In the third quarter of 2012, eCommerce sales witnessed a growth of 17.3 percent and sales reached $57 billion. These numbers are compelling reasons to open an eCommerce store of your own, but moving from theory to reality can be daunting. One of the most important aspects to consider is whether you want to hire a developer. While it is possible to do much of the design for your site by yourself, there are definite benefits to hiring a professional as well. Which you choose will depend on your personal situation.
Here are some of the things to take into account while you make your decision.
The Perfect Layout
Choosing the perfect layout for your store is not as easy as you think. It is not simply about what you like or what your family likes. The layout has to appeal to the end-user, i.e., the customer. Website developers who have experience setting up eCommerce stores will already have a good idea about what makes for a strong layout. They conduct user surveys in order to learn what customers prefer.
They are in a position to present you with various design options that are proven to be market-friendly. For instance, Kissmetrics reports that 85 percent shoppers place color as a primary reason for buying something. A web developer can help you make the right decisions about the colors to use in your site.
Navigation and Home Page Design
The home page is one of the most important parts of the website, and one of the trickiest aspects to get right. People tend to make errors in both directions. They either put too little information on the home page, leaving the user wondering what the purpose of the site is, or too much information, flooding the user with so minutia that the purpose of the website becomes lost. A website developer can help you find the right balance.
Many self-designed websites also face navigation problems. A site that is impossible to navigate can easily send your potential customer to one of your competitors. Fifty-two percent consumers did not return to a website because they did not like its overall aesthetics. Making the right first impression with your home page and navigation options will help your store be one of the ones that those consumers run to, not away from.
Everyday Bugs and Maintenance
Anything on the web, from a blog to a store, needs to be constantly updated. Without this, it is of no use. This is especially true of a store. As you get busy with work as traffic picks up on your store, you may not have the expertise or the time to be able to carry out maintenance work. Similarly, every site can have bugs. They may not stop the site from functioning, but annoyances like having a discount coupon fail to display will frustrate and alienate your users. Tracking down coding issues can be very time-consuming. Like regular updates and maintenance, it is an area where hiring a dedicated professional may ultimately save you money.
Compatibility
No matter how great a design you might have built, if it is not compatible with all major browsers, then it is not a good one. A professional will make sure that your store opens and loads easily on every browser. They will also make sure that your store opens properly on different mobile platforms, with appropriate display accommodations. For example, on a browser, you can have both horizontal and vertical scrolling as part of your design. On a phone, you want a single displayed screen with large button navigation.
Since new devices with changing capabilities regularly come into the competitive smartphone and tablet market, making sure your web design accommodates all of them can be extremely time consuming, as well as finicky. A reliable web developer can help ensure your site stays on top of all new technology trends.
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