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E-commerce is touted as one of the most viable online business
opportunities on the Web today. In comparison to traditional brick
and mortar businesses, e-commerce site requires minimal start-up
cost and is relatively low-risk. This article is to
walk you through the necessary steps and plans you would need in
order to set up a successful e-commerce site.
Un-earth Your Niche
The very first thing to do is find your niche. Examine your
hobbies and interests for potential business ideas. If you love
soccer, consider selling soccer supplies or team uniforms, online.
Focusing on your expertise or something you have great passion for
would give you an advantage over competitors who do not have
in-depth knowledge of that niche.
Research Your Niche
Once you've whittled down a few ideas, explore each one further.
Ask yourself these questions: How many people are looking for your
services? Where do they go and find people like yourself? How many
searches are created for your product or service on Google? You
may not have a budget to create demand, so it's safer and cheaper
to go where the demand already exists.
Scope out Your Competitors
Research your competitors inside out. Spend time to check out
their websites and compare their products and services. Give
yourself an idea of what you’re up against, so you can create your
e-commerce site as professional as, or even better than theirs.
Write Your Business Plan
You want to have a foolproof business plan for your business. Work
out a detailed formula - including your site theme, goals,
business strategies. It's also a good idea to keep a record of
expenditures, sales, profits etc. Your business cannot just be a
'me-too' business online. Develop a powerful Unique Selling
Position (USP) that sets you apart from your competitors and makes you
stand out from the crowd!
Create Your Website
Register a good domain name as marketing tactic. Name that ends in
*.com is best of all. Try to include relevant keywords that
properly describe your business or product if possible.
A well-designed website creates a good first impression with your
prospects. Get yourself a professional website template at an
affordable price and customize it to suit your need. Most
templates can be easily customized using common
HTML editors and
simple graphics software.
You’ll want your website content to target specific keywords for
high search engines ranking and traffic flow. This can be done by
creating informative articles, product reviews, descriptions and
comparisons. If you're short on time, many SEO (search engine
optimization) experts are willing to help you out for a reasonable
price.
Host Your Website
Find a dependable hosting company to host your website on their
servers. A quick search on Google for “web hosting” should bring
up hundreds of companies ready to do business with you. Select a
reliable web host that provides adequate disk space and bandwidth
with e-commerce scripts supporting features. Domain name-specific
email accounts must also be available to give a professional
image.
Your website files can be uploaded using a simple FTP program or
file uploading service in your hosting account. Technical support
personnel from your hosting company should walk you through the
steps to upload your files and launch your website.
Implement a Shopping Cart
An e-commerce site is never complete without a secure shopping
cart. The best option you can consider is a remotely hosted
shopping cart which takes the burden of maintaining security and
credit card numbers off your shoulder. Most remote shopping carts
can be configured to look similar to your website so your
customers may not realize that they have left your website when
making a payment.
If a remote shopping cart is not within your budget, there are
still lots of third party credit card processing companies that
are ready to process your credit card orders using their merchant
account for a small fee. Some popular ones to you can check out
are ClickBank,
PayPal and
2CheckOut.
Marketing and Promotion
You have identified your niche, set up your e-commerce site and
you are good to go. Now comes the most crucial part - promoting
your site! This could be a full-time career option for most
people. Either you can learn to do this yourself or you can have
an expert do it for you.
Begin by submitting your site to major search engines such as
Google,
Yahoo,
Dmoz, etc. You also need to optimize your site
using profitable keywords and keyword-rich content. There are lots
more business promotion strategies such as advertising, link
exchange, e-zine promotion etc. which you may need to explore to
create your online presence and build traffic.
Setting up your e-commerce site is sure a lot of work, but it's
just the first step. Making it successful is even more work, but
the pay-offs can be rewarding. Remember, success can be yours
provided you work hard and smart!
About the author:
Lewis Low is founding editor of OnlineBizPromo. For more practical
online business ideas and work-from-home opportunities, visit
http://www.onlinebizpromo.com. |
