How to Build a Good E-commerce Website from Scratch
In this blog, we are going to discuss the steps that you need to follow in order to build an e-commerce website from scratch. Suppose you have an idea for a business and want to make it big on the internet.
You obviously want your own website so that people can visit it and purchase products or services. But how will they know about your website? And how will they find it? This is where search engine optimization plays its part. So if you want some tips on how to build a good e-commerce website from scratch, let’s get started:
1. Pick a domain name and hosting provider
The first step in building an e-commerce website is to choose a domain name for your site. A domain name is the address of your site that people will type into their browsers, so it needs to be memorable and easy to spell.
The best domain names are short, catchy, and easy to remember. They should also be relevant to your business so that people looking for products or services like yours can easily find you when they search online. You can buy a domain name from registrars like GoDaddy or Namecheap, or you can buy one from a hosting company like Bluehost or HostGator.
The next step is to pick a hosting provider. This is the company that will provide you with the server space where your site lives. You can choose from shared, VPS, or dedicated servers; each option has advantages and disadvantages based on what you need from your website. Make sure that the hosting you choose works with the e-commerce platform you’re going to use. So, according to this article, the best SEO-friendly ones are WooCommerce, BigCommerce, and Shopify.
After you have picked a domain name and hosting provider, another crucial decision you need to make is the platform you’ll use to build your website. Two of the most popular options available today are Squarespace and Wix. Both platforms offer user-friendly interfaces and are ideal for beginners with no coding experience. Do take the time to explore each platform to understand their offerings and decide which one aligns best with your business goals.
2. Get an SSL certificate for your website
Security is an essential part of a trustworthy e-commerce website and business. Therefore, your next step is to get an SSL certificate.
First, what is an SSL certificate? An SSL certificate, which stands for “Secure Sockets Layer,” is a way to protect the information on your site so that only authorized users can get to it. Basically, this means that your customers will be able to feel secure while they’re purchasing products from your store or browsing through pages of content on your site.
With every hosting provider, the process of getting the certificate looks different. Also, there are different types of certificates to choose from:
Domain Validation
Domain Validation (DV) certificates are the most basic type of SSL certificate. They are given out by a Certificate Authority (CA) that has been checked out by the CA/Browser Forum, an organization that sets standards for public key infrastructures (PKIs) and keeps them up to date.
With a DV certificate, you can prove your website’s identity to users and help them feel safe when they visit your site. The CA checks to make sure you own or control all domains listed in the certificate before they issue it to you.
Once installed on their browser, this validation makes sure that any information shared between visitors’ browsers and servers with this certificate is encrypted using strong cryptography technology so that no one else can read it or change it while it travels across networks in plain text format.
Organization Validation (O1)
Organization Validation (O1) is the most common example of an SSL certificate. It’s issued within 24 hours and costs less than an EV certificate, which is great for small businesses but not so much for large enterprises.
Organization Validation certificates are good for small-to-medium-sized companies that want to protect their customers’ information with encryption but don’t need the extra security features or validation of an Extended Validation (EV) certificate.
Extended Validation (EV)
Extended Validation (EV) certificates are the most expensive and trusted kind of SSL certificate. They’re also the most secure and recognizable, as they require more rigorous verification than standard SSL certificates.
As a result of these extra steps, EV certificates have a green address bar with your company name in it (like you see here). This makes them stand out from other sites that don’t use EV certificates and lets users know that they’re visiting an authenticated site.
Wildcard SSL certificates
This SSL certificate is used for multiple subdomains on a single domain. You can use them for any subdomain, such as *.example.com.
The main idea behind wildcard SSLs is that they cover all subdomains that are part of the main domain name you give when you buy the certificate. For example, if you have an e-commerce website with multiple stores (such as “store 1,” “store 2,” and so on), using a wildcard certificate allows all of those stores to share the same secure connection via HTTPS rather than having individual ones set up for each one individually (which would be time-consuming).
3. Design the layout of your site and choose the color scheme you’d like to use
When it comes to e-commerce, the layout of your site is more than just a pretty face. In fact, it’s probably the most important aspect of your website because it can make or break whether customers are able to find what they’re looking for on your site.
One way that you can start designing the layout of your site is by creating wireframes—these are rough sketches of how each page will look when finished in code. This will help give you an idea of how everything needs to fit together before getting into any actual coding work.
An important piece of advice here is to remember to not just have one call-to-action per page but instead try using multiple CTAs throughout each page. The thing is that every visitor that comes to your website belongs to a particular stage of the customer lifecycle. Some are looking for answers, and others are looking to buy. Therefore, you need secondary CTAs to help you convert leads at different stages.
Once this step is complete and all pages have been designed using wireframes (or mockups), then comes choosing colors. Some people choose their own color schemes based on personal preference, but most businesses hire professional designers who specialize in this area, so if possible, consider hiring one as well.
The next step is to create a sitemap, which is basically just a map of all the pages on your website (and how they are connected). This will help you keep track of what content should go where and how each page connects with others so that everything flows smoothly when someone visits your site.
4. Consider the elements that will make up your website’s content
Now that you have a website structure, it’s time to start filling in the blanks. Content is king when it comes to e-commerce websites. Your content will make or break your site—it’s what sets your site apart from others and makes it unique.
This can be anything from blog posts about new products or industry trends, contact forms for customers who want more information about a certain product or service, or even product pages themselves (which can include detailed descriptions of each item).
Let’s circle back to SEO, which was mentioned at the beginning of this article. SEO stands for search engine optimization, and it is a powerful way to get your e-commerce website noticed.
Every page of your website, be it a product page, homepage, or blog article, should contain keywords that are relevant to your target audience and will help get the page in front of the right prospects. To find out which queries you should target, you need to conduct keyword research.
There are a plethora of tools that can help you do that: Ahrefs, Semrush, and others. Regardless of whether you’re going to write the content yourself or hire someone, make sure to take SEO into account. It’s also important that all content have a consistent tone of voice. This will assist in bringing all of the pieces together into a cohesive whole.
5. Add content to your website’s categories, subcategories, and pages
Now that your website is up and running, it’s time to add content. This step is one of the most important because it will determine how well people find what they’re looking for and whether or not they want to stay on your site.
Let’s go back to SEO again. Search engine optimization does not end with adding keywords to the text portion of the page. When adding content, you want to make sure that important keywords are placed in the title, meta description, subtitles across the page, image alt attributes, and so on. All of this is called on-page SEO, and just like keyword research, it’s supposed to help your e-commerce business rank higher in the search results.
So, when filling the page with text, pictures, and other elements, make sure to keep on-page SEO in mind. This will help ensure that all the work you’ve done in the previous steps comes to fruition.
Conclusion
It is not easy to build an e-commerce website from scratch, but it is not impossible either. With the right tools and resources, anyone can do it. The key is to have patience, perseverance, and determination when working on your site.
