The ideal custom e-commerce website does two things: Conveys your brand, and converts visitors into customers. Each element of your site's design should be focused on these goals.

1. Tips for Effective E-Commerce Web Design
The ideal custom e-commerce website does two things: Conveys your
brand, and converts visitors into customers. Each element of your
site's design should be focused on these goals. Yet, while the goals
themselves are straightforward, creating a simple yet powerful look
requires thoughtful design strategy. Following are a few tips for
maximizing your e-commerce website's effectiveness.
Make the shopping cart easy to manage.
Because the main goal of any e-commerce website is to sell products
and services, it should make purchasing easy. One of the keys to
simplifying the buying experience is to make the shopping cart easy to
locate by placing it in the top right hand corner of every web page. By

2. doing so, you make it simple for customers to check on their
selections so far and to checkout as soon as they finish shopping.
Another way to make your shopping cart easy to manage is to include
an “Add to cart” button with every product to encourage visitors to
make the purchase. In addition, implementing a persistent shopping
cart can improve the buying ease of your site. This type of shopping
cart remembers what customers have put in it for a certain amount of
time, even if they abandon your site. When visitors can immediately
access their items once they return to your site, they are less likely to
abandon the shopping cart for good, and you are more likely to close
sales.
Simplify navigation.
Visitors to your custom e-commerce website should also be able to

3. find their way around easily. To this end, the navigation bar should be
easily accessible and clearly organized. For instance, it should be
placed in an obvious location, either at the top of the web page or on
the left hand side. It should also include clearly labeled categories so
visitors can easily locate the kinds of products they want. Limit
yourself to five or six relatively broad categories on the navigation bar
itself. You can always include drop-down menus with more options
under each main category.
In addition to a clearly organized navigation, your e-commerce web
design should utilize what is called breadcrumb navigation. This is
navigation that lists the steps needed to get from looking at a product
to completing the purchase, and it shows the visitor where they are in
the process. It is typically listed at the top of each page. When visitors
know both how to get to the product they want and what steps are
needed to purchase it, they are much more likely to complete their
purchase on your site.
Make searching easy.
Simplicity and accessibility should also characterize the process of
finding the specific products and services your site visitors wish to buy.
The navigation bar will send visitors to areas on your site where there
may be dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of items from which to
choose. Visitors who know more specifically what they want will need
a way to locate it without searching through all of these options.
To this end, you should place a search bar in an obvious location
(such as the top right-hand corner) on every single web page. Doing
so allows visitors to look for the exact items they wish to purchase. By
placing the search bar on every page, you allow them to conduct a
search whenever they desire. Once again, the simplicity of your e-
commerce website will encourage visitors to pay attention to your
brand and take advantage of your offerings, because they can do so
with a minimum of hassle.

4. Utilize clear calls to action.
Another way to encourage your site visitors to act is to include clear
calls to action. Typically, this action will be purchasing a product or
service. However, it can also include signing up for an email list,
taking advantage of a free offer, or joining a shopper's club to receive
discounts. Regardless of the exact call to action that you choose to
implement, the key is to promote it clearly on your website. For
instance, bright colors, a large button, and a front and center
placement all help to draw visitors' attention to the action you want
them to take.
Giving site visitors a clear call to action is important in encouraging
them to engage further with your company, because visitors want to
know what you can offer them and what they should do about it.

5. When they have a clear next step in front of them, they will be much
more likely to take that step.
Use high-quality images.
Visitors to your e-commerce website, because they are shopping
online, will often depend upon the images of your products to decide
whether they want to purchase them. As a result, it is important to
provide large, high-quality images of every product. These pictures
should not only highlight the product, but do so in an appealing way.
Adding a bit of elegance or interest to your images allows you to
capture the visitor's imagination and helps them to think about what it
would be like for them to own the product themselves. In addition,
organizing your images in a clear way allows visitors to quickly
identify the main point of each web page and enables them to find
the information they want at a glance.
Effective e-commerce website development involves implementing
many strategies for making your products appealing and easy to find.
Those listed above are just a few of the many steps you can take.
However, by making the shopping cart easy to manage, simplifying
navigation, making searching easy, utilizing clear calls to action, and
using high-quality images, you can increase the appeal and the
effectiveness of your site.