The ultimate goal of every commercial website is to make money. In most cases, such websites will be offering the visitors an opportunity to make the purchase right there on the website. In some other cases, such websites will mostly promote the products and/or services of a particular company. In any case, they are there to enable people to interact with the company whose website it is and to enable them to easily and quickly get the service or the product that they desire.
It goes without saying that this specific nature of commercial websites will also influence the web design. In this article, we will go over the most important dos and don’ts of web design for commercial websites.
The Don’ts
Don’t Make It Too Busy
As we have mentioned before, the visitors come to commercial websites because they want to purchase something. One of the main reasons that they are doing it online is because it is more convenient. It is quicker and easier. Or at least that is what they are looking for. This is why you should never feature a web design that will be too busy, that will bombard your visitors with elements and time-wasters that will only be an annoyance for them. What is more important, the less busy the website is, the quicker they will make the purchase and the more likely they will be to return.
Don’t Forget About Mobile Devices
In 2014, the number of people who have used a mobile device to access the web has finally surpassed the number of people who have done the same on a desktop computer. Since then, the number of mobile internet users has only grown and it is safe to say that they are now in majority. What this means is that your new commercial website needs to always be accessible to mobile internet users. They will have to be able to use the website just as they would on personal computers. They need to be able to quickly and easily access every feature on your website and make the purchase, which is the main point of it all.
The Do’s
Do Make It Fast
The speed is everything when it comes to commercial websites. A study has shown that the percentage of people who log off a website rises by 10% with every second that it takes for the website to load. In short, if your website takes 7 seconds to load, more than 50% of the visitors will leave. They are buying stuff online because they want to do it quicker than in person. If they cannot, they will give up on your website.
Do Allow Communication
We have talked to experts from a web design firm and they have told us that the users value the ability to share their opinion with other users and the customer service very highly when they visit a commercial website. In short, they want to be able to get answers from you and your employees. They also want to be able to comment on the services/products and the overall experience that they had when using your website. Give them this ability and enable them to feel like they are part of a community, instead of just consumers.