Now more than ever, online entrepreneurship is looking more and more attractive—especially since it can be important to have additional streams of income. However, starting a new store with no experience can also be a challenge and can be intimidating, which is why it is often worth it to do do some research before you automatically begin building out your store.
Here are four simple steps to get you started in e-commerce and what you need to know before you begin.
Table of Contents
1. Choose a hosting platform
This can be one of the most crucial steps when it comes to creating your store in the first place. A particular budget or lack of coding knowledge can determine whether or not you are in a position to build out your site with custom features or if you want to use a template. Your hosting platform should support you in your skills and how long you want to take to build out your site. You should also make sure that they provide technical support as needed.
2. Consider your domain
Where customers will find your store is an important part of the branding process, and you need to think deeply about how you want your store to be known. Once you get a few ideas, make sure they are available at that web address and on social media. You’re likely going to be promoting your products on a regular basis, and it’s good to know that your customers will be able to find you based on the consistency of your brand name. Your domain is worth sitting down and taking some time to consider before you jump right into building your site.
3. Pick a design
Once you have your domain purchased, it’s time to start thinking about how you want your site laid out and how you are going to go about building it. The good news is that you often don’t need to have advanced coding knowledge due to tools like headless commerce, which allow you to separate the front and back ends of your site without worrying about altering any code. Keep in mind that your design can influence your brand image and purchasing decisions made by your customers. Also, some templates might not have the features you need in order to successfully build out your store.
4. Test
After your site looks good and seems to function well, it’s a good idea to get a few users to test it out so you know that the checkout process works well, that there aren’t any issues when it comes to navigation, and more. You might think everything is in order, but it might look different on another browser or screen size that you can’t test yourself.
In summary
Your first e-commerce store can also be the most difficult to build. However, once you have developed one quality site, you will have a much easier time in the future creating a business that works for you.
