The easiest way to set up an eCommerce business is to rely on existing platforms that allow you to set up shop and start selling your products online in minutes. These platforms are even more advantageous to use when you consider the fact that they come with massive customer bases.
Think of sites like eBay and Amazon for instance. When you start selling your products in these sites, you will be able to automatically tap into a huge ready-made target market. However, there will come a time when the limitations of such platforms will make your customers wonder where else can they find more information about your products. That's the time the need for having your own website kicks in.
Nowadays, you need more than basic know-how in order to come up with a relatively attractive and effective design for your website. If you do not have such skills then it's better than you invest in hiring those with the skills and experience you require.
A professional web designer will pave your way to creating your own eCommerce store and they will do it far more quickly and effectively than you ever can.
Domain and hosting registration
The first thing that your professional web designer would do is to register your preferred domain name. This will give you the exclusive right to use a specific name as your URL or website address. If you have named your business as Shop X then a good domain would be ShopX.com.
As for web hosting, a professional web designer would once again come in handy since he or she will help you understand why some packages are not just beyond your budget but are unnecessary for your needs as well. If your website is likely to contain only text, then you don't need a lot of web space included in your package. You won't need huge bandwidth allocations either if you don't expect massive traffic every month.
Store design and setup
There's more to this part than choosing the right shopping cart software program for your website. It's also about considering how you want your store to work overall.
- How many images do you want displayed per product? Should there be zoom or rotate options for each image? Do you want them offered in a slideshow display?
- Can people post reviews or ratings even if they have not directly bought from your site?
- How many items can they add to their shopping cart? Can they reserve these items and if so for how long?
Marketing and promotions
Nowadays, a web designer's work isn't just about making your website look pretty. Their work typically extends beyond that to include all other activities that would make your website functional, popular, and successful.
If you don't have a Facebook and Twitter account yet, they will set these up for you. They will also integrate these accounts with your site so that you won't need to repost content manually. One posting should do the trick and all of your social media accounts will be updated with your content.
Naturally, they can also help you with paid advertising options if you wish. They can set up an account with Google Adsense and enrol you in other PPC advertising programs. They just need to know how much you are willing to spend and what your goals are and they will likely find the ideal combination of marketing tactics for promoting your site.
Of course, no marketing plan will ever be complete without search engine optimisation. If you are unaware of what this is about then you have all the more reason to work with a professional web designer. Without SEO, there's a very good chance your website won't be seen by the right people at the right time. Without SEO, your competition might perennially beat you in terms of sales even though your products are better than theirs in every way.
Customer Relations
Lastly, a good web designer will also help you establish and maintain contact with your customers. They can help you set up auto responders for your email and subscription programs for your newsletters. If you wish, they can also refer you to a good provider for virtual phone systems so that you can have your own 1-800-number to receive customer calls.
