Creating an e-commerce website is a daunting task. But it's a project that can be tackled with a solid strategy, an understanding of best practices, and step-by-step guidance. More importantly, starting with the right online site builder and e-commerce platform can prevent future roadblocks like realizing the software is beyond your skill level or wasn't built for your revenue model.
We've put together a comprehensive guide that explains how to build an ecommerce website from scratch, starting with choosing a hosting and ecommerce provider. Then we'll get into the user experience (UX) and the finer details of site navigation, product pages, and related functionality. Let's start with the basics.
Registering a domain and choosing a hosting provider
To build an e-commerce site, you need a domain and web hosting. Each component (domain, web hosting, e-commerce functionality) can be purchased from a different vendor or from a single provider. You must decide whether to bundle these services or keep them separate.
Just like a brick-and-mortar store has a physical address, an e-commerce shop has a domain. You essentially rent an “address” for anywhere from one to ten years at a time. Some e-commerce and web hosting services offer a domain name free for the first year if you purchase an annual subscription and pay up front, but renewal fees can be higher than if you go through a third party.
Free ecommerce stores include a subdomain that is not search engine optimized or user friendly. The URL looks like this: myshop.providername.com. While this URL might not be your first choice, it's fine for a side hustle or startup that's testing out a marketplace or vendor ecommerce platform.
A hosting service powers your site and stores your files, images, and information. Most hosting services also offer website builders, themes, and templates. Choose a provider that meets your security and performance specifications, and add your favorite ecommerce plugin, such as WooCommerce.
Alternatively, web hosts like Bluehost have online store packages that come with the content management system (CMS) WordPress and the ecommerce plugin WooCommerce pre-installed.
E-commerce platforms like Wix and Shopify provide web hosting with all subscriptions. These all-in-one systems include everything you need to start an online shop, including site-building tools, page templates, storage, and payment processing.
[Read more: Setting Up an E-Commerce Business: A Comprehensive Guide]
Key Points for Choosing an E-Commerce Platform
Your entire experience depends on your initial technology decisions, from how you build your e-commerce website to what credit card processing fees you pay. Few vendors make it easy to migrate to a new service if you're not satisfied, and this can be a resource-intensive undertaking.
Check out our guide to choosing the best ecommerce platform and consider these tips when choosing a service:
- Functionality: We thoroughly test the software's functionality to ensure that it meets each of your business requirements.
- Integration: Check out the customer relationship management, email marketing, and business phone integrations to see how they work for you.
- Skill level: Determine who will access your e-commerce site to create pages, add blog posts, update prices, etc. Consider the administrative user interface and site tools.
- method of payment: Weigh the pros and cons of using an integrated, flat-rate, all-in-one service versus connecting a gateway from a processing provider.
- Scalability: Compare step-up plans to understand cost-effectiveness and forecast when you'll need that level. Consider your site traffic, storage, and team size.
- cost: In addition to monthly or yearly subscription fees, consider other often-overlooked e-commerce business expenses, like domain privacy and hidden fees for email accounts.
- safety: Learn how your e-commerce provider can protect your customers' privacy and your online store from threats. If the vendor manages payment processing, ask about payment card industry compliance.
With so many great options out there, narrowing down your choices can be difficult. Luckily, most vendors offer a demo or free trial.
E-commerce software providers
With so many great options out there, narrowing down your choices can be difficult. Luckily, most vendors offer a demo or free trial.
Here are five web hosting and e-commerce solutions.
- Wix: This versatile, all-in-one platform supports multiple revenue models and industries. Wix offers a complete e-commerce store with abandoned cart recovery and shipping tools, as well as online booking, ticketing, and virtual services capabilities.
- Bluehost: Fast-growing businesses looking for managed WordPress and WooCommerce hosting may want to consider Bluehost, which can be cheaper as you scale with your traffic and storage needs.
- Square Online: This solution is for brick-and-mortar businesses that want to add an online store. It connects to other free and paid products like POS systems and has native payment processing. Square Online works for restaurants, retail, and hospitality verticals.
