If your business involves selling any type of physical product, creating an online store is an essential step for any entrepreneur to keep up with the evolution of commerce in today's world.
A survey conducted by EUROSTAT, "E-commerce statistics for individuals", shows a steady growth in internet usage, and estimates that in 2018, 73% of individuals between the ages of 16 and 54 purchased goods or services online.
This type of statistic shows that the internet will increasingly become the preferred place for shopping, and entrepreneurs need to start making the transition to the digital world.
Now is the ideal time to learn how to create an online store, understand the basic strategies to attract customers to your online store, and get your first online sale.
How to create an online store?
1. Choose hosting and a domain
In the process of creating an online store, the first thing we need to do is find the right web hosting to host the site with the store, and the domain or name for the store.
Typically, for this type of site, it's common to start with a VPS, as it's important to have a fast store for potential customers. If the store takes too long to load, that's enough for the customer to go looking for the same product in another online store.
You can find a better explanation of the types of hosting in the article "Web Hosting in Portugal: Types, Advantages and Disadvantages?", which outlines the advantages and disadvantages of each type.
Regarding the domain and store name, it depends on the name and type of business, but as a rule, it should be short and easy to remember. Up to two or three words related to the type of store is recommended.
2. Install WordPress and WooCommerce
After choosing the hosting and domain, it's necessary to install the CMS WordPress and the plugin WooCommerce, which will allow you to use the WordPress site as an online store.
Often the web hosting provider makes it easy to install WordPress on the server, but some technical skills are still needed for this part.
If you don't have the necessary knowledge to proceed with installing these components, I strongly recommend hiring companies specialised in this type of service, such as Be-Wide Online Solutions!
3. Install a WordPress template
After WordPress and WooCommerce are installed, it's important to choose a design for the online store. A WordPress template can be a good option to simplify the situation.
The article "Top 5 Most Used WordPress Templates in 2019" is a good starting point for finding a template for your online store.
It's important that the store's design is attractive and, at the same time, simple enough to encourage the customer to buy the product. The slightest difficulty the customer encounters on the site is reason enough to give up on the purchase.
4. Add products to the online store
After the store is created, it is important to add products to the store. This process can be a bit tedious and time-consuming, as it is necessary to optimise the product page itself.
The product presentation page must be as well-optimised as possible to sell the product, and this in itself is a science.
This is where WordPress site speed optimisation and web page optimisation for search engines (SEO) are important to increase product conversion and sales.
How to get your first online sale?
– Advertising campaigns and paid ads
The easiest part is creating an online store; the hardest part is attracting visitors to the store and getting them to buy the products.
One of the simplest and most efficient ways to attract visitors is through paid advertising, whether it's Google ads or Facebook ads.
Paying for advertising is undoubtedly one of the fastest ways to start selling in your online store; the "downside" is that you need to invest time and money to launch advertising campaigns.
I recommend using the services of a marketing agency like Be-Wide Online Solutions for better management of your advertising campaigns.
– SEO optimisation and organic traffic
Another strategy to sell without having to pay for advertising is to focus on optimising pages for search engines (SEO).
Search engine optimisation (SEO) aims to make the product page more visible in search engines like Google, thus attracting organic traffic, which in turn costs nothing.
Organic traffic requires some initial work, but in my opinion it is much cheaper in the long run, and this is well explained in the article "Organic Traffic, Content Marketing, SEO and Customer Acquisition Cost".
Why create an online store with WordPress and WooCommerce?
You can create an online store with other CMS and tools, some of which may even be free, but there is a reason to use WordPress and WooCommerce: freedom, flexibility, and low cost!
With this solution, you have 100% control over your online store, the flexibility needed to change anything and set it up the way you want, and it is much cheaper than many other solutions.
If the store grows enough that this solution is no longer the most suitable, there is always the possibility of migrating to another solution. However, in my opinion, this is the fastest and simplest solution for anyone to start with an online store.
Be-Wide Online Solution is a specialist in building and maintaining virtual stores, with dozens of examples in the portfolio and online stores selling right now. Request a free quote from us, we will be happy to help you with your project!