A few years ago, the idea of being able to manage an online store without spending thousands and thousands of dollars on web designers and software specialists was unthinkable. But the internet is becoming more and more accessible, and new platforms are continually appearing. These platforms offer their services so that small businesses and individuals can create profitable online stores.
If you have a small business or are self-employed and would like to start closing sales online, then now is your chance to take a weekend to focus on this project and build an online store from scratch. The store can be up and running in just 48 hours.
How to do it:
Choosing your Hosting
The first thing you should do is find a provider that offers you the possibility of hosting your online store on a high-performance server. Your best option is to go with VPS hosting plan.
There are many hosting plans, and each one offers different conditions that you must analyze in detail depending on your needs and your budget. Go to hostadvice to take a look at different VPS plans and their prices.
Pay attention to what your online store needs before choosing a hosting. Sometimes cheaper hosting is not the best for you. You might require add-ons which will end up costing you more, instead of going for a different hosting which might look a bit more expensive than your initial pick. If you are not sure what would be a good choice for your website, read a few hosting reviews to get a better understanding.
Choosing your Domain
Most of the hostings for websites offer you the possibility of registering the domain that you want to link to your platform. Take your time when choosing your domain name and check different alternatives in case it is reserved by someone else. You should look for a domain that is easy to remember, easy to type, and that is convincingly different from your competition. This way, you will stand out.
It is important that your domain name is not misleading since your site will have a high bounce rate, and Google will lower its rank in search engines.
Choosing an eCommerce Platform
Once you establish your hosting, you can start building your online store by choosing a professional eCommerce platform. Some of these platforms are integrated within hosting services, but this is not always the case.
These platforms let you build an online store experience for your customers and let you start making sales and attaining orders right away. They offer access to all kinds of tools that you can use to display your products and attract customers online.
Promoting your Online Store
There are many ways you can promote your online store, whether it’s marketing for existing customers or obtaining new ones. Here are some ideas on how you can drive more traffic to your website.
Email List – Email marking can come in really handy when you are dealing with an online business. You can encourage customers to enter their email addresses to inform them about upcoming products, deals, etc.
Online Presence – Another way to promote your store is through your social presence. You can use social media platforms to post cool photos and videos of your products so new people can discover you more easily and bring in more traffic to your online store.
SEO – Also known as Search Engine Optimization, this is really useful for websites when people are using google or other search engines. There are tags that you can set on your websites, such as keywords that describe your product or the product’s name. So whenever somebody searches for that specific tag, your store is more likely to show up.
Ads – Google ads, for example, can be really useful because your website will show up higher in the search results whenever someone googles your product or anything similar to it. You can also use advertising on other platforms as you see fit.
Partnering Up – You can partner up with different brands, and you can cross-promote your products. For example, you are selling phones, and your cross-partner is selling phone cases. This way, you can share your audience, promoting your own business to the other half.
Conclusion
In today’s world, with the help of the internet, everything is more connected and easily accessible. Technology keeps advancing and offers a variety of choices. In this instant gratification society, you can purchase anything you want with a few clicks of a button right from wherever you are. This is the best time to have an online store.