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BigCommerce and Your WordPress Site

WordPress is an amazing option for businesses that are just starting out with their online presence. The WooCommerce plugin allows businesses to easily add eCommerce functionality to WordPress websites. Since late 2018, there has been a new option for WordPress users to dip their toes into the eCommerce world. Businesses no longer have to choose between WordPress’ flexible platform and BigCommerce’s proven eCommerce engine. For WordPress-based entrepreneurs wondering if they should consider adding BigCommerce to their site, here are some factors to consider.

Your Content and Your Commerce

If you have a well-established WordPress site, you undoubtedly have built a network of content related to your business. While migrating that information to a new platform is possible, it is a time consuming and sometimes risky procedure. If you have dedicated time to building your brand through WordPress, the BigCommerce plugin is a great way to add the checkout options your business needs.

Increasing Your Scalability

If your business is growing, adding BigCommerce’s functionality is a great option. As you start to do more business on your site, the increased activity can drag down your page’s performance. Letting BigCommerce handle the eCommerce side of your business will leave your content pages running smoothly as your user interactions grow. You get all of the advantages of your WordPress site and BigCommerce’s powerful eCommerce platform.

More eCommerce Options

Choosing BigCommerce for your WordPress site means WordPress developers can quickly add a huge array of eCommerce options to your site. For example, with the BigCommerce plugin, you have access to 65 payment gateways and seamless access to all major global carriers for your shipping needs. Shopping carts developed through this BigCommerce platform can easily integrate sales and discount codes from your website and make the user experience quick and easy. You can also use this BigCommerce plugin to expand your business’ sales across multiple popular platforms like Facebook, Amazon, and eBay.

Additional Security

Adding BigCommerce to your WordPress site means that you can use their secure checkout service. Working with BigCommerce means that your checkout process is PCI secure out of the box. You will not have to worry about securing your customer data as your business expands.

If you feel like your business is growing beyond your WordPress’ sites current capabilities, adding BigCommerce’s plugin might just be the perfect way to handle your checkout process. If you’re not ready to move off your established site, but you need to broaden your eCommerce horizons, this plug-in is a perfect way to get the best of both worlds.

Here at Genius eCommerce, we are dedicated to helping your eCommerce business succeed. To stay up to date on the latest eCommerce news and tips, check back in with us for regular updates.

July 01, 2019

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Choosing a Design Theme for your eCommerce Site

The web design theme you use for your eCommerce site can have a major impact on your business. Whether this is positive or negative depends on how much research you put into your decision.

Consider your users: The number one criteria when choosing a theme is your user base. Many businesses that are trying to appeal to a young and trendy audience will have the most success with modern minimal templates. This style is currently in vogue and does not provide an abundance of distractions from your call to action. Flat themes typically feature light backgrounds and darker text, making your content really pop off the page.

A full-width template is a great option to achieve a very contemporary look. For a more traditional design, a boxed width design is another great choice. These templates include a border around your content and tend to be perfect for websites marketing to other businesses.

No matter what theme option you choose, you will have some empty space on your page. While it might be tempting to fill that negative space, it’s important to avoid over-saturating the user. If you have a lot to say, consider a simple link to another page where you can go more in-depth.

Choose the right header: A strong header sends a strong message. As soon as a user lands on your page, the header should be the first thing that draws their eye. A bold, bright image is truly worth a thousand words. You can tell an entire story about your brand with the right combination of graphics and text at the top of your page. If that story appeals to your user base, it will leave them hungry for more information.

You also want to be sure that your header leaves enough space for users to want to continue their journey through your site. A header that takes up half of your page might make your website appear underdeveloped.

Instead of extending your header vertically, you might want to extend its width beyond the rest of your content, guiding users from the literal big picture to the important details about your business. The right balance between the “curb appeal” of your header and the substance to back it up will be what keeps users interacting with your website.

Check out your competition: If your business has competitors with a successful website, take some time to navigate them. It’s never a great idea to use the exact page template as a competitor, noting their successful layout features will help you improve your own site.

Does your lead competitor place their menu above or below the header? How do they lay out their links or organize their products? All of these factors can contribute to their success and might be a huge help when deciding what your customers want to see for your business.

