Convincing visitors to your website to buy one or more of your products is tougher than ever. Today, nearly 7 out of 10 consumers conduct online research before buying a product at a local store to avoid shipping costs and delays. But it’s not all about dollars and cents.
Neglecting to market your product pages effectively will hamper your sales efforts again and again. Looking for ways to better market your products and services? Here are five ways to design your product page effectively so that it serves as a successful sales tool.
Design
In order to serve as an effective sales tool, your website copy must be legible on mobile screens and large desktop displays. Truth be told, the readability of your website is a function of font size and type as well as text color and background color. Use a tool like Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test to check page legibility on mobile screens. Online publishers have concluded that black on white is the most legible combination, which is why this scheme is favored by successful retailers like Amazon.
Additionally, flat designs adapt more responsively to different screen sizes, convey information more quickly, and accelerate page loading time. Apple switched to a flat-screen design in 2013, and since then, many organizations have followed suit. An alternative to purely flat design is to use subtle, minimalist shadows, an approach exemplified on Uber’s website.
To avoid buyer confusion, focus the layout of each product page on a single, highly visible call-to-action button. Make these buttons distinct in color and shape from other navigational features so that they are easy to see and use. “Add to shopping cart” buttons should also be easy to find.
Graphics
The images you select for your graphics are another essential element of your product page design. Your visitors’ eyes will often fall on images first, so your graphics often form their first impression of your product — and can play a key role in determining whether they choose to buy your product.
Mobile screen size dictates that graphics should be large. Ideally, your graphics should demonstrate your product in action so that viewers can better see its benefits. For instance, TireBuyer.com’s Goodyear Tires sales page depicts a family sitting in the back of an open hatchback, showcasing the benefits of having safe, reliable tires while on the open road.
As this photo choice also illustrates, images with people tend to “sell” more effectively. Meantime, large, main images can be supplemented with other images that depict key product features or applications.
Content
Your page’s content also plays a pivotal role in your sales success. To gain maximum marketing leverage, optimize your product page titles for better search engine rankings. Your titles should include key product features, including
- Brand names
- Descriptions
- Product lines
- Sizes
- Colors
- Quantities
- Materials
You can also include other SEO terms throughout your product page to supplement the information included in your title. You should also include other information to help customers make quicker buying decisions. This includes mentioning prices, bulleted benefit descriptions, answers to frequently-asked questions, testimonials and customer reviews.
Other Elements to Include
Videos are another important element to include when appropriate. Videos can depict your product in action, bringing it to life and demonstrating its practical use, while adding the human element of a voice presentation. For example, Amazon’s product page for the Echo includes eight image selection options, one of which is a video.
Another useful element to include is a menu icon, also known as a “hamburger” menu, as it typically consists of parallel horizontal lines resembling stacked patties. Using a hamburger menu instead of traditional navigational menus makes it easier for visitors on mobile devices to access your links.
Mistakes to Avoid
While implementing these guidelines, it’s also important to avoid certain common mistakes. Don’t gear your product pages toward one screen size; rather, make them responsive so they can be viewed on different devices. Additionally, format the areas of your website featuring blocks of text with subheads and bullets to make these pages more readable and digestible.
You also might want to avoid some of these “don’ts.”
- Don’t forget to include a search engine box.
- Don’t use unnecessary images that serve no purpose.
- Don’t use distracting background music.
