One of the biggest complaints from customers is confusing ecommerce websites. With so many rival websites it’s therefore important that your web design is as slick and customer-friendly as possible.

Here we bring you some top tips for ecommerce web design. If you are looking for great ideas and beautiful ecommerce design then check out the portfolio of WebCreationUK.

Six great tips for ecommerce and e-retail websites

Good navigation: Buying a product should not be a challenge or a bid to get your customers to solve a puzzle. Make the buying process straightforward. From reading about the product, to  popping it in their basket, to getting to the checkout, all processes should be simple and signposted.

Search option: A “search for product” option is a great idea. Sometimes a customer wants to quickly find out if you stock one product and to save them scrolling through long lists of products or accessing various categories they could find exactly the product they want within seconds of searching.

Call to action: Make each part of the purchasing process simple. Add call to action buttons such as “buy now”, “add to shopping basket”, “go to checkout” throughout your ecommerce website.

Less clicks is more: Shorter buying processes will gain you customer friends. If the purchase process is long-winded then they will be tempted to head to another site. It’s important to let customers have a chance to check their purchase list but apart form this the procedure from choosing the product to buying it should be simple and straightforward.

Clear prices and labeling: Customers want to know what a product is and how much it costs. Delivery costs are also important. So make sure all these points are covered, simply and clearly.

Customer service: A customer service that is easily accessible, such as an email response or live chat, will give customers greater confidence and trust in your on-line company.

A recent survey revealed that 10% of website designers believes that SEO is not their business. But SEO is vital if your want your e-retail or e-commerce site to be noticed by the search engine spiders. That’s why it’s essential that you chose a web designer that knows the fine art of SEO.

At leading website design company WebCreationUK, SEO is an integral part of the website design service. The award-winning design company employs a team of search engine experts who ensure that all new and relaunched websites are created to have the potential to rank highly on the major search engines, such as Google and Yahoo.

But why are SEO-charged websites important?

Search engines employ automated web spiders to crawl through websites. These web spiders collect important information about the website. The information they glean helps them assess the relevance of a website for particular keywords.

The spiders then place the information in a database. So, when a user searches a keyword on, for example Google or Yahoo or Bing, the search engine dips into this database and lists pages according to relevance. Pages that are more relevant rank at the top.

So an SEO-friendly web design is clearly an asset for any business that wants to rank highly on search lists – and gain a greater potential for custom to their site.

Make sure you employ a web designer that is also hot on SEO.

There are essentially a few basic rules to creating a great website. Here we detail the basics so that when you’re starting your new on-line business you can clearly focus on what is important.

Choose a name: Your new website needs an identity. You want a name that says something about your company or your brand. So instead of “outdoors clothing sales”, why not go for something more funky and catchy such as “LivingThe Outdoors” or “WeLoveTheOutdoors”? But make sure the name is:

* Easy to write and remember (no tricky spellings!)

* Something you can say out loud easily

* Not already in use by someone else

The domain name: It’s claimed that having a strong keyword in your domain name will help with SEO. But remember that a domain name should also reflect your brand. People need to be able to tell your website apart from the others.

So use a non-generic name for your site. For example:

* haglof.co.uk is great

* haglofbackpacks.co.uk is also great

* But bestbackpacks.co.uk is terrible.

Domain name variations: Buy .co.uk and .com and possibly .net and .org But there’s little point in buying any others.

Your logo: The design of your logo is a tough call – but it is important for your brand identity. So pay a professional to do it for you.

The design: Again, go to the professionals. Check out their portfolio (have a look at the portfolio of WebCreationUK to see a wealth of great web design). Cheapest isn’t always the best, yet nor is the most expensive. Ask people for references and make some initial enquiries with designers before committing.

Copy/content: Again, hire a professional. It’s all very well having a good-looking site but if it doesn’t read well then no-one is going to hang around and buy/read anything. A good copywriter will get your company message across succinctly and write engaging copy that will encourage greater traffic.

