Most e-commerce website redesigns 'for SEO'

Most redesign projects involving e-commerce sites are carried out for search engine optimisation reasons, new research has indicated.

Half of e-retailer redesigned their sites in the last 12 months, with most doing so for optimisation reasons, according to the survey by Internet Retailer.

A number of retailers said they wanted to better organise their home, product and category pages, with others pointing to a need for improved navigation.

About 81.7 per cent of respondents said they were anticipating higher numbers of website visitors as a result of tweaking their sites, while two-thirds said they were expecting increased sales.

However, the survey also found that less than half of e-retailers conduct regular A/B tests, while 3.3 per cent carry out multivariate testing.

Three-quarters of UK companies have a website, with one-quarter offering online ordering or booking facilities and 43 per cent providing product or price lists, according to a recent study by Eurostat.