You should also consider the inverse, what does their site lack? Are there clunky or unnecessary features on the competition’s website? Avoiding their mistakes is a great way to give your site a superior layout.

Menu designs: Your menus are your user’s travel guide to the rest of your website. You need menus to point users towards your products and more information on what you offer as a brand. Whether you feature a simple dropdown menu or what a custom designed mega menu, making your site easy to navigate is key to retaining users and increasing visit durations.

Factors like whether you want to include subcategories to your menu can affect the ease of use for your website. A challenging menu will lead to increased bounce rates, but having too many subcategories can be confusing to users. Be sure to test your own menus and make sure they serve as an efficient gateway for visitors to understand you and your product line.

Branding: What is more important to you, your brand or your products? The idea of your brand is important, and how you feature it on your site will send a message to users. You definitely want your pages to prominently feature your brand logo so visitors will see and remember it.

If your brand is the focal point of your business, you will want that logo front and center. This works well for businesses that are selling a “lifestyle” that goes with their products. For markets like footwear, sometimes having a popular brand of shoes is more important than having shoes in general to consumers. These businesses will want to display that brand first and the products second.

If you want your products to speak for your brand, placing your logo off to the side or in a corner might be a better choice. This placement will give visitors an idea of who you are, while still maintaining your site design’s focal point to display your products. For businesses that want customers to display their product’s utility, or do not have powerful brand recognition, this product fronted design will focus visitors’ interest on what you have to offer.

Keep your business up to date with Genius eCommerce. Our experts compile news and tips on every facet of eCommerce so you can always find new ways to improve your site and your business.

June 19, 2019

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How SEO and Web Design Work Together

Every eCommerce website should share the common goal of trying to attract visitors with a website that is both SEO friendly and visually pleasing. It may not seem like the design of your website has anything to do with SEO, but in fact, it does.

We at Genius eCommerce are going to take a look at how the two are linked, why design is just as important as SEO, why people tend to focus more on SEO and more. Our goal is to provide you with insights and information about how you can improve your eCommerce SEO.

Design vs. SEO

Obviously, SEO targets specific keywords that are relevant to your business with the goal of bringing traffic to your eCommerce store. We tend to look at SEO on the surface and simply think about the content itself — that if the keyword is featured and you can start ranking for the words to generate organic traffic, then you are on your way to success.

Targeting the right keywords and getting people to your website on SEO alone doesn’t do the trick though. Consider what could happen after people get to your website. The website may have content that relates to the search query, but be in need of a better user interface. Even if you get people to come to your website with the right keywords, that isn’t enough.

If you are a business that has not put in the effort to improve your website experience, customers may not care to do business with you. People want to see businesses that care about appearance and a good website design makes people more likely to stay on the website.

Why People Focus on SEO

SEO is so important to eCommerce success because it can help create a better flow of traffic. Naturally, people are going to look at statistics and want to see them rise. While the rise in numbers may look good on the surface, your SEO efforts aren’t completely working if you don’t have a great design to go with it. Customers like to hang around websites that are nice to look at. Here are a few tips for bringing SEO and design together.

Optimize Content – Content is everything. You want to consider the search terms and keywords you are trying to rank for and make them a big part of the content. Use long tail keywords and phrases that are going to be searched and create a content plan based off of that. Use your keywords in the title and subheadings. Keep things organized by having subheadings to separate large blocks of text, and make sure you are not keyword stuffing by using the keyword naturally throughout your content.

Mobile Friendly – Search engines today are looking to see which websites put an emphasis on mobile users. Today, internet browsing and shopping are being done with mobile devices more than desktops. Having a responsive design that can easily adjust your website to a mobile, or other, format makes a huge difference in retaining customers. If your website is not mobile friendly, people will likely go back into the search results and find a competitor that is.

How do these two very different elements of eCommerce work together? A website that has a good design and uses the right SEO practices is more likely to succeed. SEO drives more traffic and potential sales to a website. A great design keeps people on the website for longer, which can bring your bounce rate down and help you rank higher on search engine result pages.

Both of these elements hold the key to success in the eCommerce space, especially in your digital marketing efforts.

