ForrestY
11-04-2009, 05:30 PM
1. Figure Out What You Are Going To Sell
These days, anything and everything is sold online. If you are already the owner of a brick and mortar business then you should definitely be offering your goods or services on the Internet. By selling on the Internet you can reach millions of prospective shoppers worldwide rather than simply those in your local community. The key is to remember that the Internet is a global marketplace and setting up an online store will reach customers worldwide and surely increase your profits.
2. Setup A Domain Name
Go to a domain name registrar page (GoDaddy,Enom, etc.) to check the availability of your desired website name and set it up. You also might want to do a search to see if there are preexisting sites with similar names to avoid any confusion. Remember that you want something catchy, short and sweet and easy to remember.
3. Find a Web Host / Build Your Website
Create your homepage with Site Studio or a similar program. A good web host will include some sort of site design program for free. Remember, it is imperative to establish “About Us” and “Contact Us” pages. These pages establish trust and give shoppers an open line of communication with you to answer any questions they might have. Shoppers will tend to not trust buying from sites that do not have physical addresses and phone numbers where they can be reached. During this process you also need to setup your shipping and return policies so customers feel secure purchasing from your site.
4. Setup Your Shopping Cart Software
The size of your store, the traffic your store generates and the bandwidth you will need are all factors you will need to take into consideration when setting up your hosting and shopping cart accounts. You also have the option to host your store on shared or dedicated servers depending on size and traffic.
5. Start Taking Orders And Begin Doing Business!
Make sure you are PCI Compliant so you can legally accept credit card offers.
Like the title says, this post is meant to be a basic guide to give prospective online merchants a basic idea of what goes in to starting a business online. By no means does this cover all the bases. Please feel free to comment and add steps, ideas, advice....
These days, anything and everything is sold online. If you are already the owner of a brick and mortar business then you should definitely be offering your goods or services on the Internet. By selling on the Internet you can reach millions of prospective shoppers worldwide rather than simply those in your local community. The key is to remember that the Internet is a global marketplace and setting up an online store will reach customers worldwide and surely increase your profits.
2. Setup A Domain Name
Go to a domain name registrar page (GoDaddy,Enom, etc.) to check the availability of your desired website name and set it up. You also might want to do a search to see if there are preexisting sites with similar names to avoid any confusion. Remember that you want something catchy, short and sweet and easy to remember.
3. Find a Web Host / Build Your Website
Create your homepage with Site Studio or a similar program. A good web host will include some sort of site design program for free. Remember, it is imperative to establish “About Us” and “Contact Us” pages. These pages establish trust and give shoppers an open line of communication with you to answer any questions they might have. Shoppers will tend to not trust buying from sites that do not have physical addresses and phone numbers where they can be reached. During this process you also need to setup your shipping and return policies so customers feel secure purchasing from your site.
4. Setup Your Shopping Cart Software
The size of your store, the traffic your store generates and the bandwidth you will need are all factors you will need to take into consideration when setting up your hosting and shopping cart accounts. You also have the option to host your store on shared or dedicated servers depending on size and traffic.
5. Start Taking Orders And Begin Doing Business!
Make sure you are PCI Compliant so you can legally accept credit card offers.
Like the title says, this post is meant to be a basic guide to give prospective online merchants a basic idea of what goes in to starting a business online. By no means does this cover all the bases. Please feel free to comment and add steps, ideas, advice....