Living in a world where the internet takes control can give you an advantage, particularly when it comes to promoting and selling your brand. Electronic commerce (eCommerce) which has been popular in recent years allows you to create an easy exchange with customers without time or distance barrier.
The tool to make it happen is a website that can engage your target customers. Seven important steps below will guide you in creating the best eCommerce website that can boost your business.
Choose a domain
To begin with, you need to pick a domain name for your eCommerce website. One important thing to note is that your domain does not have to depend on free domain providers. When doing so, all you get is a sub-domain with the provider name still embedded in it. Custom domain is preferable, especially when you have a plan to sell multiple products on your website.
You can gain several benefits when giving your website a custom domain. Since the domain is associated with your brand, you will get an eCommerce website that is easier to recognize by the public. Moreover, your email address or any other contacts of your store can be professionally linked to the domain. This, once again, can make your brand more recognizable.
Choose the most suitable platform
The best eCommerce website needs to be partnered with the best platform. When choosing a platform for your website, choose the one that is simple to use and easy to integrate with other supported sites such as payment and shipping services.
In addition to the flexibility, some other qualities that need to be possessed by a good eCommerce platform include analytic tools, third-party marketing integration, and the ability to give discounts on your products. You also need to initially analyze the objective and current traffic of your website before deciding to settle on a platform.
There are so many eCommerce platforms available in the market, along with their various features. Reviewing all of them may take most of your time. For that reason, it is acceptable to choose the popular platforms that have proven their reputation. Some platforms you can consider are Shopify, Selz, BigCommerce, and WooCommerce.
Design the website
The design plays an important role in increasing the traffic of your website and your business for that matter. A well-designed website can psychologically influence the customers to purchase the products you offer. When designing the best eCommerce website, pay attention to the placement of product photos, branding items such as name and logo, and the web pages of your site.
More importantly, make sure you choose a website theme that matches your business vision. Knowing what you sell and understanding your potential buyers are good starters to determine what kind of design that suits your website best. If you have a hard time in developing the idea for the website design, seek the help of some online design platforms which provide theme and layout you can use.
Add the products
When the platform is chosen, and the design has been decided, it is time for you to add the products to your eCommerce website. Write the details of your products, including the product type, the name, and description, as well as the price and available quantities. Providing pictures or illustrations is also helpful in giving your target customers a glimpse of what they are looking for.
Pictures matter the most. People like to receive information from pictures, especially when you sell clothing or equipment brand. Therefore, it is important for you to provide the product pictures from different angles. As for the description, write it in brief and clear without leaving any important detail that you need to point out.
Test your website
As the basic preparation is nearly complete, don’t skip the step of testing your website. Web-testing is needed to ensure that your business platform is ready to go live. Before your eCommerce website is launched, you can test it by yourself to make sure that everything works as it is supposed to be. Some features that should be tested include contact and checkout page, and the display of your products.
It is also important to test how your website works on different devices, such as on computer, tablet, and smartphone. Test the function of every page, the compatibility on various devices and browsers, the performance of the website, as well as broken links or bugs if there’s any. Put yourself in the customers’ place to find out how they feel and experience when browsing through your website.
Market the website
Once your eCommerce website is ready to launch, the next thing to do is marketing the website. Having a website with the suitable platform, engaging design, and a good showcase of products means nothing without the right strategy of marketing.
A simple way to market your website is providing social sharing options for all of your products. Social media has greater control in making everything known by a lot of people. Facebook is one of the most effective social media platforms that you can use to promote your website. Share anything related to the website you develop to gain people’s attention.
Adapt and upgrade your website
Through well-planned development and effective marketing strategy, let us assume the best possibility of all: your eCommerce website shows significant growth as the traffic increases from time to time. As a result, your business runs smoothly. When such result has been achieved, do you think it is enough to make you feel satisfied?
Hopefully, it’s not. Creating an eCommerce website means that you have always committed to upgrading your website continuously. The rapid change of information transfer and communication technology requires you to provide up-to-date features on your website as well as upgrade your site platform throughout the time.
Keeping those seven important steps in mind while developing a website can help you create the best eCommerce website as the representation of your brand. All in all, what you need to do is letting your creative ideas come up. Additionally, when you feel it is necessary, getting some help from a professional web developer can be considered as a wise gesture.