Online stores are heavily populating the World Wide Web. It became an instant internet craze which opened every single computer user to a possibility of becoming a successful e-commerce businessman.
Online stores are heavily populating the World Wide Web. It became an instant internet craze which opened every single computer user to a possibility of becoming a successful e-commerce businessman. This fad turned many people into setting up their own online stores, and encouraged those giant ecommerce sites like Ebay and Amazon to make things easier for their subscribers by setting up ready-to-use online stores. Because of these features and offers of established e-stores, setting up one is as easy as breathing. However, one still needs to strategize and plan wisely so that the business won’t be among those short-lived businesses which start to fail after a month or so.
Lay Out and Templates
Now that you have successfully decided which products to sell, an Internet Merchant account already approved and an Online Shopping Cart purchased- you’re almost good to go. Next step is to design your own site. There are some sites which offer templates or ready to use lay-outs for e-stores. However, I strongly recommend you not to use these ready-made templates because you will lose the chance of customizing your e-stores appearance that is supposed to be coordinated with what you are selling. Experimenting things up with the designs, colors, lay out is a thing which you could easily learn, or if it pains you a lot, you may ask someone to do what you want your site to look like.
Easy Browsing
Customers want everything the easy way- that is the rule of thumb. They want a transaction completed in a few clicks of their mouse. This is the reason why you need to pay extra attention in building your site because a website which loads forever will never be appreciated by customers.
Keep your site clean and neat. Remove any unnecessary images but leave a striking logo- something that customers will remember. A user-friendly navigation bar is an indispensable tool in e-stores and even for almost all websites because it directs the customers to pages they want to go to in a very timely manner.
Your Website Host
In finding the best website host to cater to your website’s needs, there are many factors to take into consideration: First, see to it that the website offers Secure Server Locket (SSL) Encryptions. Above all other websites, e-store websites need this the most because e-stores involve money transfers and transactions. Expect an additional charge for this SSL, as compared to ordinary website hosting.
Second, seek for a host which guarantees a high up-time, meaning the guarantee that your site will always be online. If the uptime of a server is not that high, it may hurt your business a lot as it won’t be available for browsing over the net. Also check their guarantee of backing up files in case of system errors or malfunctions.
Web logs and statistics should also be considered because by monitoring the logs and statistics, you can analyze the volume of traffic coming into your site. You can also gain information about the statistics of your customers, thus giving you the chance to present ideas on retaining them and attracting more.
Lastly, delve on their customer support. The customer support is a very valuable aspect in maintaining your site’s availability on the web. Check the hosting company’s other customers and asks them the real score of the host; that way, you could expect the service they would give you.
Your Website/ Domain Name
You’re not done yet- and this is the most important step in setting up a website. Giving your site a good domain name is definitely something which you should not miss. While you would want to give your site the name of your e-store, it would be hard for you to market it and compete with hundreds to thousands of other e-stores. Try using keywords which sells the most, say for example your e-store sells flowers, you may search for the keywords pertaining to the product and use it as your domain name- e.g. flowersforallseasons.com. If you can limit your domain name to no more than three words, the better it would be so that customers can remember your site well. It is also a good edge if you have .com as your domain name system. People tend to remember sites with this ending compared to others.
Moving a step closer
You’re a step away from starting your online business and the next task is already predictable- yes, marketing your site online, it is. But there is no need to hurry, be sure to take all factors into consideration because marketing strategies won’t work well if you have missed any of the steps mentioned above.
Online Selling Start-up Guidelines
Some people have always wanted to but never got around to setting up their businesses because of factors such as a lack of e-commerce knowledge while some just got too scared to make the move. Start selling online with these easy start up guidelines.
Why Businesses Choose Single Page Checkout
Single page checkout can dramatically increase conversions. In the checkout page, you will find all the information needed to be filled out for the transaction to go through- billing information, shipping information, shipping method and the total amount that needs to be paid.
Social Marketing: The Key to Success for Any Business
Social Marketing was created in the 1970s as a means to gain more merits by seeking the society’s approval through identifying their wants and needs - today it is stronger and bigger than ever thanks to the Internet.
