To ensure the success of your eCommerce store, you will need to put a strategy in place to execute a website that will be optimised for Google and converts visitors into customers.
In this post, you will learn the steps that you should take to plan the build and deployment of your eCommerce store. Whether you are updating an existing online store, or you are building a new ecommerce shop, both scenarios are covered in this post.
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Defining Your Market
If you are planning on starting an online business, the first step is to determine who your target market is. Once you do this, you will get a better understanding if those customers prefer a simple eCommerce experience or a personalised experience.
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If you are updating an existing eCommerce store, you must also consider your target market. Perhaps, it is the behaviour of your customers that have prompted you to make a change. By looking at the demographics of your customers you can find new opportunities to upsell and increase your sales.
eCommerce Website Features
As you now have an insight into the shopping preferences of your customers, you can plan the features that you need your website to have. Features had may be required could include:
- An accurate search bar
- Function to personalise products
- Drag and drop ordering systems
It is important that you for you as an eCommerce manager that you think of all the features that you will need to make your life easier including:
- Invoicing features
- ePOS linking
eCommerce Software
When you have established what features you need on your website, you must look at the ecommerce software that you are going to use.
The most common types of eCommerce software include: WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento and Open Cart.
You must consider what software solution can accommodate all your requirements. Development will be required for more complex solutions.
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Finding a Developer
The next step is to find a developer who can deliver your project on time and in budget. The best solution to protect your business is to agree the scope of the project with the developer and what will be delivered. This agreement can become binding by signing a contract.
When looking for a developer, you should search for eCommerce development specialists and look through their portfolio. A good tip is to actually search the internet for those eCommerce shops that they previously built so you can get a better gauge of how easy you can find them on search engines and how well they function.
URL Structure
The URL structure of your eCommerce store is very important to get right at the start as this is crucial for your rankings on Google.
URL structure can impact your categorisation of products and how clean / search engine friendly they look.
If you have an existing website and you are upgrading to a new site, you need to consider redirecting old URLs to the new pages to ensure your rankings are not affected on search engines.
The planning stage of your website build is one of the most important steps to building a successful eCommerce store. It is important to take the time to plan it right and not to dive straight into it.
