The launch of Instant Previews has the potential to impact e-commerce site design, though much depends on how many people actually notice and click on the magnifying glass icon.
If it becomes significant, how should etailers respond? I've been seeing how a number of e-commerce sites and product pages look on Google Instant Previews....
Whether significant numbers of shoppers use Instant or not remains to be seen (this eyetracking study suggests many users may not even notice it), but shoppers that do use it may be making snap decisions about whether to visit a website based on how it looks in a small preview window.
This means that e-commerce sites may need be able to convey what they are about to customers based on this quick view.
Here are a few issues from looking at some well-known e-commerce sites via Instant Preview. If I've missed any potential issues, let me know in the comments...
Short pages work best
The longer and bigger the page, the worse it will look on Instant Preview, meaning that users will not see any elements that catch the eye.
For the brand names below, I can't see that Instant Preview will prevent users going to these sites, but the examples do show how different site designs appear when previewed.
Amazon
With large pages, Amazon was always going to be difficult to view on such a preview, though the images and e-book promotion is visible. However, there are plenty of blank spaces on the page:
Next
Next's homepage is shorter than Amazon's, so the various elements on the page are easier to digest:
Crate & Barrel
Thanks to shorter pages and a simple, clean site design the Crate & Barrel homepage comes across well, and previewers can easily see the 25% off sale, something which may entice them into the site:
Product searches
This may be where Instant Preview could really matter to retailers, presuming enough people begin to use it. If I'm searching for a particular product without any fixed idea of where to buy it, then I'm likely to choose the site that looks best on preview.
So, in the example below, based on what I see in Instant Preview, I'm more likely to choose JD Sports than Office.
Office
I searched for Chile 62 trainers, and this is the preview for Office. There is no image of the trainer shown, thanks to the rotating Flash display.
JD Sports
On JD though, I can an image of the product I'm looking for, which immediately reassures me, while the price is also in text large enough to be visible.
The dangers of too much Flash
Instant Preview doesn't show up Flash and some other visual elements, so this can spoil the look of the page when previewed. This can either look a complete mess, which may deter potential visitors, or else fail to show key product promotions and offers.
John Lewis
The John Lewis site has a large Flash based promo area above the fold, but this just shows as a blank space on Instant Preview:
Whistles
Predictably, the Whistles site looks pretty confusing when previewed:
H&M
Thanks to an over-reliance on Flash, users get this when they preview the H&M e-commerce website:
Reader comments (27)
12:55PM on 22nd November 2010
How many people will be checking mini previews when they search for information which are mainly text based?
The preview will be playing a role on getting visitors, but I do believe it is more applicable to sites which are based on images rather than texts (i.e. wikipedia).
Good insight for ECommerce designers indeed.
Editor at Econsultancy
12:59PM on 22nd November 2010
Hi John,
I was thinking about e-commerce here, but for mainly text based sites, then there are still things that designers can do to make their site stand out.
These are all elements of good page design anyway, but stand out headlines in larger font sizes, clear separation of paragraphs, use of bold text and bullet points can all help the person previewing to decide whether a site has the information they are looking for.
Head of Marketing at Jobsite
2:00PM on 22nd November 2010
A good post Graham. As implied in the article, I don't think you can understate the importance of site credibility when it comes to Instant Preview.
It takes 1/20th of a second for a visitor to get an impression of a website when they land on it, so appearance is going to be key with a preview pane that may prevent a searcher from even getting that far.
First impressions do count and if Preview takes off it will be used to quickly filter out sites that don't match a searcher's personal criteria.
One of those will be the look - we're all influenced by appearance - and we simply won't click if the site design looks amateurish and dated. We certainly won't trust our personal data and money to such a site.
The sites in the post have obviously had quite a bit of money invested in design, but for many businesses that's deemed a luxury. It shouldn't be as there are businesses such as 99designs.com who can build a professional, modern looking design for just a few hundred dollars, if you can't afford a talented designer in-house or via an agency.
I just wrote a post on making your site more credible to increase conversions, which covers the topic of appearance (and references Instant Preview) if anyone is interested to see what else you can do: http://www.itsdigitalmarketing.co.uk/2010/11/21/5-ways-make-site-credible-increase-conversions/
Me personally, I've started to use Previews sparingly (and mostly by accident with a sensitive mouse) and have to admit there have been a couple of occasions where I've just moved on to the next listing having seen a shoddy design.
It will be interesting to see if this latest innovation takes off or whether it joins the pile of other forgotten Google tweaks (Sidebar anyone?)
2:23AM on 23rd November 2010
To the guy above, i dont think many people will be checking the mini previews. And graham that was a great post
7:48AM on 23rd November 2010
Hi!
I think Instant Preview doesn’t show up Flash and some other visual elements, so this can spoil the look of the page when previewed. This can either look a complete mess, which may deter potential visitors, or else fail to show key product promotions and offers.
Nice Post.
8:37AM on 23rd November 2010
In light of the great mobile smack down with Apple, it's ironic that Google introduces something that could lead more retailers to abandon Flash.
