuses like the mouse or trackpad.
Horizontal scrolling might provide more space to display information, but most users would just scroll past everything because they assume that whatever they see is all there is.
Understand that not all users will scroll through the horizontal content. Once you do, you’ll naturally avoid placing your most important information there.
Instead, use menu categories for the most important stuff, so that all users can navigate easily without touching the horizontal scrollbar.
If you do decide to utilize horizontal scrolling, indicate how much information is left (e.g. page 2 of 10).
Another good tip is to allow users to scroll through by pressing the left or right arrow keys, just like Amazon:
Amazon suggestions. Indicate how much content there is left to scroll, so users can decide what to do.
4. We are fine with scrolling down
In web design, “above the fold” is a term used to refer to the space on webpages that is visible without scrolling.
A study by the Nielsen Norman Group showed that 80.3% of users’ viewing time were spentabove the fold, and less than 20% was given below the fold.
Date from Nielsen Norman Group’s eyetracking studies. Much less attention is given to content below the fold.
Their advice was to place the most important content above the fold, as minimal attention would be spent below the fold.
While that is very sound advice, it has been shown by other studies, namely those by cxpartners, that the “above the fold” concept is outdated and inaccurate in modern web browsing standards.
“Above the fold” website designs were popular when users were new to the internet, and not used to scrolling down.
Be in on a desktop or on a mobile device, many websites and apps require us to scroll. For instance, all social media sites feature extensive scrolling.
Cxpartners have shown that the browser scrollbar acts as an indication of content below the fold, and that lesser content above the fold actually encourages users to scroll down!
So don’t worry about having content below the fold. It is normal to have the most important and attention-grabbing content above the fold, but users are now accustomed to scrolling down for more.
Dr. Martens. All the important content is above the fold, so users don’t have to scroll down.
5. Give responsive feedback for customer actions – Was it added to the cart or not?
People want feedback for their actions.
When it comes to web browsing, a lack of feedback could mean a lag, a screen freeze, or a system hang. This feedback is crucial if the item is in short supply, or under a competitive discount.
Avoid making your shopping cart feedback too subtle. People end up getting confused, wondering if their action was processed. They then click a few more times, resulting in multiple entries of the same product.
Make it obvious that an addition to the cart has been registered. Have a pop-up window saying “item has been added to cart; do you want to visit your cart, or continue shopping?”, like Cole Haan:
Cole Haan’s shopping cart. The pop-up (highlighted in red) is easily noticeable.
Alternatively, direct users to the shopping cart page once they add an item to it, like in the case of Warby Parker or Sunpocket.
6. Apply coupons right at the start – or none at all.
Everyone likes discounts.
What they don’t like, though, is being forced to create an account before they can obtain the discount code. This is one of the factors resulting in shopping cart abandonment.
If you want to offer discounts, allow customers who qualify for the discount to have the it applied automatically before checkout. It makes them happier knowing that they have already profited before checking out
For customers who do not qualify for the discount, ensure that the discount code box is not visible during checkout. Customers who see the discount code box but do not have one will often go back to search.
According to Conversion Doctor Eric Graham, customers who are unable to find a code from your website often leave the site to search for a code on Google. That is another factor behind shopping cart abandonment.
It might not seem like a big deal, but the removal of the coupon code box during checkout resulted in an additional $1,000,000 per year for one of Eric’s clients; an online retailer selling women’s clothing!
7. Optimize for mobile – For those on-the-go.
Mobile usage is really going crazy.
With 4 out of 5 consumers using smartphones to shop, and 70% of mobile searches leading to online action within an hour, it would be extremely wise to optimize your website for mobile devices.
But what does optimizing for mobile really mean?
Optimizing for mobile doesn’t mean cramming the desktop site into mobile browsing dimensions. It means adapting to the behaviors of mobile users.
That includes prioritizing important information and visuals at the top, and making changes to fit the elements in a smaller screen.
Firstly, remember that your mobile site is not a mini version of your desktop site – you browse the former in portrait, and the latter in landscape.
Adapt to the behavior of mobile users.
This means prioritising important information and visuals at the top, and adjusting the elements to fit a smaller screen.
Skinnyties.com on Desktop vs Smartphone. Note the differences in copy and visual elements (i.e. shopping cart, etc.)
The visuals for the shopping cart, user login and search have been modified to fit into a smartphone screen. Users are also able to swipe horizontally or press the arrows to reveal the other tie patterns.
Additionally, consider using text instead of images to optimize for smaller screens, like in the case of TOMS.
TOMS Desktop vs Smartphone Menu Dropdown. Note how the mobile site uses text instead of images in the menu.
TOMS’ mobile site uses text instead of images in their menus, allowing for more efficient navigation. More information can be placed within the screen, requiring lesser scrolling.
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