How to build an eCommerce website that ranks above your competitors
- Digital Marketing
- 28 October 2021
The E-commerce industry is on the rise.
As more people get access to the internet each year, sales in e-commerce are indeed rising proportionately. In 2020, more than 2 billion people had purchased goods and services online. In the same year, sales were more than USD 4.2 trillion globally.
While the pandemic affected most other industries adversely, the global e-commerce industry grew by more than 25%.
Is it any wonder that more and more people are opening their e-commerce stores now? Yes, it can be risky, but the potential rewards are great as well. What separates a successful e-commerce store from an unsuccessful one? Just a few minor details!
You may be offering a good product, but if a crucial step of building the website is missing, the whole business will suffer.
In this article, we will tell you how to build a successful e-commerce store.
Let us get started.
How to build an e-commerce website that beats your competitors
Here are the steps you need to follow to create such a site. Your website will not just look great but also do your selling while you sleep.
Here are the nine simple steps.
1. Choose a website builder specializing in e-commerce: You may want to look at several such websites. These include WordPress.com and Wix.com. While WordPress has always been at the top of the list, Wix has never been far behind. Both of these make creating e-commerce sites very easy. Website building on WordPress can be technical for you, while doing the same on Wix may prove to be easier. Wix makes it a lot easier, but WordPress does give you more SEO benefits.
2. Buy a proper domain name from a well-known domain registration company: When you’re taking your business online, domain name matters. Domain names typically reflect a brand, services, products, ideas, etc. There are hundreds of domain registration companies, but we recommend GoDaddy.com and BlueHost.com.
3. Choose an e-commerce template: Now that you have picked your website builder and your domain name, it is time to choose an e-commerce template. Website builders have many such templates ready for you so that you can start right away. It may happen that these templates may not be suitable for your purposes. That’s all right. You can always create your website’s structure yourself. Yes, it may take time but it can be an alternative if you want to save costs when starting out.
4. Personalize your chosen template: Whether you have picked a website template or have built a custom template, you may now want to personalize and brand the site. This is important to make your website stand out. For inspiration, check out your competitors’ websites. Are they missing anything? What have they done well? Can you use it too?
5. Add your products to the site: Now is the time to showcase your products. Remember, your customers won’t be able to check your products physically. To offset this problem, their pictures need to be both appealing and instructive. Photos, and even videos when required, need to be of high quality. All products should have an attractive description which both informs and allures. Additionally, photos and videos need to be mobile-friendly since most of your customers may be browsing your site from mobile devices.
6. Configure your payment options: Most e-commerce and online store sites have a PayPal gateway as a payment option due to its popularity. However, try to give your customers other options too. You may want to provide options like Cash on Delivery, EMI payment, payment by debit and credit cards, payment by Netbanking, and so on.
7. Check your shipping settings: Shipping information has to be completely transparent. After all, your customer will want to know when their purchases will be arriving. If there is a shipping fee involved, break down the whole cost. Customers pay more attention to the shipping cost and time. Tell them within how many days they’ll receive their purchases, and what to do in case of any problems.
8. Don’t forget SEO: After making the site live, don’t forget SEO. But before going for expensive SEO tools, ask yourself these. Where do you want to stand in the competition? How do you wish to position your site in relation to your competitors when it comes to keywords? Having a robust SEO strategy makes your brand name memorable and your website a success.
9. Preview. Test. Improve. Repeat: Once your e-commerce site is live, it will not be the end of your work. You, or your team, will still need to keep testing. Are all its functions working perfectly? Are your customers facing any problems when browsing the site? Most people make their site live only after this step!
Here are the nine tips you need for a successful e-commerce website. But there are still a few more!
1. When choosing a web hosting service, don’t go for the cheapest. Yes, you may save money, but the service quality may not be satisfactory. Since you are starting a business, you may want to pick the best hosting service.
2. Have a search bar on your site. It allows viewers to search with ease.
3. Let customers buy as guests if they want. Some people do not have the time nor inclination to register.
4. Set up abandoned shopping cart reminder emails for your customers. This significantly drops the abandoned cart percentage.
To Sum Up
A business in the e-commerce industry can be advantageous, but the risks are real too. That is why you need to have a game plan from the get-go. And now, you know How to build an e-commerce website to outrank your competitors.
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