You might think about starting your own business but launching a business is not an easy task. Launching offline takes a lot of time and money, and also manpower. But for every problem, there is an alternative, and that alternative for your business idea is an online business. Yes, you can run your business online without huge manpower and money. You just need an e-commerce website and good marketing skills to make your product popular.
The world has shifted from offline to online in recent years. We have seen the rise of the digital era, and everything shifted online. People find online shopping easier than going to offline stores.
According to data, in 2020, over 2 billion people purchased goods online, and in the same year, e-retail sales surpassed USD 4.2 trillion worldwide. This data is quite enough to understand the market and growth of e-commerce in the future. Every new business has its website, or some are launching an only online business.
Presently 43% of customers research on the Internet and social media before purchasing any product. Through the e-commerce site, you can grow your business and attract customers worldwide. In this blog, we are going to guide you step by step on how to create a custom e-commerce website to run your business successfully.
Steps to Build Custom E-Commerce Website
Various e-commerce platforms are easy to use and help you to build your custom e-commerce website for your business. The platforms also offer various elements to your websites like shipping, payment, and marketing based on plug and play. You can set up a professional e-commerce website for your business, and you don’t need coding experience for this. In the section of the blog, we have mentioned the steps to build a custom e-commerce website for your business.
Step 1: Select Brand Name and Get Domain
If you are first time setting up your website, then you need a domain that is also called the URL, which is your web address. In simple terms, this will be your shop on the Internet, and customers will search this on the search engine to reach your shop. The domain name should be aligned with your product and should represent your product. Before the domain name, you have to select the brand name. You must choose something that will reflect your business and service and should be easy to recall.
If you have a clothing brand, then the name must be related to fashion or something like that to represent the clothing brand. Once you have shortlisted a few names, then you can purchase the domain for your business from the domain registration service. There are various platforms like GoDaddy, Google Domains, Bluehost where you can register your domain name. If the domain name has already been taken, then the platform will suggest alternate options available like .co, .in, or .net, etc. The best option to get is .com because it is widely used. The domain name will cost you $12 to $30 per year, depending on the extra service you have taken.
Step 2: Select E-Commerce Platform
An e-commerce platform is a dedicated space where your website goes live, and you have multiple options available to choose the e-commerce platform. There are paid and free e-commerce platforms available with a wide range of features that make your site attractive.
BigCommerce
It is a dedicated e-commerce platform with multiple features available to build an attractive and strong e-commerce website. It is the most expandable e-commerce platform for small businesses. The plans for this platform start from $29 per month.
Shopify
Shopify is one of the popular e-commerce platforms, and it is best for startups and drop shippers. Shopify has affordable plans that start from $29 per month. It is a dedicated e-commerce platform where you can host your products.
You will also get a one-month free trial on these platforms. It will be helpful to get to know all the features provided by the platform and will select the best for your business.
WordPress e-commerce Plugins
WordPress is one of the most popular platforms that regulates almost half of the world’s e-commerce platforms due to its features. WordPress doesn’t have any limit, and you can build anything and that too at an affordable price. This is why it is the first preference for many aspiring e-commerce businesses. If you already have a website on WordPress, then you can easily turn that website into an e-commerce website by adding some plugins.
BigCommerce: It is a dedicated e-commerce platform, and you can also plug it with WordPress and can use all the e-commerce functionality.
WooCommerce: This free WordPress plugin with its features turns your website into an e-commerce website.
WPEasyCart: This plugin is like WooCommerce and has a complete bunch of features for the WordPress website.
There are also free e-commerce platforms available that you can use, but these platforms either limit the products to list on the platform or will have fewer features than the above mentioned.
- Freewebstore
- Ecwid
Step 3: Design Your E-Commerce Website
After creating a successful e-commerce website, you have to design a website that has a user-friendly interface and should include all the windows on the website for the ease of customers.
Brand Logo: You must create a brand logo for your business that will reflect your brand’s name and product or your service. The logo will be placed prominently on your website, and it will become an integral part of your business.
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Product Photos with Description: Most e-Commerce websites keep their product in front or at the centre of the website. This way, the website can place them as their key element on the web page. Once the customer lands on your website, they must get easy access to your product and a detailed description of it. The photos of your product must be simplistic yet must have a unique appeal to the audience.
The idea behind placing your product image on your e-commerce website is to provide the users with a worthy experience where they can know about the product in an intangible medium. You must also add the price of the product below the product image so it will be easy for the customer to select according to budget.
About Us Section: While building a website, you must add an about us section that will help you to tell your story and connect with your customers. This will help the consumers to know about your brand in a more detailed manner.
Customer Service Page: The customer service page is one of the most engaging touchpoints on your website. It helps your users to become familiar with your services and give them an invaluable experience that helps to build your brand image. This is why it is important for your website to include a customer service page. Furthermore, it must contain details and intricacies like shipment charges, average delivery time, return policy, and privacy policy. This will help the customer to build trust in your brand.
Step 4: Add Payment, Tax, and Shipping Tools
All the systems of payment, tax, and shipping depend on which e-commerce platform you are using to run your business. On big platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce, you will get a complete in-built module of payment, tax, and shipping.
If you are using any other platform other than this, which won’t have an inbuilt system, then you can use plug-and-play payment services like PayPal, Stripe, etc. Most of the e-commerce platforms allow you to connect your payment gateway method and merchant account, but the plug and play system is the easiest one.
Most of the dedicated e-commerce platforms have inbuilt shipping so that customers can seamlessly place their orders. In the case when your platform does not include in-built shipment solutions, then you can integrate third-party shipping solutions like ShippingEasy. However, such platforms will charge a monthly amount from you. Once you have done the shipping setup, then you can add shipping charges. You can add real-time charges or flat charges based on the number of orders or can give free shipping.
Step 5: Final Testing of Website
The final step in the building of an e-commerce website is the testing phase. Here the website goes through necessary checks before it is launched. This ensures that your customers don’t have to face any issues and challenges. Almost every e-commerce platform allows you to go through the pre-launch test. With this test, you can navigate any bug in your website and can fix it, and if it has successfully passed the test, then you can launch your website.
After your website is launched, the next step is to become involved in the dedicated process of digital marketing. This allows your website to interact and attract website visitors instantly.
Search engines typically take time to recognise the authority of your website and rank it higher on the ranking page. But you can add your website to the Google search console for instant recognition and also use social media and Google Adwords advertising to get the traffic on your website.
Wrapping Up
Building an e-commerce website is an easy task nowadays. Earlier it took specific technical knowledge to build a website but now, with new technology it is not as complex a task. Now you can easily build your custom e-commerce website and get started with your e-commerce business. You can use the above-mentioned platforms for the building of an e-commerce website. These platforms will make all processes seamless. If you have an idea in mind, then don’t stop yourself. Following the above easy steps can help you build your e-commerce website and make fortunes on the internet.