We are living in an uncertain, life-changing time. As social distance measures for the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) become more limited, brick-and-mortar retailers are suffering from declining demand or are being forced to shut down altogether. At the same time, consumers rely more on ecommerce to purchase the products they need to survive.
You can own a small business that relies solely on foot traffic and store sales, and now you need to figure out how to get your products into the hands of customers when your products can't come to your physical storefront. This means you need an effective ecommerce site and fast!
Considering the situation, now is a great time to talk about the process of development an ecommerce website. First, we will talk about creating an ecommerce website from scratch. Then, for those of you who so far have a website, we'll share some tips for adding primary ecommerce functionality to your existing site.
Let's get started, so you can start selling again!
Creating an ecommerce website from scratch
Directly from the bat, I’m going to make two guesses: (1) you know what you want to sell and (2) you know what you want to call your ecommerce business. If this is not the case, check out our guide to specifying and targeting your niche and Shopify's guide to naming your online store.
Step # 1: Ensure your domain is available
Now, all you have to do is get the domain name you want available. With a tool like Instant Domain Search, this step takes closely a few seconds. If the domain you want is available, that's great! If not, browse through the offers and choose the one that best fits you. Of course, your selection should not be too similar to an existing domain, as it will probably lose traffic (and revenue) down the line.
Important Note: Once you have settled on an available domain, stop buying it! If you plan to build your ecommerce website with solutions like Shopify, Squarespace or WordPress, you will be able to buy your domain through the platform. Trust me this way life is easy.
Why the first step in domain availability testing? Because it will save you a lot of time and check. If you start naming your products, drafting your web copy and just starting to create your store, imagine that you are not shopping for a name that is not available for purchase. Hard pass.
Step # 2: Check the amount of searches for the products you want to sell
You should not spend money or time until you are confident that your products have enough demand for your ecommerce business to be profitable. I don't care how good your products are or how effective your marketing is. Very few people go online and you are less likely to succeed if you find what you want to sell. That's why the second step in creating an ecommerce website is using Wordstream's free keyword tool to see how often customers are using Google and Bing to search for your products.
This raises an important question: how to see adequate search volume (e.g., demand)? To answer this, we need to do some math.
Suppose you want to sell handmade baseball gloves. You estimate that you will earn 20 for each unit you sell. If you want to generate 10,000 of first year profits to keep the dream alive, you need to sell 500 gloves. In the beginning, your goal is to drive half of those sales (250 units) through organic search marketing.
Now assuming, you can get yourself on a page of search results (then another hard work -), you can expect a click-through rate of at least 3%. For the sake of simple math, we would say that you can convert 5% biological effect into clicks. Within these clicks, you estimate that you can convert 2% of purchases. To sell 250 gloves, you need to drive 12,500 clicks (1,042 clicks per month) per year. To run 12,500 clicks per year, you need to generate 250,000 impressions per year (20,834 impressions per month).
So, to justify creating an ecommerce website, you need to look across Google and Bing to find enough volume to generate about 21,000 organic impressions per month.
If that number scares you, I've got good news: organic search is the only way to get consumers to your ecommerce website. Even if this channel only forges a 3,000 profit, you can still (or even exceed) your 10,000 10,000 goal by using paid search and paid social.
Important Note: Even if you do not plan to rely on organic search, it is still important to run a sufficient amount of search for your product. For one thing, the amount of rigorous research required to succeed in a given search is also required. Second, even if you plan to generate most of your sales through social media, search volume is generally a strong indicator of demand.
Which takes me three steps ...
Step # 3: Illustrate how you are going to grow
Available domains? Check. Adequate search volume? Check. Before we development your ecommerce website, we now have one final step: putting together an online marketing strategy. Before you can take a photo of the product and start drafting a “About Us” page, you need to determine how your online store is going to grow.
So, let’s talk about the levers you can drag.
Organic Search Marketing (a.k.a. search engine optimization)
Organic search marketing goals - fairly straightforward, known as search engine optimization, or SEO: When buyers use Google or Bing to search for any product you sell, you want your website to look on the first page of results. You probably know from your own shopping experience that first page buried websites are rarely seen.
I encourage you to check out the Word Stream Guide to SEO for beginners. The basic idea is that you need to identify high-volume, low-competitive keywords related to your business and target your website copy across (while faithfully addressing the user's purpose). Additionally, it is important that you maintain a logical site structure, gain backlinks from relevant publishers, and keep your page speed high.
It's free - one of a kind. Channels like Google ads and Facebook ads need to pay for your traffic, SEO is free. But keep in mind that it takes a long time to see results. Also, tools that help you improve your SEO efforts - socks, for example - cost money
This attracts high quality prospects. SEO falls under the umbrella of inbound marketing. You don't have to go out and look for buyers; Instead, buyers will find you. These are considered high-quality prospects because they are intended to be purchased.
