How to Construct an eCommerce Website

It is not hard to construct an eCommerce website, but like many other projects, it takes planning and preparation to give you a clearer idea of what to do and the best way to do it. Your eCommerce website should be appealing to visitors – and mostly to potential customers. There are many website templates available, but try to develop your own design to reflect your business and create a distinctive recognizable brand for your company.

Things You'll Need

• Word processing software or writing pad and pens
• Organizational chart template or sticky notes

Instructions

1. Define products or services the website will present, who is the target audience and how you want to present the information. Write at least a short paragraph, even if you develop your own website. Writing complete sentences gives you a chance to explain your ideas simply and clearly.

2. Review other eCommerce websites, making a list of what you like and dislike, and why. Let the things you find fuel your creativity, but try to stay open and use only what is right for your website.

3. Decide which products or services would be on the website. If you followed step one, you have at least a broad idea – now narrow the list so it is best suited for the potential customers. Group the items logically, keeping your target audience in mind.

4. Map your eCommerce website. An organizational chart template is very useful for this and can be easily changed and saved. Colored sticky notes can also be used with a different color for each level of the website. Draw the website’s structure on paper if that is more comfortable for you.

5. Review your website’s scheme, and consider the organization and grouping from the target audience’s point of view. Move items around the plan and make changes if needed.

6. Develop a template for the website using your business’ colors. Make sure it is easy to navigate and the links are clearly labeled. “Easter Eggs” (hidden links) are rarely appropriate for an eCommerce website.

7. Prepare the texts and images for the different pages. Make sure the text is accurate and readable, and the images are compressed to download quickly but still look good. If you use “thumbnails” (small images that link to an identical larger images), specify that is what they are and where to click for the full-sized image. The layout and amount of text should appeal to the target audience and fit well visually into the template you created.

8. Test your website. Look at it in different web browsers and check that it downloads fast and looks the way you want. Test all the links and any other functions on the website.

Tips & Warnings

• An eCommerce website should appeal to the widest audience possible, so don’t assume any prior knowledge. Make the text and images simple and easy to understand and all the tools and options are accessible.

• Don’t leave any room for guesswork when constructing an eCommerce website. Resources such as site maps can be a nice function to offer, but you should do everything possible to prevent a visitor from feeling lost in the first place.

• You don't have to be an expert, but some knowledge of your website's code will be useful.

References

• encyclopedia.jrank.org: Constructing a Globalized E–Commerce Site

Resources

• streetdirectory.com: Six Components Of A Good E-Commerce Site
• EcommerceIntro.com: Make Plans to Build An Ecommerce Web site Today