7 Proven Ecommerce Website Design Best Practices to Boost Your Bottom Line

Your ecommerce website has just seconds to make a good impression on potential customers. That’s why understanding and implementing ecommerce website design best practices is crucial for any online business. After years of testing and optimizing online stores, I’ve compiled this comprehensive guide to help you create a website that attracts visitors, builds trust, and converts browsers into buyers.

Key Takeaways

The best practices for ecommerce website design include:

• Prioritize user experience with clean layouts, intuitive navigation, and mobile-responsive design
• Optimize site speed by compressing images and minimizing redirects
• Use high-quality product images and detailed descriptions
• Implement clear calls-to-action that guide users through the buying journey
• Design a simple checkout process to reduce cart abandonment
• Include trust signals like reviews, testimonials, and security badges
• Ensure your site is mobile-optimized as over 76% of consumers shop on smartphones

Create A User-Focused Experience

When I talk about ecommerce website design best practices, user experience always tops the list. Your website should be designed with your customers in mind, making it easy for them to find what they’re looking for and complete their purchase without frustration.

Utilize White Space Effectively

White space isn’t wasted space-it’s a powerful design element that helps keep your site clean and organized. I’ve found that using adequate white space helps direct your visitors’ attention to what matters most: your products.

Too many ecommerce sites make the mistake of cramming every inch of screen real estate with information, promotions, and visuals. This approach overwhelms visitors and makes it difficult for them to focus on important elements. Instead, follow GameStop’s example by using white space strategically to highlight featured products and crucial information.

White space benefits:

• Improves readability and comprehension
• Directs attention to important elements
• Creates a clean, professional appearance
• Reduces cognitive overload for visitors

Create Intuitive Navigation

Your site’s navigation structure should be simple, clear, and intuitive. Customers need to find products quickly and easily-otherwise, they’ll leave.

A Baymard study showed that poor site navigation leads users to false conclusions about your inventory, causing them to abandon your site and reducing the likelihood they’ll return. To avoid this, place your main navigation at the top of the page with descriptive categories and subcategories.

For example, SoYoung’s navigation is easy to follow with clear categories that help visitors quickly find what they’re looking for. Remember that each additional click required to find a product increases the chance of abandonment, so aim to keep your navigation structure as flat as possible.

Implement Clear Calls-to-Action

Every page on your ecommerce site should include clear calls-to-action (CTAs) that guide visitors toward conversion. Your CTAs should stand out visually and use strong, action-oriented language.

Jule Dancewear does this effectively by beginning every CTA with a command word like “shop,” followed by a specific product category. They even use arrows and other visual cues to draw attention to their CTAs.

CTA best practices:

• Use contrasting colors to make buttons stand out
• Keep button text short and action-oriented
• Place primary CTAs in various areas of the page
• Avoid competing CTAs that could confuse visitors
• Test different variations to see what converts best

Optimize For Performance And Speed

Site speed is a critical factor in ecommerce success. If your website takes more than 3 seconds to load, you risk losing 32% of visitors to the back button. Here’s how I ensure my clients’ ecommerce sites load quickly:

Compress Images Without Sacrificing Quality

Product images are essential for ecommerce, but they can significantly slow down your site if not properly optimized. I always recommend compressing images before uploading them to your site.

Several techniques can help reduce image file sizes:

• Use the appropriate file format (JPEG for photographs, PNG for images with transparency)
• Compress images using tools like TinyPNG or ImageOptim
• Implement lazy loading so images only load when they come into view
• Consider using next-gen formats like WebP for further optimization

Minimize HTTP Requests

Each element on your page (images, scripts, stylesheets) requires an HTTP request to load. The more requests your page makes, the longer it takes to load.

To reduce HTTP requests:

• Combine multiple CSS files into one
• Merge JavaScript files where possible
• Use CSS sprites for icons and small images
• Remove unnecessary plugins and scripts

Enable Browser Caching

Browser caching stores website resources locally in a visitor’s browser, so they don’t need to be downloaded again on subsequent visits. This significantly improves loading times for returning visitors.

Reduce Redirects

Each redirect creates additional HTTP requests, slowing down your site. Audit your site regularly to identify and eliminate unnecessary redirects.

Design For Mobile First

With over 76% of consumers shopping on smartphones and 90% having made a purchase on a mobile device, mobile optimization isn’t optional-it’s essential. A mobile-first approach ensures your site delivers a seamless experience across all devices.

Implement Responsive Design

Responsive design allows your website to adapt to any screen size, providing an optimal viewing experience. HydroFlask’s website is an excellent example of responsive design, adjusting beautifully from desktop to mobile while maintaining functionality and visual appeal.

Mobile optimization benefits:

• Reaches the growing segment of mobile shoppers
• Improves search engine rankings (Google uses mobile-first indexing)
• Reduces bounce rates by up to 50%
• Can increase unique page views by 40%
• May boost total product sales by up to 70%

Optimize Touch Elements

On mobile devices, users navigate with their fingers rather than a precise mouse cursor. Make sure buttons and links are large enough (at least 44×44 pixels) and spaced far enough apart to prevent accidental clicks.

