How to Build an Ecommerce Website in 9 Easy Steps

Learning how to build an ecommerce website isn’t as difficult as it was a decade ago. Recent advancements and new tools have made the process much more accessible.

Even beginners can now create a store on these platforms without any coding experience!

If you follow the nine easy steps I’ve laid out for you in this article, you’ll quickly learn how to build an ecommerce website and get your online store up and running in no time.

Why Should You Build an Ecommerce Website?

Before I show you how to build an ecommerce website, let’s understand why it matters.

Building an ecommerce website can help you reach new markets and continue selling even if your brick-and-mortar store has to close due to unforeseen circumstances. 

With an ecommerce website, you can sell your products to consumers around the world. Your business sales are no longer limited to local consumers.

Here are three reasons why you need an ecommerce website:

1. Customers Prefer Shopping Online

The number of global users who shop online is projected to reach 3.6 billion by the end of 2029, nearly half of the projected population. Even before the pandemic, there was a strong preference for online shopping.

Pre-pandemic, certain industries like home entertainment and consumer electronics, already had over half of customers purchasing products online. 

Interestingly, online grocery shopping also doubled during the pandemic and is expected to grow even more post-pandemic. 

As more people work longer hours due to economic, social, or familial circumstances,thus the adoption of new buying behavior makes them willing to use online shopping sites to save time.

2. Smaller Financial Risk

Traditional retail shops have a much higher financial risk due to the costs of opening and maintaining them. Approximately 20% of retail businesses fail within a year, and almost half close after five years. 

Starting an ecommerce website can cost between $10,000 to $20,000, depending on licensing fees, whether you will dropship or sell directly to customers, and if you have an in-house team.

This is much less than the estimated $50,000 to $100,000 required amount to start a small retail shop.

3. Maximizing Your Growth Options

If you’re already the owner of a retail shop, creating an ecommerce website is an excellent way to expand your physical shop’s presence, without spending excessive amounts of money.

Ecommerce websites allow you to quickly inform any potential customers of new promotions and discounts without paying heavily for marketing or pointing it out inside of a shop.

What to Consider When Creating an Ecommerce Site

Creating an ecommerce website is easy, but creating an effective ecommerce website that not only attracts customers but actually converts them to buy products is a whole other thing.

That means getting everything right from the beginning is important so your website can quickly start selling products, earning great reviews, and earning back your initial investment.

Here are five things to consider when creating an ecommerce site:

1. Device Optimization

Ensure your ecommerce website is fully optimized for all possible devices, including smartphones, tablets, and desktops. A responsive design improves user experience and boosts SEO rankings.

2. Accessible Contact Information

Make sure your contact information and customer service details are easily found. Providing multiple contact methods (email, phone, chat) builds trust and helps you address customer queries promptly. It can also help your local SEO ranking.

3. Multiple Payment Options

Offer as many payment options as possible, such as credit cards, PayPal, and other digital wallets. This flexibility caters to diverse customer preferences and increases the likelihood of completing a sale.

4. SSL and Security

Ensure your website supports SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) for information encryption. This not only protects customer data but also boosts your site's credibility and search engine rankings.

5. User-Friendly Design

Your website design should be readable, easy to navigate, and visually appealing. A clean design with intuitive navigation helps customers find products easily and improves their overall shopping experience.

Your Step-by-Step Guide to Building an Ecommerce Website

Building an ecommerce website is simpler than you imagine especially when you’ve got solutions like WordPress, Shopify, and BigCommerce. 

These solutions can do most of the work for you and help you build an ecommerce site without any coding knowledge. However, you’ll still need to make many important decisions to plan, create, launch, and promote your ecommerce website.

Let me help you get started.

Step 1: Conduct Market Research to Find Your Niche

First things first when building an ecommerce website, you need to identify what type of products you would like to sell and determine if there is a potential market demand for those products.

