Creating a website
In order to operate online, you need to create a website. This is the space where you will show off your stock and where all of your transactions will take place.
There are various things that you need to keep in consideration when creating your store. The first is your web host. When you’re first starting out, hosts such as Shopify are perhaps the best option. They serve as a complete E-commerce solution and make the entire setup process more simple by allowing you to customise your storefront, process, track and respond to orders. From this point on, your site will be set up and be working, but there are a few extra tweaks that you can make to make your page stand out from the crowd.
Buy a custom domain name
Most hosts provide you with a branded domain name. However, this looks a little unprofessional. Instead, you should consider investing in a custom domain. Having a custom domain address makes your brand look independent and shows that you are taking your business seriously. Hopefully, your brand name will be available. Prices for common names and phrases will tend to be more expensive. If your first name is already taken, consider using dashes or shortened versions of your brand name as an alternative.
Upload your own theme
Your theme encompasses the appearance of your site. When you first start out, you’re likely to opt for one of the premade free or paid for themes. However, as your brand grows, you’re going to want something more unique and tailored to your brand. If you don’t know how to code or write CSS yourself, you’re going to have to call in some professional help to ensure that everything works and looks exactly as you envisioned. Use web development services to help you along the way. These will put you in touch with a professional web designer who will be able to create the website of your dreams.
Keeping your site in line with your brand is essential, so make sure you give the designer a thorough brief before they get started. This should include information such as your brand colours (try to include exact colour HTML codes where possible), a copy of your brand logo, preferred fonts and font sizes, and whether you intend to have a landing page or not. Once they’ve created the basics, you can make small changes as you go along.
Offer as many payment options as possible
When you operate online, you already rule out a common method of payment: cash. So, you want to offer as many alternative payment options as possible. Start off by ensuring that your page can accept all forms of major credit card. You can then expand into other areas such as Paypal. Paypal is a brilliant addition to any website, as customers can keep their card details saved on their Paypal account and pay at the click of a button. This prevents lost sales due to people not having their chosen card on them at any given time.
Ensure your site is compatible with mobile and tablet
When you’ve put so much effort into the development of your website, you want to ensure that as many people can browse it as possible. This is why it’s absolutely essential that you ensure that your site is compatible with as many devices as possible. Mobile and tablet compatibility is an absolute must! If possible, you should also optimise your site for mobile and tablet. This means that it will appear on the different device’s screens as you’d hope and navigate quickly and smoothly.
Now, this may seem like a lot of steps to carry out. However, once they’re all set up, you’re good to go and are unlikely to have to make many changes in the near future. So, it’s time to start working on your web presence and ensuring as many people are exposed to your brand as possible.
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