How to build an Online Store: 9 Easy Steps to start Selling Online

How to build an Online Store: 9 Easy Steps to start Selling Online

Talking about online shopping and saying that it is rising is similar to the application of force to a door that is opened. It is clear that customers do not stop to shop throughout the day in the digital age. Their desire is to have the opportunity to visit their chosen store any time and through almost every channel. Notwithstanding, what is the way to the digital world? What is the way to have a business online? What is the way to have a virtual shop? The following are 9 steps to achieve the aforementioned.

Choose an online store builder

The creation of an eye-catching online store with security can come in numerous ways. There are several services characterized by great and friendly interfaces. Examples include Wordpress, Shopify, Jimdo or Wix, and their management online is easy. Comparison of the most popular platforms you can find here. For potential customers to be confident, the system must be characterized by strength and security. The management of products catalog, orders, and billing must be easy. Likewise, the support for various payment methods should be checked as it is necessary that it is able to take care of various languages and currencies. Do not forget that international orders processing might be required someday.

2. Choose a domain name

Your website address is the domain name. Hence, you need to ensure that it is line with your objectives and your target audience. Do not go for a name that is similar to that of a renowned company so as not to enter into problem and confusion. Likewise, in the attempt to be unique, do not confuse your target audience. Some individuals go for common names but do not spell them appropriately to achieve more originality. There are demerits to such strategy. Your potential audience must be able to write your name. The beginner’s guide to domain names and web hosting you can read here.

3. Offer effective and rewarding content and design

People will take you serious and perceive professionalism with content and photo quality. The solutions provided by the internet can work for or against anyone. The number of visitors to a virtual shop online might outnumber what is obtainable when a physical shop is launched within a month. However, the time of passage is frequently faster. Conversion rate is the ratio of the visitors to the purchases. For your website, the factors that influence its conversion rate include aesthetics, information, and ergonomics of your page. Likewise, remember to come up with a visual identity and have it illustrated in your online shop. You will stand out with your brand and make your customers confident.

4. Don’t forget about the logo

Your brand must have a logo as it stands for 50% of your future virtual shop. The best way to create a logo is to hire a designer. If you do not have a time and budget, you can try to use some online services that will help you create a logo in a few minutes, for example Logaster, Canva or Graphicsprings.

5. Write and add the product descriptions

Following the setting up of your website, obtain photos from suppliers and have your product page created. It is not advisable to copy the cards of brands or wholesalers because of your SEO. Instead, come up with unique descriptions containing your keywords. You will have great results despite the long and difficult nature of this work. Give your users great experience by sorting your products. The sorting will also produce better website navigation, thereby bringing increasing sales. This is because being able to find products in no time increases the chances of buying frequently. The things to add to the product page include a description, price, availability, picture, product variants, and more. Customers are likely to buy the product when they see a detailed description.

6. Set payment methods

This is crucial in making a visitor to become a customer. The technologies utilized for online payment are now characterized by better security to prevent malicious attacks of hackers. Ensure that you have various payment methods, and you can do them using different methods. Some payment methods include credit card, Paypal, Webmoney, or with bitcoins, discover, and more. How to choose payment method read in this article.

7. Product delivery

The mode of delivery is another thing to consider. The decision on the modes of delivery requires the consideration of the product you are selling, your competitors’ prices, and the final invoice of an order. You can also offer your customer free delivery or return as they help them to decide on purchase. Additionally, ensure that these conditions are on your sites for everyone to see. Don’t forget to handle delivery regions for more sales. You can also add delivery options in collaboration with courier agencies.

8. Ready! Steady! Stop and…… Test!

Here is the last task – test your platform. This involves the verification that all is working as required. Any observable errors should be fixed. Ensure that all products are listed properly; check for page downloading speed, payment methods, site navigation, and other things that can influence sales. Remember that the failure of an element affects everything.