It runs lots of clicks. As you can see in a minute, I'm a huge proponent of paid advertising. That being said, the fact is that organic search results attract a huge number of clicks.
Paid search ads
That’s right, organic search marketing has got your ecommerce website in front of high quality prospects and will attract a lot of traffic. But here's the problem: it's a long, labor-intensive process. I strongly encourage you to invest in SEO, but if you need immediate results, you need to open at least one additional channel.
With paid search ads - usually referred to as PPC or for every click - you can get your messages up to those high quality prospects. As an SEO you need to identify high-volume, low-competitive keywords related to your own business. However, instead of targeting these keywords in your web copy in the hopes of ranking higher in organic search results, you are going to target them in your ad copy (and related landing pages) in the hopes of highly ranking in the given search results - both above and below organic.
To read more, I recommend our article on the basics of PPC as well as specific guidelines for e-commerce PPC. In the meantime, here are some of the benefits associated with PPC:
It runs fast results. Once you've created your Google ads and Microsoft ads account and your ads have been approved, you can start driving traffic and monetizing your ecommerce website immediately.
This attracts high quality prospects. Like SEO, PPC falls under the umbrella of inbound marketing. The most enthusiastic buyers will come to you.
It scales very easily. Once you've collected some basic data and determined which keyword is most profitable, you can instantly repurchase the budget and further improve your results.
Paid social advertising
There is a primary disadvantage to both organic and paid search: the amount of search can dry up. This is another aspect of introverted marketing currency; There is no guarantee that the demand will be strong enough to capitalize on the purpose of purchase. As a result, it is wise to insure yourself. And that's where paid social advertising comes in.
Paid social is the habit of buying ads on social media sites like Facebook and Instagram. Having access to a large amount of user data on these platforms enables them to target the expectations of their advertisers with incredible accuracy. Depending on your marketing goals, you can pay per impression, per click, or even video views. And as an ecommerce advertiser, you can engage in social shopping known, that is, allow social media users to browse and purchase your products without the native platform. If you focus on maximizing conversion rates, this is a dream come true!
Check out the Wordstream Guide to get started with Facebook ads, Instagram ads and social shopping. But before you do, here are three major social benefits of paying:
This allows you to expand your potential pool. As I said: introverted marketing, as horrible as it is, can leave you in a vulnerable position. To avoid being blinded by declining demand, use paid social to bring more potential to the top of your ecommerce funnel.
It does not cost too much. Simple and easy: Clicks and conversions are cheaper than social search.
This enables you to target people accurately. To be fair, Google Advertising and Microsoft Advertising have dramatically improved their audience targeting over the years. Still, Facebook and Instagram are at the top when it comes to the perfect ad in front of the perfect person.
Step # 4: development your own ecommerce website
You have chosen the perfect domain. The amount of search is looking strong You are confident in the cross-platform marketing strategy you have brought. Last but not least, the final step towards development your own ecommerce website.
Create your ecommerce website.
I know, I know ter is not deadly helpful. However, believe it or not, you have already won the most difficult step. It's hard stuff to come up with keywords that determine the summaries of different marketing channels. In fact, if you ask me, you're coming to the fun part right now. The work of risk doesn’t end there, it’s actually an explosion to put your ecommerce website together.
So, let’s discuss what you need to do.
Choose an ecommerce solution
Do a Google search for "ecommerce website builder" and you'll see lots of ads and organic results from software companies and marketing agencies. Among the former are a handful of names that you will probably recognize: Shopify, BigCommerce, Squarespace, Wix and WordPress.
Now, if we were talking about a website designed strictly for traffic and / or lead generation, I would recommend WordPress. They are the quality of the industry for no reason. But that's not really what we're talking about here. You want to development an ecommerce website. Therefore, you should come up with the best solution for online retailers. And that, my friends are shoplifters.
You’ll find lots of in-depth testimonials praising the wonder of Shopify; I will not go into too much detail today. I'll just leave you with this: if you are looking for an intuitive, affordable and reliable solution that enables you to sell not only through your own website, but also through platforms like Facebook and Pinterest, go with Shopify.
Buy your domain
Have you picked that domain before? Buy it. Whether you use Shopify, WordPress, Squarespace or any other solution, you will have the option to purchase your domain through them. You can expect to pay about ড 20 or 30 30 per year
Choose your theme
Once you have chosen your solution and purchased your domain, you will be given the responsibility to select a theme for your ecommerce website. The most important thing is that your theme selection is combined with the image of your art and your preferred brand. If you are in the world of fashion and you want to brand yourself as modern and cutting edge then something smooth is probably the most suitable. Alternatively, if you are in the home and garden industry and you want your website to be as welcoming as possible, consider a theme based on bright, warm colors.
