Boost Engagement with 5 UI Improvements

Looking to boost your website’s conversion rate? A few tweaks to the user interface (UI) of a site can make or break user experience (UX) and engagement.  UI design and graphic design are not synonymous. Fashionable fonts, color schemes and interesting effects are great but they don’t create a good UI by themselves. Truly successful web design includes factors like intuitive navigation, high-quality images, mobile compatibility and more. If you are looking to enhance your site, here are five common UI improvements you can implement to help increase conversion rates:

How Mobile is Your Site? 

Your site is probably already responsive, right? Maybe it has been mobile-friendly for years at this point. Too often, though, clients come to InteractOne because buggy responsive code, mobile browser problems or device-specific glitches are putting obstacles in the shopper’s path, or preventing transactions altogether. In 2022, mobile ecommerce sales in the US made up nearly 42% of the total ecommerce market. This year, it’s projected that mobile commerce sales will surpass 43% of total sales, and by 2025, they are expected to reach 44%, gradually closing the gap between mobile commerce and ecommerce sales ratios. In brief, having a site that has “ok” mobile friendliness is costing you lots of money. . To ensure efficient content loading on mobile devices, it’s crucial to develop catalog and product content with a mobile-first approach. In other words, when you build products and content, assume the viewer will be on a phone. Site elements should also load in order. For instance, to accommodate the shorter attention span of mobile users, consider displaying a static banner instead of a rotating one on mobile devices. This can help improve performance and overall user experience.

Streamline Checkout

Improving a site’s checkout design and functionality is key to customer satisfaction. Complicated checkout processes and website errors contribute to high rates of cart abandonment, with studies showing as many as 17% of customers will abandon their carts due to checkout issues. The best way to prevent this is to use your tools. Observe customers using your site and your checkout – you’ll be surprised at the insights you can gain! Watching real-time transactions helps you think like a customer so you can remove clutter and sticking points in the checkout process. Verify your observations by setting up the checkout funnel in Google Analytics and paying attention to the Abandoned Carts report in Magento. Use Google Analytics to track your checkout funnel and monitor the “Abandoned Carts” report in Magento. Overall, when looking to increase conversions, keep the checkout process short and straightforward, with properly functioning autofill fields and guest checkout (ask us how often we see these broken!)

Maintain Consistent Navigation

Right off the bat, here’s a caveat for the owners, directors and VPs out there: Take care how you wield your influence! One of the most common problems we see in navigation is the inclusion of “pet” categories – prominent menu items that are either redundant or simply out of place. For instance, maybe you sell office supplies. For your main categories, you have electronics, furniture, equipment and one or two other main categories. But, for some reason, you are very focused on selling ergonomic keyboards. “Ergonomic keyboards” shouldn’t be a main category for you. But because your marketing person isn’t going to fight every battle, up it goes. Don’t do it!  A disciplined approach to your menu structure is vitally important. As the first point of contact for visitors, your menu should guide them to their destination seamlessly. However, many websites fall victim to common design mistakes such as overcrowding, vague or dated labels, and lack of organization. These can quickly drive visitors away from your site and towards your competitors (especially when ¼ of site visitor’s attention goes to the main navigation of the website). To create a successful navigation, start by putting yourself in your customers’ shoes. Consider the customer journey and personalize the menu accordingly. Avoid overwhelming users with too many choices; limit the primary navigation to just a few options. Utilize attributes and faceted navigation within larger categories to make filtering easier. Remember to regularly review and update your navigation to accommodate new product lines or brands, while keeping the category structure simple and relevant to your customers’ search queries. Again, most ongoing updates should take place in the sub-categories, attributes and filters since you rarely add or shed a whole top-level category of products. Optimize your high-level categories for both browsing and search engine rankings by using terms familiar to your customers. By providing quick and relevant answers, you’ll increase engagement and retention on your site.

Establish Trust Through Images

Establishing credibility in your site can motivate shoppers to make a purchase. Easier said than done, right?! Professional photos of real people using your actual products sounds like a heavy lift, but is usually worth it. People are looking for a reason to say yes (they’re shopping, remember?) and personably relatable photography allows them to believe. Highlight product details. Display high quality images users can enlarge on desktop or mobile. Studies show that larger images are more effective in boosting conversions, so definitely talk to your developer before deciding to use smaller image files; there are ways to preserve large images and not sacrifice performance. Many times, a CDN can ensure fast load times. 

Product Descriptions

Revamp your product pages by crafting unique, valuable and clear descriptions that highlight the product’s benefits for the buyer. Applying this across your whole catalog is another potentially huge task that many merchants choose not to tackle, but depending on your market it can make or break your strategy. Avoid common eCommerce mistakes like leaving out relevant visuals or failing to explain how to use the product. Make sure your descriptions are credible, concise, and engaging. Adding a touch of humor or storytelling can help capture the customer’s attention and make your product stand out.

Building a Better eCommerce Website

By focusing on user experience and prioritizing user-centered functionality, these five UI enhancements can increase conversions on your Magento website. Adopting a customer-centric approach can lead to a positive user experience and ultimately drive more conversions. Contact us to learn more about how to optimize your eCommerce site.