For more tips, tricks, trends and more from Genius eCommerce, continue reading our blog. Our goal is to provide eCommerce SEO tips that can help you succeed in the online space.

May 15, 2019

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BigCommerce vs. Shopify: Choosing the Right eCommerce Store for You

Which eCommerce platform is right for you? There is no correct answer, it all depends on your unique, individual needs. But before you commit to an eCommerce platform, you want to make sure you are choosing the best option.

BigCommerce and Shopify are the two leading eCommerce platforms in the industry. Both platforms offer complete eCommerce solutions, customization of your store and management services. However, both platforms do have their differences, which is why you should take into consideration the features of each platform before choosing one to start your eCommerce store.

We’ve put together a comparison of the two platforms, their features and more:

Shopify puts the focus on the design of your eCommerce store, offering a great user experience and a diverse amount of themes to choose from within their library. Shopify’s user experience is very similar to WordPress, good for users who have used web-based tools in the past.

Users can also build stores around custom themes by piecing together Shopify’s themes or using a free theme within the platform. There are also premium themes available for purchase. Many of Shopify’s themes are created by third-party designers, giving the platform a strong ecosystem of designers and developers.

Shopify comes with the essential tools for managing an eCommerce store, including the ability to manage inventory, set pricing and taxes, customize shipping settings and showcase specific products. There are also additional features that will deepen marketing functions, SEO, and analytics tools. All of these features are available through the Shopify App Store, home to more than 500 apps to help add additional functions to any store.

BigCommerce, however, also puts an emphasis on store design with their platform. BigCommerce is a slightly newer platform – launched in 2009 as compared to Shopify which launched in 2006 – and has taken a more unique approach to the user experience within their platform. While Shopify is based on many of the web tools that users are typically familiar with, BigCommerce expands on this by adding more customization to basic tasks. For example, a user may have to go through a more detailed process to add a product to their store, but this process will include additional advanced options for users who want more detail and customization. One example of this more detailed customization is adding multiple, different images that change when customers select specific options.

Like Shopify, BigCommerce has an extensive theme library with free and premium options. While BigCommerce does not have as many themes as Shopify, the quality of the themes stands out and include the capabilities of responsive design and mobile browsing.

BigCommerce’s customization features stand out over Shopify’s more standard theme setup. Additional features with BigCommerce themes include built-in shipping quotes, gift certificates, product reviews and basic email marketing tools. Like Shopify, BigCommerce also has additional capabilities that can be added through an App Store; however, Shopify’s App Store is larger and provides more options.

So which platform is the better choice? Again, there is no correct answer. Both platforms have similar features and customization options to fit merchants’ needs.

If you are looking for a platform that has a great support system built around designers and developers, Shopify is probably the choice for you. With a greater range of themes, apps and a team of designers and developers, Shopify also has a simpler user interface that makes it easy for merchants to add products and set up options.

If you are looking for more detailed customization and to be heavily involved in the fine details of your store, BigCommerce is probably the better option. BigCommerce is a newer platform with more advanced features and functionality that users can get without having to utilize an App Store. BigCommerce also has a support system of designers and developers, like Shopify, but the platform is not as mature as Shopify and puts a greater focus on coding rather than a basic user interface.

Whether you are looking for a simple user experience or more customization, both Shopify and BigCommerce are leading eCommerce platforms because of their many features, themes and support.

Looking for more information about BigCommerce, Shopify and other eCommerce platforms? Continue reading the Genius eCommerce blog for updates, trends and news.

August 15, 2018

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Getting Started with Your Shopify Website: Your “Going Live” Checklist

Guide to Launching a Shopify Website

After you’ve completed your design, put in your content, and installed all the apps and features that you want, what’s left to do before launching your Shopify website? This checklist takes you step-by-step through all the details you should handle and double check before officially launching your store.

Products

When you are going through your “Going Live” checklist for products on your Shopify website, your primary point of focus will be your inventory and product descriptions. First, check that your inventory levels are where you want them to be. Then, take a look at your product descriptions. Do products have the correct tax status applied to them? Do your products (if applicable) have correct weights? Do you need to add any images to specify variety within products? Do your products have optimized and non-duplicate meta information? Have you determined your gift card and discount policies? If you can answer yes to all of these questions, then your products are all set.