Simplify Forms For Mobile Users

Long, complicated forms are even more frustrating on mobile devices. Minimize the number of form fields, use appropriate input types (like number pads for phone numbers), and enable autofill where possible.

Create Compelling Product Pages

Your product pages are where the magic happens-where browsers become buyers. Here’s how to optimize them:

Use High-Quality Product Images

High-quality images convey professionalism and build trust with potential customers. Since online shoppers can’t physically handle your products, your images need to do the heavy lifting.

Product image best practices:

• Show products from multiple angles
• Include zoom functionality for detailed views
• Use consistent image sizes and backgrounds
• Consider adding videos or 360-degree views for complex products
• Show products in context or being used

Write Detailed, Benefit-Focused Descriptions

Your product descriptions should do more than list features-they should tell a story about how the product will improve your customer’s life. I always advise my clients to focus on benefits over features.

For example, instead of just saying “100% cotton,” explain that the fabric is “breathable 100% cotton that keeps you cool even on the hottest summer days.”

Optimize Product Page SEO

Each product page is an opportunity to rank in search results. To maximize visibility:

• Include your primary keyword in the product title (H1 tag)
• Use the primary keyword in the URL structure
• Add the keyword naturally throughout the product description
• Include related keywords (LSI keywords) in subheadings and body text
• Write unique meta titles and descriptions for each product

For example, if your primary keyword is “women’s wallets,” avoid keyword cannibalization by giving each product a distinct name like “Folio Wallet” or “Travel Clutch” while still incorporating related terms throughout the description.

Add Social Proof

Reviews and testimonials are powerful conversion tools. In fact, using testimonials and consumer reviews can drive sales up by 18%. Include customer reviews on product pages and make it easy for customers to leave feedback after purchase.

Streamline The Checkout Process

A complicated checkout process is one of the leading causes of cart abandonment. Here’s how I help my clients optimize their checkout flow:

Minimize Steps To Purchase

The ideal checkout process has as few steps as possible. Each additional step increases the likelihood that customers will abandon their carts.

Checkout optimization tips:

• Offer guest checkout options
• Show a progress indicator so customers know how many steps remain
• Only ask for essential information
• Pre-fill information when possible
• Allow customers to save their information for future purchases

Provide Multiple Payment Options

Different customers prefer different payment methods. Offering a variety of options-credit cards, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay-ensures you’re not losing sales due to limited payment choices.

Display Security Badges

Security concerns are a major reason people abandon carts. Display trust signals like SSL certificates and payment security badges prominently during checkout to reassure customers that their information is safe.

Build Trust With Your Design

Trust is essential for ecommerce success. Your website design plays a crucial role in establishing credibility with potential customers.

Include Clear Contact Information

Make it easy for customers to get in touch with you. Display your contact information prominently and consider adding live chat for immediate assistance.

Create An Engaging “About Us” Section

Your “About Us” page helps humanize your brand and build emotional connections with customers. Share your brand story, mission, and values to help customers feel connected to your business.

Display Trust Signals Throughout The Site

In addition to security badges during checkout, incorporate other trust signals throughout your site:

• Customer testimonials
• Industry certifications
• Media mentions
• Money-back guarantees
• Clear return policies

Implement Strategic SEO Practices

Search engine optimization helps potential customers find your ecommerce site. Here’s how to incorporate SEO best practices:

Optimize Title Tags And Meta Descriptions

Title tags appear as the clickable headline in search results and should include your primary keyword. Keep them under 60 characters to avoid being cut off in search results.

Meta descriptions provide a brief summary of the page content and should be compelling enough to encourage clicks. Aim for 150-160 characters and include a call to action.

Use Proper Heading Structure

Organize your content with a clear hierarchy of headings:

• H1 tags for page titles (usually the product or category name)
• H2 tags for main sections
• H3 tags for subsections

Include your primary keyword in the H1 tag and use related keywords in subheadings where appropriate.

Create SEO-Friendly URLs

URLs should be short, descriptive, and include relevant keywords. For example:

• Good: yourdomain.com/womens-wallets
• Bad: yourdomain.com/products?id=123&cat=45

Implement Schema Markup

Schema markup helps search engines understand your content better, which can lead to rich snippets in search results. For ecommerce sites, product schema is particularly important as it can display information like price, availability, and reviews directly in search results.

Test And Optimize Continuously

The work doesn’t end when your site launches. Continuous testing and optimization are essential for long-term success.

Conduct A/B Testing

Test different elements of your site to see what performs best:

• CTA button colors and text
• Product page layouts
• Checkout process variations
• Navigation structures

Make changes based on data, not assumptions, to continuously improve your conversion rates.

Analyze User Behavior

Use tools like heatmaps and session recordings to understand how visitors interact with your site. Identify pain points and areas of confusion, then make improvements based on these insights.

Monitor Site Performance

Regularly check your site’s loading speed, mobile responsiveness, and other technical aspects. As your product catalog grows and you add new features, performance can degrade if not carefully monitored.

Implementing ecommerce website design best practices isn’t a one-time task-it’s an ongoing process of refinement and optimization. By focusing on user experience, mobile optimization, compelling product pages, streamlined checkout processes, and strategic SEO, you can create an ecommerce website that not only attracts visitors but converts them into loyal customers.