Want to set up your own eCommerce website?
Ecommerce website development may not appear handy at the first sight if you DIY. From comprehending the market to learning about web designing, branding, and making content strategies, there can be a tremendous amount of work. But how to be sure if you have done every research and fulfilled every checkpoint if you choose a DIY over hiring eCommerce website development Australia?
Well, there is a way out. If you know what exactly needs to be done, things won’t be that challenging. And in a few seconds, you are going to read how.
How? The following section lists the steps (or checkpoints) that will simplify the entire process of your eCommerce website development. So quickly jump to it and know what you need to do.
DIY Checkpoints While Setting Up Your Ecommerce Website
- What You Gonna Sell?
The foremost checkpoint is to figure out what you actually gonna sell. What’s your passion? What is it that you want to translate into a business? Is it food, clothes, accessories, interior objects, paintings, watches, or something else? Whatever it is, study its market first. Are there any products that came and then failed? Does your product has a need? Will it be needed in the future too? And then the competitors. Who are they? What is their USP? Would you be able to create your space among them? Contemplate about this stuff and when you find the answers, jump to the next point.
- What’s Your ECommerce Business Model?
The two major business models are Business to business (B2B) and Business to Consumer (B2C). In B2B, businesses sell products and services to businesses, while in B2C, businesses sell them to consumers or the general public.
So what will your business model be?
- Who’s Your Audience?
And now think about your audience. A great advantage of starting an online business in a familiar area is that you already know who your audience is. So all you have to do is understand them better. But it’s a new area, know who your potential customers are. What is their background, earnings, age, demographics, and interests? What competitor brands do they shop from? And so on. Remember that it is your potential customer based on whom your website’s user experience, interface, content, visuals, etc. will be determined.
- Thought Of Any Business Name Yet?
If you haven’t yet decided on your business name yet, it’s time you do it. Go for a unique brand name, distinguished from your competitors, precise, original, and of course relevant to your brand objectives. Check out the list of some of the amazing brand names on the internet. Read their brand stories and understand why they chose that specific name.
Once you decide on your interesting brand name, check for the domain. Here, go for the top-level domain or ‘.com’. But if you couldn’t find an available URL with that, look for other domains.
- Can You Purchase A Domain Name Now?
Once you do that, it’s time to register your domain name. People often leave purchasing the domain name to the later stages and therefore lose their desired domain names. Hence, it is best to purchase it as soon as you can to avoid any regretful situation in the future.
- How Is Your Logo/Branding Gonna Be?
Now that you have a domain name, start working on the aesthetics. This means the logo and branding. Think and plan your logo, just like you planned your brand name. Read about the types of logos, log fonts, styles, and colors. If you want your logo to have a hidden meaning, read about brands that have one in their logos.
Also, plan the color palette of your website, and see how you could add a personalized touch to its aesthetics. Focus on creating a unique brand identity as well as voice.
- Have You Chosen The Right Platform?
If it’s Magento, Shopify, WordPress, or another platform to run your website, you now need to think about this. But how to know what the most suitable? Consider factors like a responsive design, content management system, inventory management, checkouts, payment gateways, and shopping cart to make a decision.
- What’s Your Content Strategy?
Then switch to your content strategy. What content will your website include? Text, images, videos, infographics, or any other elements. This should be an effective way to tell your business story to the audience. Writing relevant and quality text, that answers their queries, introduces your products right, contains an essence that your competitors don’t, etc. will help. You might need to hire a professional content writer for that.
- Heard Of SEO?
Now that there’s a website, there will be SEO too. SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization, a process to attract organic traffic to your website. This highly depends on the relevance and quality of the content on your website, as well as the usage of keywords. On-page, off-page, and technical SEO are the major areas that demand your command here.
- What About Your Product Categories?
So have you made any categories of your products, so that users can easily locate them? Displaying your products in an organized manner, backed by easy navigation and a call to action, will not only impress your customers but also boost quick sales. Make appropriate product categories to guide your audience. Also, write proper product descriptions, so that the updated audience can find it easy to pick what’s suitable. Plus, let the website navigation be straightforward, easy, and convenient for them.
- Hiring A Photographer?
Now that you have products to display, you should have their photographs. Photography of products is inevitable when you’re setting up your eCommerce website. Hire a pro photographer, who has already worked for different websites. Since in online shopping customers couldn’t actually hold the product while buying, your photographs should be of high quality to give them the right idea about the product. Check the eCommerce website to know how brands have got their products showcased.
- Any Shipping Software On Mind?
Lastly, make it easy for yourself by choosing the right shipping software that can fulfill both large and small orders and make shipping convenient. Look into the various software, check what others are using, what features they offer at the best price, etc.
So You’re Ready!
So this is what it takes to set up an eCommerce website. There are a number of eCommerce website development companies that assist entrepreneurs in having the website of their goals. From planning to designing each page of the website to adding products and setting gateways they are there to make things easy. However, now that the process is made simplified with the above checkpoints, you can DIY the website development and be happy to go lucky.
