How many times have you heard it? Want to build an eCommerce website? I would say that it is not a rare occurrence. That's because building an e-commerce website has been on the minds of business owners ever since... Well, since the beginning of eCommerce itself! You see, no matter how advanced and sophisticated your product or service is, if you don't have a good way to sell it, your business is likely to fail sooner or later.
Online stores are popping up all over the internet, but that doesn't mean you should use an off-the-shelf solution if you want to succeed. There are many aspects of e-commerce that you need to keep in mind when developing the website. We've put together this checklist of 10 important things to consider when building an ecommerce website — if you follow it, your store will be more likely to succeed.
1) Research and plan your online store
One of the most important eCommerce development tips for entrepreneurs is to research, plan, and strategize your online store carefully. The reason why you need a perfect plan for your eCommerce website is that it will bring security and trust from your users, who are interested in buying products from your website.
Create a checklist of things you need to include in your store and write a business plan before finalizing any details. Identify what products will be offered, how they will be priced, and where they will be purchased. You'll also want to figure out how much profit you expect from your online store on day one, so set realistic goals and make sure you have adequate resources (funds) available.
2) Prepare your default pages very well
The first thing is to prepare your default pages for your online store. This means that you should update your website pages with all the relevant and useful information, such as: who you are, what you do, how much it costs, why people should buy from you, and so on.
Also, make sure that this information is accurately reflected on these pages, as otherwise, it will look unprofessional and drive away potential customers.
3) What type of e-commerce website do you need?
There are two main types of e-commerce websites: standalone and integrated.
An independent eCommerce website has its own domain, shopping cart, payment processing features, etc. If you have more resources available and want complete control over how your brand is represented online, as well as what resources are available to your customers, then creating an independent ecommerce website is probably the best option for you.
An integrated website is part of a larger company's website and uses your existing domain, shopping cart, payment processing features, etc. If you're a small business owner with limited resources but want to get your business off the ground quickly and without a high initial investment (e.g., opening your own merchant account), then opting for an integrated eCommerce website may be the right option for you.
4) Conduct a Content Audit
A content audit is a useful tool for any content-rich website, such as e-commerce. It's a way to make sure you're not wasting time on on-page elements and copy that doesn't make sense to your audience. Performing one on an e-commerce site will help you understand what works and what doesn't — and why.
Your first step should be to conduct a thorough inventory of each section of your website, including its purpose, whether it contains currently relevant information, how much information it contains (most of the time, a lot), when it was last updated, who is responsible for its maintenance, and so on.
Just looking at minor errors like spelling, grammar, or broken links is part of an effective audit and can save you thousands of dollars later on.
5) Install an analysis tool
You should consider installing a website analytics tool on your new e-commerce website. Analytics tools help you better understand what users are doing on your site — where they come from, how long they stay, what's being clicked on and purchased, etc.
This data will give you valuable insights into your visitors and customers, helping you make informed decisions about everything from which products are selling best to which purchases are driving repeat business. The most popular ecommerce platforms — including Shopify, Bigcommerce, and Magento — all have robust analytics tools, so be sure to set them up beforehand.
You don't have to be a data scientist (or pay one) to understand all of this; Google Analytics is free and provides a lot of information out of the box. This means that any relevant insight can be used to improve conversion rates — which is essential if you want your online store(s) to succeed.
6) Optimize all the images on your website
The best way to ensure a high-quality website is to ensure that your images are at their best. You may have taken great photos, but if they're of poor quality, they'll hurt your message instead of improving it. Check all your images and make sure they look good. Remember that good enough isn't necessarily good enough; Take the time to optimize each image individually so that it looks as good as possible.
Search engines can't see images, so they won't be able to figure out what your image-heavy site is all about. You need to optimize your images using a tool like Google's free PageSpeed Insights or YSlow so that search engines can index and rank your website correctly. Without this content, your website will struggle in organic search, especially when it comes to long-tail keywords. Additionally, slow-loading images can hinder your website's user experience and performance in search engines. In fact, speed is one of Google's ranking factors (although it's not as important as links).
7) Choosing the right domain name
You might think that a sophisticated, high-traffic domain name is one of your top priorities when building an eCommerce website, but experts disagree. Experts are in favor of simple and descriptive domains for e-commerce stores. According to them, if you want your customers to find what they need, it's more important that your website address (or URL) is easy to spell and remember than unique or catchy.
As long as people can easily remember and share your address (URL), you'll reap all of these benefits:
- More search engine traffic,
- Higher conversion rates of organic visits,
- Lower advertising costs (because ads will more effectively target qualified visitors),
- Better SEO results due to increased trust in Google.
8) Give the best design to your eCommerce website
Online store owners invest in different types of custom eCommerce and get all the benefits of sleek eCommerce website design. One of your highest priorities should be to ensure that visitors can easily find what they're looking for on your e-commerce site.
Make it as easy as possible to find items — and don't forget to navigate! Your checkout process shouldn't be a confusing maze of information. Instead, keep all pages with relevant information grouped together, so users can walk through each step quickly and easily.
Relevant information will also help you attract potential customers to purchase; When they find exactly what they want on your website, they'll be more likely to buy from you than from another competitor.
9) Make it easy for buyers to contact you
Now that you've completed your online store, it's time to fill it with items for sale. First things first: You need a checkout process so that shoppers can purchase items from your website. A simple contact form is a great way to do this, and it will also help with SEO.
Using a form will help people communicate with you quickly and efficiently if they have questions or order-related issues, as well as gather important information about your customers to better market future products.
Many platforms come with built-in checkouts (including Shopify, Magento, and BigCommerce), which allow you to easily choose between different payment methods (e.g., PayPal or Google Wallet).
If you're creating a custom website, make sure your checkout system is as simple as possible.
10) Marketing strategy development
Neither start building the eCommerce website without creating a solid marketing strategy. People have no idea your website exists if you don't promote it, so make sure you consider things like SEO and pay to advertise.
Don't forget about online reviews and social media as well. It all comes down to being found by the right people at the right time, so think carefully about how you want customers to find you — and what they should do when they get there.
Conclusion
Designing an e-commerce website is a difficult task that requires the utmost care and skill set. This article provides you with the best tips for eCommerce that you need to know so that you can design your website effectively and efficiently. These web design tips help you design a website that looks amazing and generates revenue like crazy!