It’s important to consider your interests and professional background while choosing your niche. Building a business requires a lot of hard work and persistence. If you are selling something you are interested in, it will help you stay motivated.

It also helps customers trust your product more if you’re a professional in the related field of the product you are selling. Ensure your online presence is well known, so potential customers know and trust your brand.

When you pick a product for your ecommerce business, you should ensure the following:

• Professional experience: You have professional experience within the industry you are representing and highly familiar in related fields.
• Problem-solving: The product solves a problem for customers.
• Market demand: People are willing to pay for it.
• Trends: Your product idea aligns with the latest trends and demands in your industry.
• Cost and profit margin: Your product has a low investment cost and a good profit margin.
• Uniqueness: You have something unique to offer compared to your potential competitors.

Step 2: Get a Domain Name

One of the initial steps to taking your business online is to pick your business and domain name.

Here are a few tips for selecting a domain name:

• Make sure that it is closely connected to what you sell.
• Include a keyword or phrase that helps customers know what you sell up-front.
• Keep it short. It should be easy to type, pronounce, and remember.
• Avoid legal and copyright issues.
• Buy a “.com” domain name as it is the most popular TLD (top-level domain). If it’s not available, you can consider buying “.store” or “.online” domain names.

How do you get a domain name?

Once you have a few ideas for your domain name, you can purchase it using a domain registrar.

All you need to do is visit the domain registrar, search for your selected name, and see if the domain name is available.

A domain registrar will register your domain name under the name of your company, meaning no other company can use the same domain name as you.

There are plenty of companies where you can buy domain names like:

• Mailchimp.com
• GoDaddy.com
• NameSilo.com
• Name.com
• Dreamhost

For example:

If you want to run an ecommerce business that sells organic beauty products, you can look for the “organicskincareproducts.com” domain name. 

You’ll realize that this domain name is already taken.

However, you can buy “.online” and “.store” domain names with the same business name, as suggested by Bluehost or other domain registrars.

Or, you can look for similar alternatives available with the “.com” extension using domain name generators like DomainWheel. Choose any of the suggested names that are relevant to what you want to sell.

Step 3: Get a Web Hosting Plan

The next step to building an ecommerce website is to get a web hosting plan. Web hosting is like renting or buying a house. Instead of it being a physical space, you’re purchasing or renting a piece of online space on the World Wide Web.

How to choose a web hosting provider

Hosting a simple blog or website usually doesn’t require a bunch of different website building tools, but it is important to invest in a great host when it comes to an ecommerce store.

When deciding which host to choose, keep in mind:

– Traffic and scalability: Consider how many initial visitors your site will get and how large it will grow in the next year or two. This should enable you to choose a host that can accommodate the amount of traffic your website will receive.

– Uptime and reliability: Greater uptime is important. Uptime measures a system’s reliability and indicates the normal period when the website is functioning. Find out how much downtime your website might expect, especially during busy times like month’s end or holidays.

Bluehost and Cloudways are two of the most trusted web hosting providers in the market.

Many web hosting providers now also offer plans specifically for ecommerce stores. Bluehost is one such hosting provider, offering 2 plans to launch your ecommerce store that comes packed with WooCommerce tools, YITH plugins, and help from professionals.

If Bluehost isn’t for you, check out these 7 Bluehost alternatives for your business website.

Step 4: Choose Your Ecommerce Platform

There are many options when it comes to deciding on your ecommerce platform. You can either use a website builder, an online store builder, or a dedicated ecommerce platform to set up and run a successful online store.

Let’s discuss some of these options to build your eCommerce store.

1. Build Your Ecommerce Website on WordPress

You can easily build your ecommerce website on WordPress. Hosting providers like Cloudways offer one-click WordPress installation to make it easier for you.

If you’re especially concerned about SEO, you can find plenty of excellent ecommerce platforms for SEO online.

If you have a WordPress website or blog already, you can also turn your existing WordPress site into an online store.