So we’re more than half way through the year and it’s interesting to look at the website design trends that have had the most prominence so far in 2010.

Mobile websites: Mobile phone internet browsing is fast-growing in popularity and to meet consumer demands many designers have been redesigning websites to suit the on-the-go format. Expect this trend to develop in the next couple of years.

Interactive designs: Flash and now jQuery have increased the interactivity of a great many more websites. Using either of these tools on a site makes it more engaging for users.

HTML5/CSS3: Web designers are beginning to use both of these languages. Although far from being standard at the moment they are starting to be introduced. HTML5 enables designers to produce cleaner code and more easily implement videos and audio into websites. Meanwhile CSS3 allows designers to add more style to a site, for example, rounded corners and multiple backgrounds.

On-line videos: YouTube and other video streaming services are increasing the presence of videos on-line. Now numerous companies are adding video to their websites as a further enhancement for visitors. Videos can be used, for example, to advertise products and attract more customers.

Typography: While last year saw the start of “font replacement methods”, which allow designers to use a range of more exciting fonts, 2010 has seen a continuation of this trend. One of the most used font replacement methods is cufón, which uses two Javascript files to display the font to be used on the website.

* If you’re looking for a forward-thinking web design company to launch your new business website or to re-launch an existing website then check out the portfolio of sites already created by leading web design company WebCreation UK.

Many experts believe that web design in the UK is the best in the world. But why should this be? One web design analyst reckons that it is the “intuitive use of color and contrast” that makes UK web designs head and shoulders above many other countries.

He said: “Colour and contrast, that is the look of a website, is essential for a better communication between the website and its target audience. Web designing companies in UK are renowned for producing websites with great colours and contrast enhancements.”

Let’s look at how colour and contrast can be used to create a fantastic web design:

The psychology of colour: While red tends to signify alarm or risk, blue and purple shades can seem more calming, comforting and professional. Pink says “shocking”, while “yellow” same alarm. Meanwhile shades of black, grey and white seem to say, “This is a serious business”.

Simplicity of colours: A few nicely harmonised colours is better than a paintbox mix of hues. In web design “simple” is often better on the eye and so it’s a good idea to minimize the range of colours. Black and white is the ultimate in simplicity, but this theme could be enhanced with one other, brighter colour.

One colour, one element: You’ll confuse the website visitor if you use different colors for each element of the site, especially for menu items and instructions. Uniformity in colours is important.

Harmonise: Think of some colours as cooler, eg blue, and others as warmer, eg orange. A complimentary mix of colder and warmer colours will enhance your web design.

Different shades: Many good web design use the same one or two colours, but across a range of shades. This keeps the site looking simple but adds vibrancy.

Why not find out about the great and award-winning web design at WebCreationUK. Check out their portfolio.

Today’s discerning internet browser is quick to click off poorly designed websites. And in a highly competitive market, few on-line companies can afford to have potential customers dismiss their business simply because they do not have a good-looking web design.

Here’s how to ensure your website is up-to-the-minute, user-friendly and a great magnet for potential customers.

* Be different: You want your website to stand out from the crowd so don’t copy someone else’s. Try to be creative and imaginative in your website design ideas – and be confident about these ideas.

* Keep it real: Be yourself – and make sure that the words on your website tell the truth. If you’re genuine and honest, then people will grow to trust you. Share your ideas and experience and visitors will grow.

* Text and design: Think about the website designs that you like. Check out their fonts. See how they use navigation on their sites. It’s fine to follow what works on other websites, just ensure you then include this in your own unique design.

* Be a social media networker: Get out in the social media world and make contact with people. Interact and engage with others and then lead them back to your website. Networking is a great way to build a following.

* Think global: The internet is worldwide so unless your product or service is location specific you should think about attracting custom from across the globe.

* Fresh and updated: Think less about keywords and more about adding fresh, updated content to your website. This is the modern way to improve your SEO. Add a blog. Create tip sheets and guides.

A successful website is the sum total of so many factors combined. Why not check out what leading web design company WebCreationUK could do for your new web design?