Customers

This section is geared towards eCommerce business owners who have migrated their data to a Shopify website from a previous eCommerce platform. This can include customer data, so if you’ve changed eCommerce platforms, make sure you’ve imported previous customer groups. If you choose to do so, you can create customer groups for further organization.

Blog

If you are planning on having blog content on your site, double check that all the content to be listed is available. Then, there are a couple decisions you have to make in regards to your blog. Do you want customers to be able to comment? Have you added any featured images for your blogs? Do your blogs have unique meta information?

Content Pages

Content pages are an important resource for customers to find information on your business background as well as your business policies. Do you have an about us page? Do you have a contact us page (with an embedded contact form)? Do you have an FAQ and Terms and Conditions Page? Do you have a Shipping and Returns page? These are the most important content pages to include, but you should also double check that any sample or test pages that were used as filler in website development are deleted.

Themes

Before launching your Shopify website, you need to prepare your theme and content associated with it. First, make a backup and then also create a duplicate “test theme.” Another important tip is to add in language translations as a feature to your theme.

Website Navigation

Navigation is a critical feature on any website, not just an eCommerce website. It’s what allows the customer to easily move through the site from one page to another, and so before you take your Shopify eCommerce store live, double check that all of your navigation pages are working. So, make sure that your primary, secondary, and drop-down navigation menus are all available and working properly.

Payments, Checkout, Shipping, and Taxes

Before you launch your live website, Shopify fills in a testing payment option. So the first step to take is to determine your primary and secondary payment options, and also determine whether you want to add any manual payment options (paying offline).

Shopify’s checkout settings gives you a variety of options to choose how much information is given to and taken from the customer during checkout. In order to complete this part of the checklist, you need to determine which fields are required for customer checkout. You also will be prompted to determine what settings will be in place for abandoned cart emails, as well as making sure that refunding and privacy statements will be available.

Your comprehensive shipping plan needs to cover the following things: your shipping zones, what carrier you want to use, what shipping rates you prefer, and how to calculate shipping rates (based on weight or price). If you know there are times you will be offering free shipping, determine that now. Also, make sure your shipping label settings are complete and correct.

There are a handful of settings to determine for taxes. Do you want them added to the product price or added separately? Do you need to charge taxes on shipping? Are there tax overrides/exemptions for certain products or customers?

General Settings

This section is just small housekeeping details. First, make sure your images are optimized for your Shopify website. This will help your website performance and keep the images from slowing down the speed. Then, make sure your website’s homepage meta information is updated and grammatically correct. After that, make sure that you have inputted your Google Analytics account information into your Shopify information so that it can start collecting data as soon as your website goes live.

If you went through this comprehensive list and was able to check all the boxes complete, then you are all set to launch your business. After you go live with your Shopify website, it’s time to start watching your wallet grow. Did you find this article helpful or interesting? Share this to your social media and spread the word about Genius eCommerce!

May 26, 2017

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Your Complete Going Live Checklist For Your Volusion Website

What To Check Before Going Live With A Volusion Website

ECommerce platforms like Volusion make it incredibly easy for anyone to build and operate their own eCommerce business. However, there are still things that a Volusion eCommerce business owner should double check before officially launching their Volusion website. This “Going Live” checklist is intended to help you stay on top of the details and have everything all squared away by the time you are ready to launch.

Link Functionality

If there is a broken link on your Volusion website, not only will your customers get a badimpression of your business, it also limits their ability to properly use the website. So prior to going live, it’s essential that you check all of the links within your website to make sure a customer can navigate through the website however they need to. Check each of your central navigation links and make sure they are going to the correct place. Then, check your header and footer links. Next, make sure all the category pages in your navigation is working properly, and that all of the products are listed under the correct category.