You can install ecommerce plugins such as WooCommerce and BigCommerce to add ecommerce functionality to your WordPress website. 

This includes adding product pages, secure payment methods, shopping cart and checkout options, shipping options, and more.

It’s simple.

Head to Plugins > Add New > search for “WooCommerce” or “BigCommerce” and then install the plugin.

Here’s a list of some of the best WooCommerce plugins for your eCommerce website.

With these plugins, you’ll be able to:

• Choose from enticing WordPress ecommerce themes to finalize your online store’s design.
• Showcase physical and digital products along with their variations, pricing, etc.
• Leverage WordPress’ SEO advantage to rank well in search engines
• Accept secure payments from 100+ payment gateways like Stripe, PayPal, etc.
• Configure shipping options with WooCommerce Shipping solution.
• Automate sales tax calculations.
• Reach your target audience more efficiently with HubSpot, Facebook, and Mailchimp integrations.

Check out 15+ other website builders that you can use to build your ecommerce site.

2. Build Your Ecommerce Website with Dedicated Ecommerce Platforms

You can also build your online store using dedicated ecommerce platforms such as BigCommerce. It is an intuitive SaaS solution that offers everything you need to build an ecommerce website and sell online.

With BigCommerce, you’ll get:

• Storefront design options such as fully customizable and responsive themes, Page Builder with a visual editor, checkout customization, mobile optimization, etc.
• 70+ discounts and promotions options
• Custom product recommendations
• Digital payment options like Apple Pay, Amazon Pay, PayPal, etc.
• Online marketplace integrations to allow you to sell products on Amazon, eBay, etc.
• One-page checkout feature
• Inventory management solution
• Social channel integrations with Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest to encourage social commerce
• Multi-currency payment processing
• Global content delivery network (CDN) to ensure your site loads quickly
• Easy-to-use shipping solution

You can also use Shopify, Shift4Shop, and other ecommerce platforms to build your ecommerce website.

Most online store builders and ecommerce website builders offer easy drag-and-drop editors to help you build your site without any coding knowledge.

However, you can still consider hiring a professional web developer to save time and design an impressive ecommerce store.

Step 5: Plan Your Ecommerce Website Structure and Elements

Regardless of the ecommerce platform you choose, you’ll need to plan the structure of your online store and figure out what functionalities you want to add. 

Here are the essential elements your ecommerce website should have:

• SSL certificate: Ensures secure data transmission.
• Logo: For brand identity.
• Navigation menu and search bar: Improves user experience.
• About us page: Tells your brand’s story.
• Product category pages: Helps shoppers find products easily.
• Product pages: Includes photos, descriptions, and pricing.
• Wish list functionality: Allows shoppers to save products for later.
• Customer service pages: Includes Returns and Refunds Policy, Shipping Policy, and Privacy Policy.
• Secure checkout process: Multiple payment gateway options.
• Blog content: Regularly updated articles related to ecommerce to increase brand exposure.

To help you understand the essential ecommerce website design elements, check out the infographic below.

Also, check out my post on the 6 components of ecommerce website design.

Step 6: Pick a Theme for Your Ecommerce Website

Pick a theme that aligns with your vision for your ecommerce website. It will act as the foundation for your website’s design and functionality.

When picking a theme, you should consider the following parameters:

• Does the theme offer user-friendly navigation menu options?
• Does your homepage design align with the aesthetics of your brand?
• How many built-in ecommerce features and customization options does the theme offer?
• Is the theme compatible with standard ecommerce plugins?
• Does the theme offer cross-selling and upselling capabilities for product pages?

The goal of your ecommerce site should be to encourage users to shop online.

Too many elements or a cluttered design can distract shoppers. So, you should choose an ecommerce theme with a modern and clean design.

For example:

100% PURE, an organic and natural beauty products ecommerce brand, has a minimalistic and clean website design that makes navigation a breeze for their new customers.