9. Become known

It is time to have your online store created now that the things you need are ready. However, you need to introduce yourself and make customers come to you. Social media can help you achieve this and even help you with product information sharing. Some of the platforms include Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, or Instagram. You can use the ones that can help you reach your target audience and where you have potential customers, instead of trying to be everywhere. The use of social media will likewise promote interactions with your customers and provide information about the things you need to do and improve.

Useful tools for your online store
Lots of effort is in place as regards the management of a successful e-commerce website. The establishment and maintenance of a great conversion rate is a part of the crucial aspects. Ultimately, the improvement of your site can be done with several tools. These tools have been arranged and organized based on type and function. The role of certain tools is in building and management of the e-shop, while others help with the management of simple tasks, traffic increment; build your brand as well as other things to promote you.

Research tools:
SEMrush

A multipurpose tool that is useable for both natural and paid SEO. It has several features to help develop the e-shop. One of the features is showing the keywords used by your competitors. Such keywords are frequently more insightful that would not be possible to find without this tool. The overall organic traffic and value determine its rank.

Ahrefs

This tool has different features. It makes it possible to view the links pointing to a website and the most popular pages. It is used to analyze SEO in the detection of referent domains. Likewise, it provides the analysis of the linking of websites. It also analyzes competitors and comes up with a link building methodology. When it comes to choosing right keywords based on relevance and difficulty, Ahrefs is amazing.

Business tools:

Trello

This is possibly the best-known management tool. Being free, it is quite essential. Within the project management feature is a kind of maps with action lists movable on a table structured with columns based on your needs. For instance, it is possible to make columns for significant actions, urgent and non-urgent actions, and more.

Bitrix24

This is free enterprise management software. There are over 35 free tools like CRM, tasks, document, project and time management, business process automation, invoicing, collaboration, absence management, email marketing, virtual PBX, shared calendars, corporate directory, human resources management system (HRMS), and more.

Zoho Projects

Within this is professional tools suite consisting of CRM, Docs, Mail, and more. Some of the merits of this tool are dashboards showing activities progress and the integrated time tracking system. It is likewise possible to integrate with its other solutions, including Google Docs or Dropbox.

Marketing tools:

MailChimp

As an email marketing tool, it is renowned and easy to use. It helps in tracking your customer’s purchases, thereby giving you the opportunity to target them with similar product offers. Additionally, there is a direct connection with services such as WooCommerce, Magento or BigCommerce. Creation of email campaigns directly from your store is possible with this.

Buffer

This is for the distribution of content per day across various platforms like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and more. It is user-friendly and concise. This is suitable for you if you desire something that is effective and not complicated for planning your updates and enhance time management in terms of the management of your networks.

Buzzstream

It is a CRM to contact bloggers and journalists or website owners. It helps in the organization of your link building, RP blogger and influential campaigns or to search for partners. The creation of prospecting lists, searching for emails, contact tracking, keeping a history of relationships and reusing these lists for future campaigns are possible with this tool.

Analytics tools

Optimizely

As reference software, it gives the opportunity for the performance of A / B tests. It has WYSIWYG interface, meaning that it is possible to utilize it without the need to touch the code. You can use Optimizely to split-test your landing pages, product pages, forms, and more. It is must-have tool for every marketer. There are packages with a free trial period of 30 days for testing.

Google Analytics

Without regards to the product you sell, to increase your conversion rate into e-commerce is challenging. The e-commerce enhanced by Google gives merchants a wider view of metrics. That is, the platform is now more powerful than ever. The individuals that use Google Analytics are now able to track traffic as desired. The identification of the weak points brings about the abandoning of the basket or the points of friction while making the payment.

Visual web optimizer

There is no end to the optimization of your e-commerce. Those who continually engage in A / B testing for the experimentation and adjustment of their underperforming pages find this valid. The failure to be attentive to the right parameters or being ignorant of the things to change could harm your income. Hence, platforms like Visual Web Optimizer suits companies that require the tweaking of their marketing campaigns and homepages.

source: https://www.logaster.com/how-to-make-a-logo