Learn to create the best ecommerce store website builder from scratch in an easy and guided way. Follow these 10 steps and you will get the best results to sell online.
I tell the steps based on my own experience creating my online store and based on all the advice I have done in best ecommerce store website builder over the last few years.
Above all, with the idea that you do not fall into the same mistakes as others and that you can take advantage of the knowledge of those who have already passed through here.
It is about 10 steps to follow and for each step, links are included to other articles where you can go into more detail.
In this way, this post serves as the basis and scheme to follow to set up the online store.
Before setting up your online store …
Selling online has a series of clear advantages that traditional stores do not have:
24 × 7 : We are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Global Market : we have no geographical barriers.
Interactivity : the company has access to detailed information on each client, being able to generate personalized products, services and offers.
Cost savings : all the information about the products and services are available to the user electronically, generating significant savings in the preparation of catalogs, emailings … There are also significant savings in reducing stocks.
Flexibility : the company can make quick adjustments to adapt to changes in the market.
Segmentation : possibility of reaching a highly attractive audience from a commercial point of view.
Improvement of the image and prestige of the company : the presence on the Internet offering customers the possibility of direct purchase improves the image of the company.
Selling online is not easy. Apply all these steps if you want to get it right.
Before creating an online store, we must bear in mind that some investment in technology and digital marketing is necessary and that we enter the technological field and it is necessary to be well informed and advised.
Additionally, it must be considered that certain specific characteristics of electronic commerce such as physical distribution or delivery of products, as we will see later.
# 0. Define your Digital Strategy
One mistake many entrepreneurs make when creating their online store is that they only focus on the technical aspects.
However, there are many things to consider before starting the step guide:
Why do you want to sell online? What are your business goals?
How are you going to complement it with your current activities? Will you have time for everything?
What resources will you need to create your online store? What investment do you have? Will you need to hire staff or have external collaborators?
Once you have answered these previous questions, start defining your digital strategy :
Product and Price
What types of products are you going to sell, will they be yours or from third parties, at what prices are you going to sell them, how your competition is doing, how are you going to distinguish yourself from it, what is the current demand in the market …
Target audiences
Analyze very well who your target audience is, how big this market is, where it is, what gender and age, what their interests are, what social networks they move on …
Positioning
Think about how you want to position your brand in the online market and how you want your users to identify you or search for you on Google.
Other aspects to consider
In this post I tell you in more detail how to prepare the digital strategy for your online store: What it is and how to apply the digital strategy in a company
Have you already prepared your digital strategy? Well now start working on these Steps to Create your Online Store
#one. Define name and domain for your store
It seems easy, but it is curious that 70% of the names that come to mind will already be “caught” by other businesses or will be very similar to others, so they will not serve you either.
If you already have your own brand or registered company, you have it easy.
But if you start from scratch and with a 100% online business, the choice of the name comes hand in hand with the choice of the domain and is a key process to get off to a good start.
As a summary, keep in mind the following considerations:
Buy both the .com domain and the domain of your country (.es .mx .co…). There is little additional cost and you make sure to protect your brand against the competition.
Choose a domain that is easy to remember and pronounce . Avoid the terms “Spanglish” and if your target audience is Spanish, do not confuse it with terms in English.
#two. Hire a hosting service
Hosting is the web hosting where you will have your online store installed.
It is essential that we choose the right hosting service from the beginning , then it can be late and cumbersome to change.
Some considerations to keep in mind:
Check the rankings of the best hostings to see which ones are the best valued.
Take into account the benefits they offer you vs the price of the service . Find the best relationship between the two.
The support they offer you will be key . Make sure they speak your language and are operational 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
#3. Choose the best technology platform
A key point for the success of your online store.
Today there are different technological solutions for the technical development of your online store:
Open Source online store platforms, that is free, such as Prestashop or Woocommerce that offer you the best options to create your online store.
There are also other options such as online store platforms “in the cloud” such as Shopify, with fewer technical complications, although with some commissions that you will have to assess.
Custom developments , although I flee from the latter, unless you want something very specific that is out of the standard of an online store. They imply higher cost and dependence on the technology provider .
#4. Set up the online store
You already have your chosen online store platform, perfect. Now it’s time to configure it and get it ready to start selling your products.
Here are many things to keep in mind:
How are you going to organize your product catalog and in what categories or families are you going to classify them.
The type of information that you are going to include in the file of each product .
What design template are you going to choose for your online store. Avoid free templates and invest in a good template.
Which countries are you going to sell to, do you need to configure the store in multi-language or multi-currency mode ?
How are you going to configure the steps for placing the order.