Information About Your Business

This is when you set up your content pages on your Volusion website that aren’t related to your products. Your customers are going to want to know more about you, and they will inevitably have questions they want to be answered. Content pages provide areas where customers can easily find the information they are looking for. There are four essential content pages to giving the customer adequate information about your business. First, your “About” page where you let the customer know who you are and the mission and values of your business. Second, your “Terms and Conditions” page, which should be easy for the customer to find and understand. Third, you need to adequately explain your shipping and return policy. Without making this easily known on your Volusion website, you can run into a lot of problems with unhappy customers in the long run. If your return policy is easy to find and easy to understand, customers will be happier with your service. Finally, the fourth content page you should add is your contact information. Double check to make sure that all of your contact information is correct so that customers can actually reach you.

Test Your Orders

If any functions relating to ordering products aren’t working, then your Volusion website becomes pointless. And if these functions aren’t working, you also won’t be making a profit. That’s why it’s imperative that you put these functions through extensive testing before going live with your Volusion website. Make a test purchase with each of the different payment options you are providing, and look over the order confirmation page you get for each respective payment option. Double check your shipping rates for the products and make sure that they are added correctly, and make sure that the tax calculator is working properly. Find out whether there are any inconsistencies or issues and fix them before your site goes live. Another important tip is to test your ordering ability on all the major web browsers to make sure each payment options works on each web browser.

Email Functionality

Customers rely on their email to get information about updated products as well as their order and shipping information. So it is critical that you make sure email is setup within your Volusion website and that it is working properly. Go into the “order confirmation” and “order shipped” email templates and make sure that they are all customized to your brand and your eCommerce business. You don’t want to give your customers any incorrect information about your shipping policies, so double check that all the information is correct (including contact information).

SEO Setup

Start working on your SEO and analytics before you’ve even launched your site. A great tool to help you out is the Google Analytics app so that you can view all your SEO data from the moment you hit the go button. Double check all of your page titles and also your meta descriptions to make sure they are clean, concise, grammatically correct, and also unique for each one.

General Maintenance

At this point, the biggest job left for your Volusion website is to double check your spelling and grammar throughout any and all content to make sure you don’t have any spelling or grammatical errors. This doesn’t just include product descriptions and content pages, you also need to check any buttons or headings or any text on your website. Double check that it is not only spelled correctly but that it is formatted to your liking. Another final job is to test your eCommerce store in all the major web browsers. There can sometimes be variation with how a web page appears on a particular browser, so determine if there are any issues and find a solution.

Now you are all set to go live with your Volusion website! Need help from an eCommerce platform developer before going live with your Volusion store? Email info@geniusecommerce.com for a professional recommendation!

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What Is The Difference Between Managed eCommerce Platforms and Open Source CMS?

A Simple Guide to Managed eCommerce Platforms vs. Open Source CMS

The biggest difference between these two eCommerce solutions is that a managed eCommerce platform is hosted on a separate server, which you won’t be able to access. Generally, this means that your eCommerce website will be provided for you (with the ability for some customizations and added features) and all you need to do is add your content and products. On the other hand, when you use an open source CMS (instead of a managed eCommerce platform) you will host it on your own server. However, this leaves you to set up your own online store. There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing a managed platform over or open source CMS, so to make the choice it’s helpful to understand the advantages and disadvantages of each type of platform.

Managed eCommerce Platforms

There are two primary advantages to using a managed eCommerce platform. The first is that it requires less website development. The various managed eCommerce platforms use pre-built templates that you can choose from when setting up your website. For eCommerce business owners with no website development experience, or any knowledge about web programming or code, this can be a huge advantage. Of course, it’s always possible to hire a professional to develop your website for you, but that isn’t realistic for everyone’s budget. The platforms are set up to have easy-to-use and intuitive admin dashboard that allow you to go through and add your content to make any changes you want. The disadvantage to this is that it limits your ability to customize your website how you want. You may find you want a feature that isn’t available on the platform, but that you don’t know how to make a code for it. Or everything on a template is great, except for one major detail that you can’t change. The ease-of-use means that your website is going to look not as unique than if it was fully customized. Chances are that another eCommerce store out there is using the same template as you.

The other advantage is that a managed eCommerce platform is much easier to stay on top of and manage, particularly for people who don’t know a lot about website programming or don’t have a lot of technical knowledge. When your website is hosted by a separate server there are fewer things for you to worry about or be in charge of for your website, because the managed eCommerce platform is doing it for you. This means that features like payment and visitor information protection will be covered and managed by the hosting platform’s security. Another big advantage is that you will have greater access to a customer support and technical team. You are technically renting the server from the managed eCommerce platform, which means they will be available to help you through any technical difficulties.