- WordPress.com: If your e-commerce revenue model prioritizes digital content, subscriptions, and memberships, and you also want online store functionality, WordPress.com may be right for you. It's a great blogging space, and ideal for those who want to monetize their blog.
- IONOS: The vendor offers online store and website builders for retailers, digital content marketers, and wholesalers, and can also configure IONOS servers for Magento, WooCommerce, or PrestaShop hosting.
[Read more: Top Retail and Commerce Trends for 2024 and Beyond]
Choosing an e-commerce website builder
Depending on the platform, you have a few options when building an ecommerce site: Generally, most web hosts and ecommerce vendors offer no-code website builders. Drag-and-drop design elements into page templates to prevent system limitations from introducing site-breaking errors.
Conversely, artificial intelligence (AI) can handle some or most of the process: you answer a few questions, and an AI site builder creates a multi-page ecommerce site for you, which you can then customize with additional help from AI.
Finally, web developers and designers may prefer to customize elements or build an e-commerce site from scratch using code. This functionality varies by vendor and subscription level.
E-commerce website design considerations
Before you start building your site, prepare your e-commerce branding elements and assets. Decide on the color scheme for your site, choose some fonts, and design a logo. When choosing pre-built templates and themes, take a good look at how the layout of visual elements differs. Imagine the buyer's actions as they click through the page.
[Read more: How to Improve the User Experience]
Online Store Site Structure Checklist
Make the most of your time by planning your site on paper. This step helps you avoid site structure and navigation errors that negatively impact user experience and search engine optimization (SEO). It's much easier to erase and rework a pencil plan than it is to rename URLs or change menus. Start with the essential website pages and organize the tasks step by step.
Below are examples of various e-commerce website elements.
- A home page that welcomes visitors to an e-commerce site.
- Clearly defined and labelled product categories and subgroups.
- About us and contact pages to gain customer trust.
- Online store page with search bar and filter options.
- Individual product or service pages with images and descriptions.
- Menu and navigation bars for accessing site content.
- A footer section that houses additional information, such as a privacy policy.
- Frequently asked questions page for site visitors and SEO.
- Email sign-up form for email marketing lists.
- Testimonials or case studies that show social proof.
- Customer account portal for viewing order information.
- Industry-relevant features for subscriptions, online bookings or e-courses.
Best Practices for Creating an E-Commerce Website
Your e-commerce website design impacts UX and sales. The best thing you can do is learn how to use your CMS or online store platform inside and out. Watch videos, read tutorials, and develop a high-converting website strategy.
When creating your online store, consider the following tips:
- Use the same font and color palette across your site – buttons shouldn't look different on different pages and text shouldn't resemble cheesy third-party advertisements.
- In a world of AI-generated stock imagery, creating great product photos sets you apart. Be consistent and show off your items from different angles.
- Allow shoppers to check out as a guest. Forcing humans to provide personal data is not a good way to build relationships.
- When possible, enable item previews, save to wishlist, and product recommendation features – these are easy ways to increase conversions.
- Go through all your pages, remove any placeholder text, test all your links and forms, and don't forget to check how your online store works on all devices.
- Add meta descriptions to your pages and images. Write alt text for photos and include keywords only if it improves the user experience.
Shipping of products
Order management, inventory management tools, and shipping integrations streamline your ecommerce operations. Many online platforms centralize management through a dashboard. You can set up shipping rules before or after you publish your site, allowing you to choose delivery regions, offer local pickup, apply discounts and free shipping coupons, and more.
[Read more: AI and E-commerce: Simplifying the Sales Process]
Choosing a payment gateway
E-commerce services like Wix and Shopify come with built-in payment acceptance powered by Stripe, known for its fraud detection and prevention tools, but businesses with a large global customer base should consider adding PayPal, which offers global reach to consumers who don't have credit cards.
Buy now, pay later and gift card options are appealing to holiday shoppers. The former may have higher fees, the latter an added service. Whatever method you choose, your checkout flow should be smooth. Limit clicks and keep it to one page if possible.
Once you connect to a payment processor, your e-commerce website is ready to go. Then you can begin the everlasting process of improving your masterpiece.
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