Seven Simple Steps to Setting Up an Ecommerce Business
The perceived technicalities put off many prospective entrepreneurs who want to start an e-commerce business. In reality, the logistics are pretty straightforward.
The real work begins after getting your first online store up and running, which is where the services of a professional marketing team can prove invaluable.
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need any specific web design or development experience to run a successful online store. Most e-commerce business establishment processes are relatively simple, while the more technical aspects can be outsourced to an appropriate agency at an affordable price.
Whatever type of e-commerce business you would like to run, the basic steps involved in setting up a new online store are as follows:
Domain and Hosting: The first step is to buy a relevant domain name for your business and set yourself up with a decent hosting service. Your domain name should be as close to your business's name as possible and accessible to both type and remember. A basic web hosting package for a new e-commerce business needn’t be expensive, but avoid the temptation to go with a low-end free hosting package, which may lack the features your business needs.
Web Design and Development: There are two options available here. The first is to purchase a turnkey e-commerce website, which has already been put together and is ready to go. The second is to engineer your e-commerce website from scratch, which may require the involvement of an experienced developer. Professional e-commerce web design and development can be surprisingly affordable, so don’t worry too much about coding your site if it’s all a foreign language to you.
Address the Admin: Be mindful that setting up e-commerce is similar to any other type of business in terms of formal admin and paperwork. You will need to register your business, know where you stand regarding tax liability and ensure you have all necessary permits (depending on what you are selling).
Populate Your Website: The best e-commerce websites go beyond product listings to include extensive archives of helpful and valuable information on relevant topics. These include informative guides, blog posts, how-to articles, industry insights, infographics, and video content—all things that could give you an edge over your competitors.
Practice Good SEO: Once your e-commerce site launches, you must find a way to outperform competing businesses in the search rankings. An effective SEO strategy can be a real game-changer, ensuring you rank as prominently as possible for keywords relevant to your products. If you lack the knowledge and experience to handle your SEO requirements, consider outsourcing.
Get Active on Social Media: Social media is a hugely influential collective source of information for today’s online shoppers. More people than ever before base their purchase decisions almost entirely on what they see, hear, and read on social media. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok allow businesses to build meaningful relationships of trust and respect with their customers. As soon as your e-commerce store goes live, you must consistently be as active as possible on social media.
Monitor, Analyse, Test and Improve: Last up, there never has been and never will be a perfect online store. There’s always room for improvement—your job is to find and make it happen. Use analytics to continuously monitor your website’s performance, assess where things aren’t working as well as they could be, and make the necessary enhancements accordingly.