Home > News > The Monday Marketing Minute Archive > Design Matters. Function Matters More.

With online retailers beefing up the competition by adding new components and killer design elements to their sites, your site’s priorities should take a turn in the same direction.

You can say goodbye to the days where good design was all you needed. You would grab some unique fonts and images and you were golden. Today consumers want your site to function even more than they want the site to look good. According to a recent article in Internet Retailer, “Looks matter, but more retailers realize that better site performance and usability count for even more.”

So what are the consumers after anyway? Put yourself in their shoes. You visit a site and you decide to buy a product. What would be the easiest way for you to check out? Are there ways for you to personalize your product? Can you see your account balance while you continue to shop? Do you have to sign in just to add something to your cart? Your site may have a beautiful design, yet if your consumers are continually abandoning their shopping carts, your functionality needs a facelift.

Here are a few tips on achieving that competitive edge:

• Make sure the tools you implement on your site are not roadblocks (like long load times) for your consumers – some tools may seem smart, but not all users will be able to use them
• Do not make your consumers re-trace their steps
• Keep your site clean and free of clutter – this will be a direct representation (to your consumers) of how you run your business
• Take a look at your competition – take a step or ten beyond that