Want to Start an e-Commerce Site? Here’s How to do it!
An ecommerce site is a great way to start a business, run a business, and make a lot of profit. And in fact, the U.S. Small Business Administration has stated that in the year 2013, online businesses grew faster than brick and mortar businesses, and that’s not showing any signs of slowing down. But for those interested in having one of these very popular types of businesses, just how do you get started? It’s really easier than you may think.
Set a S.M.A.R.T. goal
S.M.A.R.T. is an abbreviation for goals that translates into: specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely; and having a S.M.A.R.T. goal for your e-commerce website is essential. Is it going to be strictly to sell your product or service? Is it going to be to tell customers about a discount you’re having? Or is it simply to tell customers about your business? Before you embark on building your website, you must have a clear goal in mind so that your website remains focused, and that the concept and message is clear to your customers.
Know how to choose a domain name carefully
The domain name of your website is the address that users will have to type in or visit when they want to get to your site. This must be chosen very carefully. It will often be the name of your business, but you also want to make sure the domain name is clear, self-explanatory, and should clearly indicate what your brand is all about. You may hear a lot about how it’s important to tie keywords into your domain name, but don’t worry about that too much as there are plenty of other SEO tactics you can use right within your content down the line.
Have a merchant account ready
A merchant account is a bank account that will allow merchants to accept payments such as debit and credit card payments online. You must have one if you’re going to be an online business, otherwise customers will go elsewhere to get the goods and services that they need. Paypal and Authorize.net both offer merchant accounts, but you should be able to set one up within your own bank as well, if that’s a preferable option for you.
Find a good web host
A web host will help you set up and create your website, and even if you know how to do these things with Joomla or WordPress, you’re going to need a web host that will store your website on one of their servers. When creating your website, be sure to include proper navigational links and pages within it including an About page, a Contact page, an industry news page, a page for your blog, and any other individual pages that are relevant to your business.
Install analytics
It will do you little good to have a website, work on it all the time, and never know whether or not it’s reaching people or achieving its desired goal. Install an analytical tool such as Google Analytics and you’ll be able to see how much traffic is coming to your site, what pages visitors are visiting most often, and even what times your website is the busiest. This will help you down the road, when it’s time to start focusing on these areas and writing the content or providing the goods and services that your customers are after the most.
Starting an e-commerce site certainly isn’t difficult. Be sure to follow these steps, and you’ll make it even easier on yourself – and make your business even more successful!
Set a S.M.A.R.T. goal
S.M.A.R.T. is an abbreviation for goals that translates into: specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and timely; and having a S.M.A.R.T. goal for your e-commerce website is essential. Is it going to be strictly to sell your product or service? Is it going to be to tell customers about a discount you’re having? Or is it simply to tell customers about your business? Before you embark on building your website, you must have a clear goal in mind so that your website remains focused, and that the concept and message is clear to your customers.
Know how to choose a domain name carefully
The domain name of your website is the address that users will have to type in or visit when they want to get to your site. This must be chosen very carefully. It will often be the name of your business, but you also want to make sure the domain name is clear, self-explanatory, and should clearly indicate what your brand is all about. You may hear a lot about how it’s important to tie keywords into your domain name, but don’t worry about that too much as there are plenty of other SEO tactics you can use right within your content down the line.
Have a merchant account ready
A merchant account is a bank account that will allow merchants to accept payments such as debit and credit card payments online. You must have one if you’re going to be an online business, otherwise customers will go elsewhere to get the goods and services that they need. Paypal and Authorize.net both offer merchant accounts, but you should be able to set one up within your own bank as well, if that’s a preferable option for you.
Find a good web host
A web host will help you set up and create your website, and even if you know how to do these things with Joomla or WordPress, you’re going to need a web host that will store your website on one of their servers. When creating your website, be sure to include proper navigational links and pages within it including an About page, a Contact page, an industry news page, a page for your blog, and any other individual pages that are relevant to your business.
Install analytics
It will do you little good to have a website, work on it all the time, and never know whether or not it’s reaching people or achieving its desired goal. Install an analytical tool such as Google Analytics and you’ll be able to see how much traffic is coming to your site, what pages visitors are visiting most often, and even what times your website is the busiest. This will help you down the road, when it’s time to start focusing on these areas and writing the content or providing the goods and services that your customers are after the most.
Starting an e-commerce site certainly isn’t difficult. Be sure to follow these steps, and you’ll make it even easier on yourself – and make your business even more successful!