UX Writing Tips to Improve Your eCommerce Platform

The eCommerce industry is one of the most lucrative and competitive industries on the global market. In the wake of the global pandemic, many eCommerce platforms have struggled with finding stable footing due to the sheer volume of storefronts available. According to recent findings, global eCommerce sales rose by 27.6% in 2020 alone, with 63% of online shoppers doing online research before making a purchase.

It is no longer enough to provide customers with a stable eCommerce store and optimize it for a good search ranking. All you need is just to rethink your User Experience (UX) design approach if you really want to stay competitive in 2022. Here are some UX writing tips for you to consider, as well as the benefits of rethinking your UX writing moving forward.

Perks of Great UX Content Writing

Why should you work on improving your UX writing skills if you already sell great products on your eCommerce store? Despite what you may think, customers’ expectations are becoming increasingly more difficult to meet. According to statistical data, only 1% of customers said that eCommerce sites met their expectations fully, with 52% citing aesthetics as the main reason for abandoning websites.

UX design has become very important in recent years due to the continued rise in popularity of mobile platforms such as smartphones and tablets, both on iOS and Android. With millions of people wanting more streamlined, accessible experiences in eCommerce now’s the time to expand on your UX content writing. By using writing tools like Trust My Paper and Evernote, you’ll have an easier time writing great content for your product descriptions and landing pages. Here are some of the most essential perks of improving your UX writing practices in 2022:

• Easier acquisition of relevant leads
• Improved customer loyalty and retention
• Positive online word of mouth
• Improved site usability and navigation
• Higher generated revenue from eCommerce sales

UX Writing Best Practices to Consider

Understand What Falls Under UX Writing

UX writing is a relatively new concept in web-based content creation and as such, its definition is still mostly in flux. Asking five web designers or copywriters about what UX writing is will likely lead you to very different answers. What exactly constitutes UX writing in an eCommerce website?

• Popup windows
• CTA buttons
• Success and error messages
• Site navigation elements (header/footer)
• Push notifications
• Disclaimers
• Instruction messages
• Labels and categories

In fact, blogging and product description writing doesn’t strictly fall under UX writing even though they contribute to your site’s overall UX. But, to facilitate smooth navigation for your visitors, the above elements should take precedent in your UX content writing.

Develop a Unique Style Guide

A style guide is a document most businesses use to keep their visuals and copy under control. Think of it as a how-to document on all things content and design-related for your eCommerce brand. A typical style guide consists of your brand’s logo, its various use cases, brand voice guidelines, and copywriting standards. The latter is the most important element related to UX writing, as it should explain which font families, sizes, colors, and other elements can or cannot be used.

Copywriting guidelines within your style guide should explain how a writer can break grammar, format paragraphs, and use jargon for example. Creating a style guide for your eCommerce platform is extremely important so that you can keep your entire platform cohesive and focused on a single message. Otherwise, five different copywriters will format your product descriptions in five different ways and cause mayhem for your UX writing efforts, for example.

Format All Content on Your Website

As you create content for your site, you’ll want to format it as best as possible, both for customers and search engine web crawlers. This is easily done through H tags which serve as signals to readers and search algorithms on how your content is structured. Every page on your site should contain a single H1 tag, followed by multiple H2 tags with their H3 and H4 tags.

Structuring content on every page with tags will make them more visually pleasing and much easier to crawl through for search engine bots. You can use writing tools like SupremeDissertations and Power Thesaurus to write great content, subheadings, and lists for your pages. Afterward, tagging these elements with H tags will make them far more UX-friendly and add to your platform’s aesthetic and SEO appeal.

Emphasize Your USPs through Keywords

Great USPs are what every successful eCommerce platform is all about. Unique selling propositions, or USPs, represent the elements that are “unique” to your storefront. They are the most damning reasons someone should use your eCommerce store instead of going to another one. Do you offer free shipping? Does your storefront feature a secure checkout or a money-back guarantee?

These are all potential USPs and there are no limits to what you can achieve with them. You should display your USPs predominantly in your header/footer, on your home page, and on landing pages. These elements will convince people to purchase products from you and add to their UX impression of your website. As a result, they’ll likely share your platform with their social circles and expand on your site’s reach, all thanks to good UX content writing practices.

Avoid Overexplaining – Focus on KISS

Using UX writing best practices to your advantage is all about being professional and transparent with your customers. This means that you should only say as much as it is necessary for them to successfully navigate your website. KISS is a popular methodology for writing UX content because it helps copywriters keep things focused. “Keep It Simple Stupid” is pretty self-explanatory.

You should keep your UX writing not only simple and on-point but also as concise as possible. Don’t overexplain everything and trust that your customers will understand what you’re saying. Avoid using unnecessary niche abbreviations, jargon, or jokes which would go over the heads of everyday customers. If you manage to apply KISS, write short and understandable content, and still get your points across, you will have succeeded in writing great UX content.

Expanding on Your UX Writing Skills

The best way to make great use of UX writing is to constantly work on improving it. Your eCommerce platform will undoubtedly feature new and exciting goods, sales campaigns, and lead funnels over time. It’s essential that each new page on your website follows the same UX writing principles and creates a cohesive customer journey. Based on published studies, 88% of online shoppers won’t return to a website after a poor UX, with 70% of businesses failing outright due to poor site usability.

Stay true to your eCommerce business’ mission, focus on your niche, market your products truthfully, and don’t rely on clickbait, popups, and spam. Over time, word of mouth will bring new leads to your landing pages and you’ll have a much easier time convincing them of your value thanks to great UX writing.