#5. Select the means of payment
Payment in an online store is the moment of truth.
It is essential to have our online store prepared so that our client feels safe making the payment and does not leave us at the key moment.
It is also important to be informed of which are the most common means of payment for your online users or your target audience and to offer as many options as possible.
# 6. Includes Legal Aspects
An online store is subject to a series of legal issues that must be met , among others:
General Data Protection Regulation of the European Union.
Cookies Law.
Electronic Commerce Laws.
Failure to do so can lead to a hefty fine. I know of real cases of online store owners who have had to assume fines of more than € 2,000, so keep an eye on this issue.
Some recommendations:
Do not dedicate yourself to copying the legal texts of the online store “of the neighbor”, it may be out of date and you do not know it.
Go to lawyers who are experts in new technologies to ensure that you comply with the law.
Recommended reading:
# 7. Prepare logistics for shipments
If you are going to sell physical products, it will be a strategic point for your business, as it will greatly influence the profitability of your business and the satisfaction of your customers.
At this point we will have to consider how we are going to manage our stock and with which courier company or companies we are going to work.
Today some of the factors most valued by online buyers when deciding to buy in an ecommerce are:
Cheap shipping costs and in some cases free.
Fast shipping, if possible in 24 hours maximum.
Ease of making returns.
You should consider the courier company as your logistics partner and work hand in hand with him to achieve the best competitiveness for both.
# 8. Promote your online store
We already have our online store set up, our catalog installed and everything ready to start selling, but… what do we do to be found in the difficult and complex world of the Internet?
Now is the time to sell!
I always insist a lot on this point, the visits will not come to your website alone .
It is essential to implement all areas of digital marketing to attract them to your online store and make them buy from you:
SEO or positioning in Google
Get to appear in the first results of searches related to your products.
Social media
Define your social media strategy. Remember that you don’t have to be in all of them, but in those where your target audience is.
Blog for your online store
A blog will help you get more visits and market your products from the articles you publish.
eMail Marketing
One of the most effective digital marketing actions to boost your online sales through commercial campaigns.
Affiliate marketing
Get a network of affiliates to help you sell for a commission. Or look for influencers in your sector to make yourself known and improve your sales.
SEM or online advertising
Periodically invest in advertising to publicize your online store and launch promotional campaigns for your products.
In this blog there are countless articles on digital marketing and online sales techniques that will help you improve your digital marketing strategy.
You can consult them through labels footer as online sales , online shops , seo …
You also have this eBook where I tell you 101 Tips to Take Off Your Online Sales that have already worked for the more than 100 entrepreneurs and SMEs that I have advised in recent years.
# 9. Analyze the performance of your online store
If you do not measure the performance of your online store and your marketing actions, you will hardly know if you are doing it well, badly or regularly.
Once you are working with your online store, it will be time to sit down and analyze how you are doing it and which online sales channels work better or worse for you.
And based on all this data, take the appropriate actions to continue improving our sales.
The best tool to measure your results in Google Analytics , it is free and integrates easily with online store platforms.
Sit down once a month and analyze what is happening with your online store.
# 10. Work, work, work …
You have to dedicate many, many hours to an online store and in many cases it will be inevitable that you will learn based on “trial and error”.
Here are some considerations for your reflection:
An online store is a business and as such, you have to dedicate all possible hours of the day to it .
The training continues in eCommerce and Digital Marketing is very important.
And of course, rely on professionals in the sector who advise and support you in the most complex and specialized tasks.
Summary Video to Create an Online Store
In this video you can find a summary of all the steps to create an online store from scratch.
Review it and then enter each of the posts related to each step: from the creation of the domain name to the measurement and analysis of the results.
Last conclusions
As you have just seen, the process and steps to create an online store is relatively easy, but being successful and being able to live from it is much more complicated.
To achieve success with your online store, keep the following recommendations in mind:
It is essential to start from a digital strategy where you have previously thought about what products you are going to sell, at what prices, what competition you have, what demand is in the market, who is your target audience …
Follow each of the steps to create an online store that I have explained in this post as well as the summary video. If you only focus on the technical part, you will fail.
An investment in technology and online advertising is necessary . The scarcity or low-cost mentality will not help you achieve the expected success.
Train yourself very well in all relevant aspects to manage your online store and above all, in the areas of digital marketing that you will need to develop and in some cases, hire expert professionals.
Surround yourself with good collaborators best ecommerce store website builder and suppliers that help you optimize your results.
Measure everything you do and analyze if you are reaching your goals. If not, check your digital strategy again.
Think that an online store is just another business and as such, it requires all of our time and maximum involvement if you want it to work.