You can see products with top reviews and customers' favorite products on the homepage itself. The hello bar highlights that they offer free shipping. The product images are of high quality and drive attention.

When starting out, it is best to start with a free theme. Once your ecommerce business starts making money, you can switch to a paid theme with greater functionality.

Here are a few ecommerce themes that can be a good starting point for building your online store:

• Haat WooCommerce theme
• Cornerstone BigCommerce theme
• Vault BigCommerce theme
• SuitUP Shopify theme
• Divi WordPress theme

You can check out 25 more ecommerce template options here.

Step 7: Add Products to Your Ecommerce Website

The most daunting step of building an online store is creating product pages. 

Your product pages should include:

• Product name
• Product description with keywords
• Pricing details
• Product variations and customization options
• Compelling CTAs (calls-to-action)
• Shipping and return policies
• Expected delivery date

Your product page should provide all the information a potential buyer needs, including basic details, durability, use cases, and benefits.

Include high-quality product photos that highlight key features from different angles. Consider using 360° photos, zoom-in features, and in-context images and videos to attract new customers.

You can use photo editing tools like Canva, Pixlr, and Lightricks Photoleap app to polish your product photos.

For example, the home decor and furnishings brand, Pottery Barn, creatively uses in-context product images to encourage customers to buy their items.

These strategies can significantly enhance the shopping experience, making it easier for customers to make informed purchase decisions.

Don’t forget to optimize your product pages as well to boost conversions and drive more sales and revenue.

Step 8: Set Up Payment Methods and Shipping Process

While website design, easy navigation, and impressive photos can encourage users to buy a product, you need to offer the right payment method to close the deal.

When choosing payment integrations, you should:

• Analyze safety: Ensure the payment gateway is secure.
• Check reviews: Look at customer reviews to see if people had issues making secure payments using that solution.
• Consider fees: Keep the payment processing and transaction fees in mind.
• International payments: Ensure you can accept payments from international customers.
• PCI compliance: Make sure the gateway is PCI-compliant to avoid fines, lawsuits, and losing customers’ trust.

Along with payment integrations, shipping is an integral part of running an ecommerce business. You should:

• Determine shipping policy: Decide if you will offer free shipping or charge variable rates based on the buyer’s location.
• Choose a shipping partner: Select reliable shipping partners.
• International shipping: Consider if you will ship products to international customers.
• Shipping software: Decide on the shipping software for your ecommerce website.

By carefully selecting your payment and shipping options, you can ensure a smooth and secure transaction process for your customers, which is crucial for closing sales and building trust.

Step 9: Launch and Promote Your Online Store to Start Selling

Once you’ve put everything together, it’s time to launch your ecommerce business website to sell products online.

However, setting up your online store is not enough. To turn your website into a successful online business, you need to come up with a robust marketing strategy.

Understand who your target audience is, what matters to them, and how you can encourage them to shop online from your store. 

For this, you can include a number of different strategies in your marketing efforts such as:

• Search engine optimization (SEO) to rank your online business website in search results
• Email marketing to reach your target audience with offers, discounts, and personalized product recommendations
• Social media marketing to build an online presence for your ecommerce business and gain more traction
• Influencer marketing to spread the word about your ecommerce business quickly and generate more sales
• Affiliate marketing to drive referral sales in a cost-effective manner

While promoting your ecommerce business, you should follow the latest ecommerce marketing trends to generate quick results.

Ready to Set Up and Run Your Own Ecommerce Website?

Building an ecommerce website has become easier because of powerful ecommerce platforms and online store builders with built-in ecommerce features.

You just need to make the right choice for your business model, website structure, payment processing, and shipping software, sales tools, marketing strategy, and more. Most importantly, choose the right ecommerce platform to build your online store.

Do you have questions about building your ecommerce website and making money from it? Reach out to my team of experts to take your retail business online and market it efficiently.

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