To create the best eCommerce website, there is no secret recipe. “One cup of product pages, 2 scoops of CTAs, a pinch of UX; Mix vigorously until silky smooth.” It can’t be that easy.
But just like with cooking, there are some general rules that you should follow, otherwise your online business won’t rise. And no one likes a flat eCommerce store.
Here’s a guide with everything you need to make the best eCommerce store.
You don’t need to know software development, html, CSS, front-end or back-end code in order to create a website nowadays.
Not only are there multiple agencies offering eCommerce website development services, but there are now multiple DIY website builders enabling anyone to create a site.
Ecommerce web development is now as easy and accessible as choosing a template, adding your content and pushing a button.
But you don’t want just ANY eCommerce site, you want the best!
Here are a few steps you need to follow to get started.
A website with a generic pre-populated domain name; it’s a no. Unacceptable. Branding is of utmost importance for every single business out there, and eCommerce businesses need their very own domain name.
You do not want to launch an eCommerce store on yourwebsitebuilder.com/yourcompany. You may think: “oh well I’ll change it later, doesn’t matter”
It matters. It will impact not only your branding, how you are perceived by buyers and how professional your website looks, but also your SEO performance. So if you don’t have a domain already for your ecommerce project, go buy it and come back, I’ll wait.
Whether you want to create your very first website from scratch, or are an agency looking for a way to create multiple online stores for your clients, you need a solution adapted to your needs.
Choosing the right platform from the get-go will ensure you don’t have to migrate everything to another platform later.
Which can be a major pain if you have multiple clients or thousands of products.
So choose wisely.
There are many different eCommerce solutions and plugins you can choose from such as; Shopify, Woocommerce, BigCommerce, Magento, and Duda. But they are not all created equal.
With Duda, you don’t need a development team to create and maintain amazing eCommerce websites. You can create one or hundreds of custom eCommerce websites very quickly, with a user-friendly editor, responsive design, templates, and all the functionalities you need. No plugins or add-ons, it’s an all-in-one solution perfect for agencies.
Duda is a great eCommerce platform for:
Website design is a very important part of your website development process. So you need to choose a design that will entice users to buy, represent the brand, be sleek and simple. Be sure to follow some of the latest web design trends so your website doesn’t feel outdated.
Another key aspect to keep in mind is the customer experience, make sure you ask yourself these questions every step of the way.
Before your eCommerce site is live, you need to test it out. Make sure all the functionalities are working; are the shopping cart process and payment options working as they should?
Click on all pages and CTAs, navigate like any potential customer would, and ensure that the entire website is working as intended. Here are a few things to test out:
Then once the website is all tested and ready to go, it’s time to go live!
Once the website is live, your job isn’t done yet.
You need to track the website performance, and optimize it if need be (it most likely will need some improvements along the way). The website's performance will affect your bottom line as it impacts the conversion rate significantly.
You can use many different types of website optimization tools to analyze what you could improve and how.
You can work on:
Whether you offer web development services to hundreds of small businesses, or are just looking for a cost-effective way of creating the best possible ecommerce store, there are a few requirements that you should keep in mind.
A slow and underperforming website is never worth it.
Particularly for an eCommerce store, you can’t lose customers to a slow website or checkout.
Choose an eCommerce software or website builder that will help you create a website with top performances. Here are a few things to look for:
According to Statista, in 2020, 67% of global online retail traffic was generated via mobile. In the fashion industry, the mobile share of traffic was even higher, amounting to 76%.
So when you think about your eCommerce website design, you can’t neglect mobile friendliness, you might even want to invest in mobile app development.
A responsive, mobile-first design will enable your users to have the same great buying experience whether they shop on desktop, a tablet, or on their mobile phone. But it will also indicate to Google that your website is a lot more relevant than if you were to build for desktop only.
After all, we’re not in 2010 anymore. A mobile-first and responsive website isn’t a nice-to-have anymore, it’s a requirement.
An online store with bad UX/UI can really kill your eCommerce conversions.
You need a user-friendly website where your users can easily navigate, find what they are looking for, and ultimately buy.
No one needs a maze where users get lost and bounce.
To ensure good UX you can use templates with best practices already built-in, or create your own custom eCommerce website and use design services from experts. You can also use different UX optimization tools.
Here are some key things to keep in mind:
If you have an eCommerce store, you need a fast and efficient checkout process.
Once users are ready to buy, when they click on “Proceed to payment” everything has to run smoothly.
Make sure to keep these checkout page best practices in mind:
To summarize, here are a few things that makes a great eCommerce website:
Are you ready to implement these in your next eCommerce website?
Get started right away with Duda!
