Getting started in eCommerce Web Design.
If you are in the business of selling products, chances are you’d like to sell products online. But where do you start? Accepting payments and managing inventory on your website is not nearly as complicated as it once was. As a result, it isn’t prohibitively expensive like in the old days either. In fact, it doesn’t have to be expensive at all with eCommerce web design services done by a Reno internet marketing company like OCG Creative.
Setting online marketing aside, setting up eCommerce and online sales can be broken down into two areas: the things we do, and the things you do. Depending on your goals and the nature of your business, we can do as much or as little as you like. Most often, we divide things up this way.
Our eCommerce Tasks:
We’ll handle the technical stuff
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- First off, to sell products online we need some kind of database appropriate for the number of individual items you offer. An eCommerce web design database can range from simple to massively complex depending on your business. Regardless, databases can be messy so our Reno internet marketing team will do all of that for you.
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- Next is the shopping cart. Online shopping carts go hand-in-hand with the database so we’ll handle that too. Most often, for sites with a few dozen to a few thousand SKUs (stock keeping units, which simply means your products), we use something simple like WooCommerce for WordPress. There are others, but like WordPress, WooCommerce is popular and well supported so we use it a lot.
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- For thousands to hundreds of thousands of products, we often work with something more robust. We work with most eCommerce systems like Magento and PrestaShop. Which one you should choose depends on many factors.
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- Traffic volume, point of sale (POS) integration, security, promotional plans and dozens of other considerations will impact the decision which eCommerce web design platform to use for your Reno business. We’ll help you decide and then take care of everything.
We’ll handle your eCommerce web design.
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- We’ll take care of your eCommerce web design too. Selling products online is different than simply providing information online. Your eCommerce web design needs to account for different goals and a more complex conversion cycle. We need to address multiple product views, suggestive selling of related products, discount codes and promotions, shipping selectors and more—all of which must be incorporated into the web design and user interface.
In short, everything that’s technical or involves programming or complex configuration is ours to deal with. We’re also happy to take on the “Your eCommerce Tasks” list as well. We’ll make the final decision about who does what during planning.
- eCommerce web design
- Market analysis
- Payment gateway
- eCommerce SEO
- Conversion rate optimization
- eCommerce marketing
- Website analytics
- Product import
- Product photography
- Shipping integration
- SSL configuration/hosting
- Your eCommerce Tasks
eCommerce Made Simple
If you choose to, you’ll be able to add products, product descriptions, photos, pricing, discounts, promotions, etc. on your own. You can do this one-by-one, or by importing from another database like your POS system. For import, clients often provide a spreadsheet file for us to take care of the actual importing process.
You’ll need to document your business policies like how you handle returns and customer privacy. If necessary, we can even connect you with an attorney to make sure your policies are airtight.
You’ll need to fulfill orders and handle customer service tasks, just like you do offline.
Depending on the level of eCommerce your business is engaged in, you may want us to take professional photographs and write promotional copy as part of an ongoing marketing and promotional effort. It’s really up to you. We’ll do as much or as little Reno eCommerce web design services as your time and budget allow.
What you can expect from your eCommerce website.
While eCommerce offers a great opportunity to sell products online, it doesn’t happen overnight. Competition can be fierce and getting to the top of Google takes effort and time.
We often call SEO “slow motion marketing” because so many factors have to be just right to achieve top rankings.
Also, you’ll need to be competitive. That means more than just getting visitors to your website. Your pricing needs to be in line with what competitors are offering. Even then, if your competitors offer free shipping, you will need to deal with that in some way. Same for return policies, etc. Our eCommerce web design gives your business a chance to compete. It gets you in the game, but you’ll still need to respond to the environment you’re competing in.
Why sell products online?
The most obvious reason is to expand your market. A local retailer can become a national retailer practically overnight. That can be critical to growing your business as competition becomes increasingly sophisticated.
Promoting your business online costs far less than even local traditional media. Imagine only paying for your TV ads when a customer walks into your store. That’s essentially how paid search advertising programs like AdWords work. Even better, search engines will list your business organically for free. You don’t even have to ask.
eCommerce or not, if you aren’t taking advantage of Google My Business and organic search engine rankings you’re missing a huge opportunity. Call OCG Creative today. Our Reno internet marketing company can get you moving in the right direction.
Finally, eCommerce levels the playing field. If your website looks like a million bucks, your customers will have confidence that you’re a great company to work with. It takes work, but it can pay off big time.
Getting started selling products online costs less than you might think.
If you’re even thinking about starting to sell products online, give us a ring, email, or use our form to contact us.
We know you’ll have a million questions, and we are very patient and thorough about answering them. We never hard-sell our services and we won’t call you every day unless you ask us to.
eCommerce web design doesn’t have to be expensive, but it does require commitment and potentially quite a bit of work. The only way to find out if selling online makes sense for your business is to get the facts. We look forward to having that conversation.