10 steps to help you ace build your first online shop
Join the club of e-commerce adopters
As we stay safe and work from home, one can easily launch an online shop.
Whether you picked up knitting and want to sell some of your crafts online or whether you want to start offering consultancy/training services, having an online shop is a good investment for that passive income you wished you had.
Besides, you won’t regret it. You get to learn critical digital skills such as content creation, marketing and even data analysis as your online shop grows!
Here are 10 key points that will help you navigate this journey:
- Get a good developer
I can’t emphasis this enough. The developer you engage is going to be your best friend for months on end. So invest in a good one.
Paint your vision. Vividly.
Show him/her what sort of a website you want to create so that he may help you envision it. You may also want to prepare a mood board to inform on the style of the wireframe. Share detailed notes of what the business is about and what you want on the menu.
Most people think that coding takes a couple of hours. Experience shows that one needs to dedicate at least 2–5 months to get a quality website.
Also make sure you have your developer quote for the web hosting, domain name, SSL certification and maintenance for at least a few months so he can train your team. This unburdens you from the hassle of you managing the payment of additional elements. However if you wish to do it yourself, it should be affordable to do so. Just allow your developer access of the same.
Good developers will also help you understand the importance of SEO and build with this in mind. We used Wits Technologies to help us build our gardening and home decor website. They are one of Kenya’s most pleasant and dedicated team we know.
2. Purchase a great CMS Platform
Whether you are building a personal, corporate for product or services brand, it’s important to make sure you buy a Content Management System that is credible. There are several good ones out there, from Shopify, Magento, Woocommerce. These systems come with in-built theme templates so your developer doesn’t have to break a sweat when developing the forms for your website. Also they integrate with various APIs making integrations a dream.
Do not worry, CMS’s come on the cheap online. Most have a lifetime plan (and come with upgrades) so you can rest easy on finding one that will serve you for the long haul.
Another great thing about CMS’s are that the themes are user-friendly so your IT team can easily learn how to operate the backend.
3. Invest in a copywriter who understands how to write content for web
This is an overlooked point. Get a clever copywriter. He/she ensures that the content going onto the website is exacting and is in proper grammar. Also note that the copywriter has to be familiar with writing for digital optimisation ie. SEO (search engine optimisation) so that your website can gain a good ranking on Google.
Allow them to help you master how to write good content that sells products or services online. Pick his or her cues and ensure to be consistent in the delivery.
Chances are you may re-engage him or her for blogging as this is another way of guaranteeing fresh content on your shop.
Poor content, plagiarism will get you a poor ranking so just invest in a good writer who can authoritatively speak for your business.
4. Invest in beautiful photography
They say a picture tells 1000 words. Indeed good web imagery are the hallmark of a great website. Half the work is done when one invests in great pictures.
Take professional photos of your product/services and team, and use them on your website. Preference is on shooting your own photography rather than using stock imagery as it give your website authenticity.
However, if you are starting out, you may want to consider using stock imagery as it’s more affordable.
There are hundreds of image banks out there e.g. Pexels, Shutterstock, Getty Images (for local images SuraImages) for you to choose from.
Optimize your images for web use by making sure they are resized correctly so your website loads quickly. No one wants a to land on a website and have to wait for over 30 sec for it to load! There are platforms that help you resize images for you or simply have your developer advice you on this.
5. Ensure you include an email marketing app
Email marketing has been proven to be the single most important form of customer acquisition, they potentially become your brand loyalists. Omnisend is a good ones to consider. This app ensures that you ‘catch’ your customers and potential customers; and therefore they become your bona fide fans!
The best part is that if you have a good number of subscribers you can start mailing them regularly information on new offers, announcements and updates about your brand as you grow.
Moreover, since they are available to you, no resources are needed such as paid advertising. They are yours to keep!
6. Integrate a credible payments partner
You need a platform that will catch your funds. Consider the credible ones. You may want to check what percentage they keep of the total cart value.
In our market, we have PesaPal, PayPal, M-PESA and DPO.
7. Test test test
Before the website goes live, test it to check for any bugs. Send the website to your family and friends and see if they enjoy a seamless shopping experience.
Normally you will find a few kinks. Fix these before rolling out. Also ensure that the automated forms that come via email are sending out the intended messages. No one wants to send out a first order promo code that expired 5 years ago, or worse doesn’t work!
So check the coding, semantics, language, grammar, links, website loading speeds and even responsiveness of the website across multiple devices. It’s important that you check the website on desktop and on mobile to ensure that the website works well on either device.
Also get an SSL certification to cover you from cyber-crime. One may upgrade later to more sophisticated ones as one grows.
8. Create your business social media accounts
Think of social media as the shopping window for one to access your website. Most people find your brand on social before finding your website. So open an account with the popular social media account such as LinkedIn, FaceBook, Instagram and Twitter and learn how each works — as their advertising tactics are different.
If you are bold and love storytelling, try go for video content. YouTube is an excellent tool for creating and broadcasting video content for your business. Video is becoming a formidable source for consuming media — now and in the future.
Everyone is on social media, so ignore having an account at your own peril.
9. Run some ads to get eyeballs
Read a little about digital promotion strategies for brands. There is a lot to learn but start with running proper FaceBook adverts (not boosting posts which is normally a complete waste of funds!) and then move along to having search ads on Google Ads which is my absolute favourite.
Be consistent. Have a tone of voice that resonates with your brand. And before you know it, you will start to see hundreds if not thousands of views on your website.
The higher the numbers, the higher the chances of conversion. 1–2% of your audience are likely to convert.
10. Congratulations you have launched an online shop
Make that sale (I convinced anyone who knew me to try purchase something on the website). Fulfilling your very first order brings a wonderful feeling!
Now continue to improve the website, run updates, enhance the speed of loading the website. Write blog posts, articles, newsletters that include back-links to your website.
Continue to add more products to the online shop.
Finally consistently market your work on social media so as to grow your customer base.
Deliver quality. Offer value. Give seasonal deals.
And remember, to celebrate every milestone with a cocktail!