6 Things Needed to Start an E-Commerce Website
Ready to launch an e-commerce website and start earning money? Here are the six things you need to get up and running:
1. Hosting Service – A hosting server gives your website a place to reside on the Internet; without a hosting service, visitors cannot access your website. Most hosting services are available for a nominal monthly fee. Make sure the hosting service is compatible with your shopping cart software. (DreamHost offers great service and you can use the promotional code Kovich for $50 off!)
2. Website – Once you have place for your website online, next is the website itself. There are a myriad of available options when it comes to creating your website. If you already have an existing website, you can integrate e-commerce capabilities. If you are building the website from scratch, there are a handful of software programs that can help you build a website with no HTML skills or you can have your site designed by a website design professional or firm (typically the most expensive alternative).
3. Shopping Cart Software – In order for your customers to actually choose which products or services they want to purchase from your site, you need shopping cart software. Look for software that offers merchant tools, supports a myriad of payment options, shipping and taxes configurations, real-time statistics and reporting, and security features.
4. A Merchant Account – Available through conventional banks and financial institutions, merchant accounts allow a business to accept credit cards as payment. A merchant account is essentially a contract between the merchant and the bank and outlines how transactions will transpire.
5. Payment Services – In addition to a merchant account, you will also need payment services (also known as a payment gateway). This allows you to actually process payments and determines whether or not a customer’s credit card is accepted or declined.
6. Marketing – Your website is worthless if you don’t have any people visiting it. Be sure to market your website by engaging in the various search engine optimization (SEO) techniques that can help jumpstart your website’s rankings in the major search engines and attract more site visitors and even hand out business cards if needed. I’ll post about search engine optimization for e-commerce sites soon!
February 11, 2010
8:21 pm
Great information. Beginning the process of making money online is something that is not as simple as many might think. The info is a great starting point.
February 16, 2010
1:25 am
Hi,
Making money online with a e-commerce website is harder then it looks. But you have given some great startup advice. If I may be so bold I have tried a few different stores. I have found that I like cubecart the best. It is easy to run and best of all you can get a free version.
February 19, 2010
4:22 pm
Setting up an e commerce website is a bit tedious. Some configurations are confusing so asking for an expert help is best rather than making mistakes and learning them in the hard way.
March 16, 2010
8:29 am
I read a lot of these “how to start a eCommerce” site guides,but i never found the most important answer,where do i get the things i can sell on a ecommerce site ?
April 3, 2010
5:12 pm
People typically try and find companies that sell products in their niche for wholesale, and then they resell them at retail prices.
November 9, 2010
4:12 am
The concept of reselling is very prominent these days. People infact take product feeds from big companies and resell on their website. Nice concept though !
November 9, 2010
4:10 am
Good points. I would like to add a few more things to this…
Selection of the correct shopping cart is very crucial as it determines the scalability of the website in future. Anyone who thinks to start a new online shopping option for his business, should always keep in mind of his plans in future. So just because of money do not get something which will be of no use 2 years down the line when you want to add another feature to your website.
Display your products nicely on the website
Marketing is very important of your online shop, however plan your marketing strategy before you jump into a conclusion. Decide who would be your target audience.
Cheers
Suzi
February 16, 2011
1:30 pm
I want to start a discussion forum wherein people will post their queries and answers. I do not wish to sell anything online. revenue shall be generated through advertising alone. I have researched and found a niche for the above mentioned service. I am a student and can’t invest much. How should I go about it?
March 20, 2011
7:31 pm
Hello, Dipak! My first bit of advice is to be extremely certain that making the forum is a good idea. Forums require a lot of server resources, manpower, etc. If you’ve found a suitable niche, though, then by all means – go for it! I recommend you purchase a vBulletin license for the forum itself, in addition to a suitable premium style/theme. Find a few friends/colleagues who are ready and willing to help you build up the first several hundred posts and consider hiring a few freelancers to post once you get a bit of genuine activity going. You need to think of a forum like a fire… you need the fireplace and the matches first (the server, the software), then you need some kindling (your friends and colleagues who will help you build up a post count), and then once the fire is going, the logs will take it from there (logs are your genuine members). Much like a fire, you’ll need someone to keep watch 24/7 to prevent accidents and problematic scenarios. If you need a webhost, I recommend DreamHost… use the promo code KOVICH when signing up for $50.00 off!
September 19, 2011
10:39 am
Good points. I would like to add a few more things to this…
Selection of the correct shopping cart is very crucial as it determines the scalability of the website in future. Anyone who thinks to start a new online shopping option for his business, should always keep in mind of his plans in future. So just because of money do not get something which will be of no use 2 years down the line when you want to add another feature to your website.
Display your products nicely on the website
Marketing is very important of your online shop, however plan your marketing strategy before you jump into a conclusion. Decide who would be your target audience.
KHALID