If you have an e-commerce business that needs a customer-focused website, or you are looking to start an e-commerce business, you are in luck—there is no better time to get started!

In fact, e-commerce sales grew 50% percent during the pandemic. E-commerce is now an USD870 billion dollar industry. With so much rapid growth happening, it’s easy to see why starting an e-commerce site can be a lucrative endeavor.

In this article, we will go over seven steps to build an e-commerce website that you have ever wanted.

Steps to Build an E-Commerce Site

1. Create Your E-Commerce Marketing Strategy

Before you can pick out a website name (domain name) or start adding products, you will need to create an ecommerce marketing strategy. This strategy will need to include several components like:

Business goals and objectives
Key performance indicators (KPIs) for your site
A content marketing strategy
A site content calendar
Social media, email, and other types of site promotion

Creating this overall strategy is the first and most crucial step. Take your time ideating and invest in the resources you need to do the job.

2. Find the Right Domain Name

A domain name is the part of your website URL that identifies what your business is.

This domain name is typically made up of the business name; however, if you have a business name with popular elements in it, you may have to get a little creative to find an available domain.

For example, if your business name is “ABCShoes” and you are an ecommerce website selling lots of shoes, you may not be able to secure the domain name “ABC Shoes” without paying a hefty price to the existing owner.

So, in order to find the best domain name for your business, you’ll need to do a little research. You can go directly to a domain name registrar like Google Domains or GoDaddy or do a domain name search through Instant Domain Search.

3. Choose A Site Builder (E-Commerce Tools)

If you were concerned that you’d have to build an ecommerce site from scratch, fear not. The good news is that entire site building companies are devoted to making the process easier like Shopify.

Shopify offers a comprehensive array of business solutions from domain name creation to site building and point-of-sale services. Once you’ve selected the site builder that works best for your business, you can start customizing it and adding products.

4. Create Content and Product Categories

One of the main elements that sets ecommerce websites apart from other types of websites is the sheer volume of products and related content that you’ll need to create to help customers find what they are looking for.

It may be tempting to dump all of your products with brief descriptions onto one page of your site, but this will not lead to a great user experience. In turn, search engines (which prioritize user experience) won’t be as likely to feature your site high up in the search engine results pages (SERPs).

5. Add Products

To give the most in-depth product descriptions you can, make sure you have well-lit, aesthetically pleasing images of your products. Include any variations in colors and sizes available for each product as well.

After you’ve done the hard work of adding all your products to your ecommerce site, the next step is to make sure people can pay for and receive their items!

Set Up Payment and Shipping Method

There are several ways to set up point-of-sale (POS) and online payment processing systems. If you use a site builder like Shopify, you will likely get to select payment processing as part of the initial site build (or as part of a larger builder platform subscription). In fact, with Shopify, you can even hire an expert to do the setup for you.

For shipping, first decide if your business is going to ship internationally or domestically. If you’re shipping internationally, make sure that you understand how customs and couriers work for each country you’re shipping to.

Test Your Site and Set Up Site Tools and Reporting

The last step is to test your site to make sure all pages are functioning properly. Make sure you have the necessary reporting and monitoring tools so that your site is a success and gives you a good return on your investment.

First, visit each page of your site. Make sure no links to any pages are broken. Test buy several products from a dummy account to ensure that customers will make it through the entire conversion process without issue.

Also, verify that your site notifications are set up correctly so that you receive order fulfillment information and customer contact information.

Once you’re sure that your site is in tip-top working order, start setting up the necessary tools and reporting to keep it in great shape. Make sure that you have properly set up your site’s Google Analytics account and Google Search Console account.

Google Analytics gives you the traffic data to your site that you’ll need to measure success and set KPIs. Google Search Console allows you to confirm whether or not your site is appropriately indexed (filed) in Google and more.

Final Thoughts

Building an ecommerce site is an exciting part of owning a business. It doesn’t need to be intimidating. With the right tools and the right site building expertise, you can have a well-polished, working website in no time.

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