You have finally decided to set up an e-commerce website. You are full of idealistic goals, and creative ideas to develop your business. Yet, do you know how many customers will press the Back button to leave your page if they find it unattractive? The answer is – 38%. Here are 5 tips for
Creating a Fast and Reliable E-Commerce Website.
1 Create your brand
The very first step of creating any business must be the creation of the brand. You may ask what the process includes, as it sounds quite general. There are a few factors that need to be considered before presenting the brand to the public. Knowing your target audience is crucial. Everything about your brand is affected by it, starting with its name, its logo, and even your competitors. Think about what image of your brand you would like customers to see. The name should reflect what you do, and be appropriate to the buyer persona. Name is not everything, you also have to create a brand promise, and its look, including the logo, colors, or even font. Take your brand to the digital world. The safest option to use when starting a business is the help of agencies, such as Intuitiv Digital.
2 Find and secure your domain name
Achieving a high number of visitors and leads is the key to increasing profits and retaining customers. To make sure your domain will be top-rated, you have to do many more things than only buying a domain. The domain with the name you would like your customers to associate your brand with is one of the most important things. Don’t give up if your intended name is taken but look for an alternative. You don’t need your domain to have co.uk to be visible. That’s why you can add .online, .website, or .company.
3 Choose e-commerce platform
Another crucial factor has a huge importance on the success of your online shop. You may consider using one of the solutions, depending on their complexity, speed to market or price:
- Software as a Service (SaaS) – the quickest, and cheapest solution, with ready-made templates to use.
- Off-the-shelf software – strong technical knowledge is required.
- Bespoke solution – requires a big amount of money at the beginning, but will result in a longer timeline.
4 Obtain a secure (SSL) certificate
If you are using a pre-packaged e-commerce service, you may omit this point, as it already included the certificate. In another case you need to obtain it yourself. It’s required to ensure secure communications between your visitor’s website and the web server of your website. As an e-commerce owner, you are obliged by law to protect user information, including sensitive information. If you use the certificate, you will see a padlock in the address bar.
5 Choose the hosting package
Your e-commerce shop needs a hosting package for a few reasons. Apart from the obvious one, which is the fact you need a server, there are some other features of your website connected to the hostage you choose. They may play a crucial role in your customers’ satisfaction level.
Visitors to your website don’t want to wait long until your product lists upload. That’s why to choose the hosting service in the same country you’re selling in. In the case of an international business, use a content delivery network (CDN), localizing your shop to target countries. Choosing a reliable host will save your website from going offline. It’s especially important during the Christmas season, when your shop may be experiencing extra traffic. The increased traffic that brings you more money may seem desirable to you, but this may prove disastrous for your server when it crashes as a result of the additional traffic.