Digital Marketing Manager at BenAcheson.com
9:16AM on 23rd November 2010
Instant Preview is sure to become more important as users become more familiar with it.
I think the most important thing is to make sure you have at least one appropriately sized image to show instantly what your page is about. It might also be worth considering a heading on every page that is large enough to be clear within the preview.
11:32AM on 23rd November 2010
In terms of design, adhering for "instant preview" is no different than building sites which work flawlessly with mobile browsers and tablet platforms. The Safari browser on the IPhone is very similar to the "Google Instant Preview" as in they both do not support flash and the viewable resolution is very small. In other words, if your site works well on the IPhone then it will also do well with Instant Preview.
This is more of a design/conversion issue as opposed to SEO, however there is an interesting point to consider. In reality, I do not expect users to even notice the magnifying glass icon, let alone click on it. If the thumbnail preview was available on "mouse hoover" as opposed to "on-click" then I believe we would be reading a very different article.
What I am really interested in is how the clicking pattern of the organic search results will differ once users have jumped upon the "Instant Preview" wagon. In short, it is known that the top 3 listing make up most of the organic clicks, but if people are able to preview those sites before making the "click" decision, would they be more likely to preview more sites before clicking? Probably.
11:54AM on 23rd November 2010
One question is whether a siginficant number of consumers will use this feature. Another is why do companies and developers still persist in the use of Flash when there are so many negative side effects.
2:27PM on 23rd November 2010
I am chuckling thinking that Instant is a new Flash-killer coming from someone you'd never expect like Google.
Very nice considerations, I didn't think Instant could impact website so much but it makes sense and I see brands adapting their design to suit Instant better, since Google is still going to be the reference search engine for a long time.
4:01PM on 23rd November 2010
Just checked up on a few sites where I've had flash and developed a static image as a fall-back, which you would get if you either had no JavaScript or no Flash plugin. The static image doesn't show up, which would suggest that Instant Previews runs any JavaScript on the page, passes the plugin sniffing (swfobject if you're interested) and then doesn't capture what is on the flash anyway. That's quite annoying given how much attention is spent ensuring all your flash has static fallbacks.
5:53PM on 23rd November 2010
Another issue to consider is that the google preview bot runs from the US. If you have an EMEA or other non-US subsidiary that has different branding/content/etc. but shares the same domain name as the US entity (relying on IP lookup to ensure users around the globe see the correct localised version of the site), then not only will users outside of the US see a preview that could be entirely different from the site they will be presented with when they click, but you have potential branding message issues. Good post.
10:58PM on 23rd November 2010
Good to get an insight into something that could easily be overlooked. I a believer in design and content that renders in as many views as possible. Are you suggesting that we alter designs based on google's latest representation of a site? Does anyone know if you can target the view with custom CSS?
7:42AM on 24th November 2010
Nice observations. If customers use this feature or not I'm a firm believer in clean simple design to convey key messages and content. Less is more and all that.....
Editor at Econsultancy
11:53AM on 24th November 2010
@ Robert - since its unclear whether the preview feature will become widely used, I wouldn't alter designs based just on this.
However, some of the principles that work well on Instant Preview are just about good, clear design.
Director at Practicology
12:33PM on 24th November 2010
Nice post Graham.
It's not too big a leap of the imagination for Google to enable Preview on rollover of the link itself (as opposed to on-click of the magnifying glass) similar to the rather addictive and extremely helpful "Quick View" function of some leading eCommerce sites. Then the impact of Preview on click through, conversion and SEO effectiveness will really take effect.
11:10PM on 5th December 2010
Boy, Flash is really taking a beating! First Apple, now Google. If instant takes off, (and only time will tell), the first item on the agenda is to rethink the use of flash and replacing it with HTML 5. For example, GM recently launched www.gm.com. It is a beautiful site and very impressive to say the least - but when you take a look at it in preview, there is no incentive to click as the new preview feature does not read or preview the flash files. Search engine algorithms can't read Flash, Apple refuses to read flash and with the iPad and iPhone soaring in popularity I think the first step in website design is to rethink the use of the technology. As a small business owner, I don't have the marketing dollars or same branding power of a company like GM, therefore I will have to think very carefully about my electronic presence, its content, and now overall design. MarcAnthony
8:51PM on 10th February 2011
Website designers have creative competence and expertise. Nice observations. If customers use this feature or not I'm a firm believer in clean simple design to convey key messages and content.
1:13PM on 27th May 2011
Nice blogs, its not easy when you design or create your business web page it need more experience and broad mind idea also, you are expert in that field because in business first impression is the last.
12:51PM on 29th June 2011
E-commerce is now a huge field.helpful article.keep growing!
6:52AM on 3rd August 2011
knowledgeable article your are sharing with us .great!
6:48AM on 17th May 2012
Instant preview has a great impact on e-commerce design.It shows the designs of site how they appear at an instant using instant preview also
helps users to choose the best sites when viewed.
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11:00AM on 16th November 2012
The launch of Instant Previews has the potential to impact e-commerce site design, though much depends on how many people actually notice and click on the magnifying glass icon.
3:25PM on 16th November 2012
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