6 Necessities for E-Commerce Beginners

A Small Business’s Guide to Starting an Online Store

So, you want to start your own e-commerce site, huh? Grab a big ol’ piece of the online money pile. Maybe even secure a return customer or two?

Selling online doesn’t have nearly the barrier to entry that opening a brick and mortar store does, but that doesn’t make it a walk in the park. It just takes a little planning. Here are a few tips to make your launch a headache-free one.

Start Economically. If you’re starting small, then don’t spend big on your platform. Shopify or Volusion make e-commerce simple and cheap, with plans starting at less than 30 bucks per month. An even cheaper option is using a basic site –  from WordPress, Squarespace or elsewhere – and just adding your own checkout purchase form. JotForm allows users to build easy forms, which integrate with PayPal and Stripe. Then you’re only on the hook for the transaction fee when someone buys something. And while you’re already selling things online, you can take that checkout form you just created and sell it as a theme on JotForm’s Theme Store.

Know Your Social Media. Your site may be where people buy items, but your social networks are where you build relationships with customers. Building loyalty to your brand starts with engaging with your social followers, however small in numbers they may be. The trick isn’t to celebrate your first online sell, it’s celebrating the first return customer. Paying attention to your social media is how that happens.

Don’t Forget Analytics. Google Analytics is important to many businesses, but imperative to e-commerce. Being able to see that potential customers are lingering on a page but not buying gives you the opportunity to problem solve, and make adjustments to convert sales.

Invest in a Quality Camera. If you’re selling something that someone else is; don’t use a stock photo. Just don’t. And if you’re selling something that you created, don’t do the product a disservice by snapping a quick picture with your smartphone.

Humans are visual creatures, so take pictures that tell a story. Borrow a friend’s camera, find other friends to model, and set the stage for showing your customers how a product is used, whether you’re selling new cars or rubber ducks.

Write Sharp Copy. You know your customers, it’s just a matter of speaking to them. Make the information you present conversational and digestible (bullet points never hurt anyone). Imagine yourself looking at a product for the very first time; what are the questions you’d want to know?

There’s also that thing called SEO. Search engines reward thoughtful, original content and punish lazy and duplicated content. As long as you’re taking the time to inform your customers in a sincere way, the SEO usually falls into place just fine.

Don’t Skip the About Section. This might actually be the most important item on the list. Even though it’s 2015, not every customer automatically trusts the idea of paying someone they’ve never met. An “about” section is your chance to build trust and to establish yourself as a real human. Include pictures, a story of how you got started, and the reason why you decided to start your business in the first place.

Success in e-commerce doesn’t happen overnight. But if you truly are passionate about your brand, and follow the tips above, you have a great chance to make some serious money with your online business.

Have any other tips or thoughts to share? Let us know in the comments below!