Guide to Developing an Ecommerce Website: Everything You Need to
Step 1 - Decide On Your Niche
The first step: to creating a successful eCommerce website is deciding on your niche.
This can be anything from web design services to custom-made jewelry.
Once you know what you want to sell, you can start building your store.
Step 2 - Register Your Domain and Hosting: Next, register your domain name and hosting package.
Make sure to register both at the same time or you may have difficulty transferring your domain to another provider in the future.
After registering, set up your email account and wait for confirmation of your registration.
Step 3 - Choose an Ecommerce Platform: Now that you've registered your domain and hosting, it's time to choose which platform will power your site.
If you are selling physical products then WooCommerce might be the best option for you.
If you are selling digital products then Shopify might work better for you.
For sites with low traffic levels (less than 100 orders per month), you might prefer PrestaShop or Magento.
For sites with medium traffic levels (100 to 10,000 orders per month), Drupal Commerce could be a good option as well as Volusion.
For sites with high traffic levels (10,000+ orders per month) consider BigCommerce or Magento Enterprise Edition as your best options.
Step 2 - Research Your Niche
Before you start building your eCommerce website, it’s important to research your niche.
This process will help you:
- determine what products you’ll sell,
- who your target audience is,
- and how to reach them.
It’s also a good idea to research your competition so you can find a way to differentiate yourself.
For example, if you're selling children's toys, then look at other websites that offer the same type of toy in order to see what they do differently than you.
- Is their product selection more diverse?
- Do they have better customer service?
- Do they have discounts or sales?
- Can you offer free shipping on all orders?
- What types of payment methods do you accept?
- Are there any additional fees for international customers?
- How long does it take for items to ship out after purchase (1-2 days, 1 week)?
Step 3 - Choose The Right Platform
Step 4 - Naming Your Business
Your business name is important for many reasons. It's how customers will find you online and it will be the first impression potential customers have of your business.
So it's important to choose a name that is both unique and reflects the type of business you're in. Here are a few tips for choosing the perfect name for your eCommerce business:
- 1. Keep it short, simple, and easy to remember.
- 2. Don't use numbers or punctuation marks.
- 3. Avoid names with words such as Sale or Deals .
- 4. Try not to include personal information like your last name or favorite hobby .
- 5. Use common words rather than obscure ones .
- 6. Research what other businesses are using and avoid conflicts.
- 7. Make sure the domain name is available .
- 8. Don't just settle on an idea, keep looking until you find one that works .
- 9. Stay away from using generic terms.
- 10. Finally, make sure the URL is available (uniform resource locator)
- 11. Choosing a Name - Once you've compiled all of these items, see if they work together nicely.
- 12. When you feel confident that this name is going to work well for your company, purchase the domain and website address.
- 13. Congratulations! You've chosen a name for your new e-commerce business!
Step 5 - Choosing The Domain Name
The domain name is what customers will type in to find your website.
It should be short, memorable, and easy to spell.
Once you've chosen a domain name, you'll need to register it with a domain name registrar.
Once it's registered, you can point it to your web hosting account and start building your website.
There are many domain registrars out there; the most popular are:
- GoDaddy,
- Google Domains,
- Namecheap,
- Tucows,
- and Gandi.
Step 6 - Choosing An Ecommerce Platform
Now that you’ve decided which products you’re going to sell, it’s time to choose an eCommerce platform.
This can be a daunting task because there are so many options available.
But don’t worry, we’re here to help.
Here are some things to consider when choosing an eCommerce platform:
- -How easy is it to use?
- -What kind of support does it offer?
- -How much does it cost? -Is the company reputable and well established?
- -Does the company have good reviews?
- -Does the company have other services like customer service or inventory management to go with your website?
Step 7 - Working With A Freelancer
Step 8 - What to Sell?
Step 9 - Designing The Site, or Hiring Someone To Do It For You?
If you're not a web designer, now is the time to either learn how to design your site or hire someone to do it for you.
A great-looking site is essential for making sales and keeping customers coming back, so don't skimp on this step! Here are a few things to keep in mind as you design your site:
- Your site should be easy to navigate and have a logical flow.
- Customers should be able to find what they're looking for easily, without getting frustrated.
- Your navigation bar should be set up in such a way that people can access all of your products from one page, or from any page.
- visitors shouldn't have to click through six pages before they get to where they want to go.
- Navigation bars at the top of each page will also save your customers precious time!
- Be sure to include links on these bars that allow customers to browse by category, size, color, price range, etc.
- Give them everything they need with just a few clicks of their mouse!