According to a huge number of independent research, any Internet site has only 10 seconds to keep the new user’s attention, evoke interest, and motivate him to start surfing precisely by your resource. The role of the site’s header in forming this first impression cannot be overestimated.
Why is a header so important for any website?
At first glance, a situation may seem paradoxical: a site’s header practically does not contain content in the usual sense of the word, but it depends on whether the random visitor will stay on your site. However, experienced developers, such as SECL, know that it is a header that primarily provides users with crucial information about the site. With its help, the resource owner instantly informs a visitor about what his store is, in a concentrated form, giving information about its advantages, capabilities, etc. Of course, to create a header, which will contain so much information, and at the same time allows anybody to catch it at first sight, real masters of their craft are needed.
Let’s find out the magic of the ideal header, which can bring your site to the leaders of e-commerce.
What is a typical header made of?
By tradition, a header of an online store contains the following information:
- In the upper left corner, as a rule, there is a brand logo that gives an instant visual idea of your store and provides its recognition among your competitors. This arrangement is recommended since people who read from left to right subconsciously, foremost, look exactly here. Therefore, by the way, this place is considered the most expensive in advertising.
- Marketers, psychologists, and designers recommend placing a cart in a prominent place in the upper right corner. This is done because the empty cart looks like a subconscious call for action, offering to start filling it. If there are previously selected goods in it, the corresponding icon recalls the need to complete the purchase process as soon as possible, paying it.
- In the center, the search form is usually placed on a site. It is perfect if various options are provided here – a total search throughout the website, a search according to a specific section, by a group of goods, etc.
- There should also be brief contact information for communication with the store and links to user data (delivery/payment methods, the possibility of return/exchange, etc.).
- There can also be placed, for example, such buttons as a link to the page of the mobile application on the Play Market or App Store, The switching button to other language versions of your store, if you have this option.
- It is very convenient if the header has a roll-down menu for navigation by the main sections of your marketplace.
This filling of a header takes place because this part of the site remains visible, regardless of how far you went into the website. Thus, critical information is always in front of your eyes and, one might say, on the tip of your mouse’s cursor.
Right under the header, you should place the menu. It is actually the part of your header.
As already mentioned, the content of a typical header online store has developed due to numerous samples and errors, and today is a kind of tradition. At the same time, the trends that change dictate the appearance of a header and its visual design.
What should you pay attention to when designing a header?
The two main tasks of a header are closely interconnected: it must instantly attract the visitor’s attention and contribute to his decision to stay on the site, and it should provide the growth of conversion. Here are a few recommendations that will surely be useful in achieving these goals:
- Readability. Often, color or font solutions interfere with the easy perception of the content located in a header. However, it is essential to remember: visitors to the site, as a rule, begin to get acquainted with the new resource by reading the names of the sections. Try to turn this process into a pleasure.
- Consider the target audience of your marketplace and its general style. Obviously, for example, for a clothing or household electronics store, you will need to place specific information in the most prominent place. Critical data will be completely different if you offer your visitors services or software.
- Filling out any web form and search should be as simple and fast as possible. Ponder all possible situations: incorrect filling, typo, etc., and provide tips for such cases.
Do not forget about the mobile version!
The header remains one of the most essential parts of your site, no matter whether the visitor surfs it from a desktop, laptop, or mobile device. However, of course, for each such case, you need to not just reduce the header’s size but rethink its appearance. It is vital that your header, without losing functionality, ensures the most convenient viewing of the site on a relatively small screen. If your marketplace has a web application, then the approach to the header design will change more conceptually since factors such as the input of the already registered user, setting the desired elements, etc., will be included in the app.
In a word, do not take a header as a dogma, but remember that the customer should receive all the information he needs in the most convenient way.
Sunning up
An efficiently working header should not be overloaded with an abundance of elements that can distract the visitor and prevent him from solving the tasks for which he came to the site.
If you plan to add some new element, it makes sense to fix the indicators of the conversion “before” and compare it with what happened “after” innovations. It happens at times this way: there was firm confidence that the site is supposed to work better, but the conversion of visitors to your loyal customers decreased. It has become more difficult for customers to interact with the site. In this case, you’d better abandon the novelties, no matter how beautiful they may appear.