Submit photos and descriptions of your products
Product photos can be a powerful resource a lot When a potential customer browses your website and tests through your product photos, they are able to imagine themselves as your customer. If you sell women's clothing, they can wear a certain dress. If you sell household items, they can paint your vase sitting on their mantle. Moments like these, as trivial as they may seem, can go a long way when it comes to winning over a new customer. Check out these 14 product photography tips that show you as a pro!
Set up Facebook pixels
Before you sell a single product, I strongly encourage you to install Facebook Pixel. A small snippet of code that will help you track your prospects across your websites allow you to use the data your Pixel collects on your Facebook (and Instagram). Be able to take advertising campaigns to the next level.
Let's go back to the Baseball Equipment website. Say you run a successful Facebook campaign for a specific bat campaign. Thanks to Facebook Pixel, you can group together all of your (ad-free) users who clicked on your ad and bought a bat. Now, you can recreate past shoppers with Glove ads!
Bottom line: Facebook Pixel will empower you with lots of valuable insights and give you the opportunity to earn more from paid social.
Make sure there is payment processing
With your perfect theme, photos and descriptions of your products ready to soak up the possibilities, and having Facebook Pixel installed, there's only one last step to get your ecommerce website off the ground: verifying that you're ready to process the payment.
If you have created a Shopify website, you will need to launch Shopify Payments; No need for third party widgets. With a solution like Squarespace or WordPress you need to connect your website with PayPal, Strip or both.
Now you are ready to sell, push your brand new ecommerce website live!
Adding ecommerce to an existing website
Some of those of you who already have a website will ask you to quickly create a separate website designed for ecommerce with a solution like Shampoo or WordPress.
Not a good idea.
First, it means paying for two websites at the same time. I know it’s not an expense, but it’s an expense. Second, intuitive as the solutions to these websites, it takes some time to develop a new website. Why waste a few days doing nothing?
Third, and most importantly, redirecting customers from your main website to your ecommerce website leads to a bad user experience. Maybe your most dedicated customers agree to tolerate something like this, but lots of online shoppers don't. So, by creating separate sites for ecommerce you are not only wasting time and effort, you are also throwing the revenue straight out of the window.
See what your solution provider has to offer
If your existing website is managed through platforms like Squarespace, WordPress or Wix, you've got some space to work. Squarespace Commerce, for example, is a apartment of features that enable you to sell products, manage orders, and process credit card payments. Product pages are easy to create and you get some flexibility when arranging shipping. Also, you can easily increase sales using some of Squarespace's local marketing features such as discount announcement bars and abandoned checkout recovery.
If your website is powered by WordPress, here's the good news: One of the most popular WordPress plugins, WooCommerce makes eCommerce functionality easy to implement. Simply select "Plugins" from the menu on the left side of your WordPress dashboard and then click "Add New". Search WooCommerce, install it, and allow the Unboarding Wizard to show you how it's done. Once you are driven, you can start playing around with specific functionality.
One final website solution I would like to mention is Wix. Much like Squarespace, Wix makes it easy for their customers to upgrade to e-commerce-friendly plans. If you don't already have a business premium subscription, you'll need to switch (which comes with a price increase). Once it's taken care of, simply select "Add" from the menu on your left and click "Store". A new button labeled "My stores" will now appear in the menu on your left. From there, you can start creating and managing your Wix store!
Use third party ecommerce tools
If you don't want to change your website's subscription - or if your website is built in a way that doesn't allow you to make big, basic changes, you can use third-party tools to add basic ecommerce functionality. Let's take a look at some of your options.
Shopify Button
Keep in mind with bloggers, artists and side-hostlers, the Shopify Buy button lets you sell products through your website without completely converting to an ecommerce model. Regardless of the type of website you have, you can embed purchase buttons on your homepage, your sidebar, or even your content. This is a great option if you are looking for a fast, secure way to sell products while maintaining a high-quality user experience.
Shopcat
As little as $7/mo, ShopRock allows you to sell across your website and Facebook page. By integrating seamlessly with your existing website, ShopKet gives you a central platform for creating offers, order handling, shipping details and much more. After all, as you grow you can upgrade to Google giving you access to advanced features such as Google Analytics tracking and live chat support.
Snipcart
Snipcart - another way to add eCommerce to your website by enabling you to start selling products, downloads and subscriptions with just two lines of code. Lets track, integrate with email marketing solutions and much more. If you're looking for something that is easy to apply and flexible enough to adapt to your changing demands, check out Snipcart.
Start building your ecommerce website today!
From scratch to a novice entrepreneur or established retailer trying to improve your online presence, there is no better time than today to build your eCommerce website. No matter what, there are plenty of effective ways to reach your target audience.
But as the number of online retailers grows every day, the competition for those visitors will only intensify. You're probably rolling the ball as fast as you can - it's so important to get whatever you want.
Happy sale!
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