8 Easy Steps to Build your Ecommerce Store

Buy a Domain Name

Choosing the right domain name is the first step to building an ecommerce site. Go for a domain name that communicates crucial information about your store to visitors as well as search engine crawlers.

Ensure the domain name you choose is catchy, short and easy to type. Whenever a visitor views your site, a catchy domain name will certainly create a very good impression. You can use websites like godaddy.com to quickly register your domain name.

Do all the Paperwork

You want to run a legitimate business. Right? Then don’t procrastinate about completing all the paperwork to setup one. Choose your business structure and decide whether you will operate as a limited liability company, corporation or sole proprietorship. You can take the help of a local attorney to finish all the legal work associated with creating an online business.

Pick a Fully Hosted Ecommerce Platform

It is a well-established fact that self-hosting is a very challenging and expensive proposition. Go for a far simpler option, which is a fully hosted ecommerce platform. It is an easy way to launch your online store that eliminates the need to handle all the technical components of ecommerce business.

One of the biggest advantages of using a fully hosted solution to Build an ecommerce store is that it allows you to divert all your attention on what matters most – sales. Fully hosted solution eliminates the hassles of managing an ecommerce store, thereby enabling you to focus on effective marketing strategies to grow your online business.

B2C or B2B

Also, if you have decided to sell your products to enterprises and government organizations, you will have to choose a B2B ecommerce solution.

Go Live

You want to sell products online but that doesn’t mean you have to list products before making your website live. All you need to do is create a proper homepage, About Us Page, Contact Page etc. This will allow visitors to identify what your business is all about. If the content of these web pages is appropriate, it will help to create a strong pre-launch buzz.

It is important that you create waves before launch. You can also use social media to your advantage. Broaden your reach by sharing the date of your website launch.

Connect your Store to Payment Gateway

If you are starting an ecommerce business, make sure your online store is equipped to accept online payments. Connect your ecommerce store with payment like PayPal, which will allow you to process and accept credit card payments online.

Opening an online store without a payment gateway can make it difficult for your customers to make payments. They will have to depend on traditional methods of making payments such as issuing a cheque, depositing money to your bank account etc.

Storage and Shipping

Say, you want to start a School supply store online. Now, before you start selling online, have a clear idea about how you will be storing your inventory.

If you have decided to buy inventory in advance, it is imperative to rent a storage space (warehouse). Moreover, you will have to hire staff to monitor its operations. The warehouse staff will have to keep track of inventory availability and store performance.

In order to fulfill orders, you will have to make partnership with shipping companies like UPS, FedEx, USPS, etc. Also, decide what packaging material you will use to pack all your orders.

Dropshipping – Way to Go

If you want to avoid the hassles of order fulfillment, choose the dropshipping business model. With dropshipping, the supplier handles the process of fulfilling orders. Just pass on the order and customer details to the supplier and rest assured the order will reach at the customer’s doorsteps.

Dropshipping provides the quickest way to take your business online. It is least expensive and moreover you enjoy a decent margin running your ecommerce business.

SEO - Unavoidable

In order to ensure higher rankings for your online store, it is imperative to implement effective SEO techniques that work. SEO should be on the top of your mind when designing the content of your site.

The importance of SEO cannot be disputed, hence start implementing your SEO plan atleast a year before launching your website. From improving search engine visibility to increasing traffic to your site, SEO can go a long way in boosting the revenue of your store.

Arnaldo is content contributor wrote article on VAR business management, eCommerce, B2B business and trending topics.