Open Source CMS

An open source CMS is definitely geared towards eCommerce business owners that have a greater technical knowledge of web programming and development. The first advantage of an open source CMS is that you have a much less limited ability for customization. You can modify any of the features available, which means that you online store is completely unique. The next advantage has to do with how you own your store; with an open source CMS you have to actually purchase the server for your website (whereas with a managed eCommerce platform, you are technically renting a server for your eCommerce store). However, this means you will most likely have limited access to any technical help should there be a problem over your server.

Another advantage is that an open source CMS is better equipped to handle larger online stores with more traffic. This is because of the ability for customizable features, so an eCommerce business owner can find a server to host a larger online store and still have the ability to run a well-functioning eCommerce website.

The main disadvantages associated with an open source CMS is that there is a lot more to manage with your website, because you are in charge of your own server. This could be a great feature for some, or a hindrance to others. And if you struggle with website development and programming, an open source CMS can be particularly difficult for you without professional help.

Overall, choosing between either a managed eComerce platform or an open source CMS boils down to personal preference and technical knowledge. Someone who prefers to have more control and more ownership of their website should turn to an open source CMS, while someone who needs more of the technical work managed by an outside source should use a managed eCommerce platform. At the end of the day, the right choice is whatever is going to work best for you and work best to make your eCommerce business a success. If you have any questions, or are trying to start your own eCommerce business, contact Genius eCommerce and get your successful business started.

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The Three Steps You Need to Follow to Launch An eCommerce Website

What You Need to Know to Start Your First eCommerce Website

Launching an eCommerce website can be easier than most people think, as long as you approach it with the right steps in mind. With these three steps you need to launch an eCommerce website, you will be well on your way to eCommerce success!

Find the Right Product with the Right Manufacturer

Determining your product is one of the hardest parts of the process of launching an eCommerce website. Here are the most important things to consider when determining your product.

First, you should keep in mind both the anticipated cost of your product, the market price to set it at, and the margin of profit you will be making. Another thing that can help you pick a product is to find out if it’s easily available to people locally; if it’s not, people will be much more likely to turn to purchasing it online. You also need to consider the shipping of the product. Is the size or weight of the product going to make it exceptionally difficult to ship? If you want to meet customer’s expectations of free or low-cost shipping, a heavier or bigger product is going to mean special shipping, which will increase the cost to the customer. The best products to choose for an eCommerce website are ones that can be easy or relatively easy to ship.

Now it’s time to pick your manufacturer. You also may choose to use a supplier, which means that you are ordering already made products (usually in bulk). A couple resources to use is Google Shopping (which searches for online products), WorldWide Brands (a paid directory for suppliers), or Wholesale Central (a free directory for suppliers).

Choosing the Right eCommerce Platform

Are you wondering why products and manufacturers come before setting up the website? Most people are drawn towards having their storefront set up before filling it with products, but particularly when it comes to an eCommerce website, it can take awhile to figure out and get manufacturers on board. Interestingly enough, it can also be faster to get manufacturers to work with your business when you have an eCommerce website coming soon rather than an empty website. A great way to start getting the word out about your eCommerce business without investing in a full website is to create a simple page that says “Coming Soon” and maybe has some details about your company.

Your eCommerce platform is going to handle all the various functions of your business, including your products and checkout. The fastest way to narrow down your search for the right eCommerce platform is to figure out what you need first. Determine what size your business will be, what features and functions are absolutely essential, what security/privacy options are available through the platform, how it fits into your budget, and anything else you feel is necessary. A quick search through the industry leaders will allow you to read specific features of each and see how it compares to your checklist.

Two great options for new eCommerce business owners are Shopify and OpenCart. Shopify is a hosted platform, which is great for business owners who need something that is easy to set up. Shopify takes care of pretty much everything, all you need to do is choose a template and the apps that you want it, and start filling it in with your own information. A downside of this is that it doesn’t easily allow for customization. OpenCart is the opposite of Shopify; it is an open source platform which allows for greater freedom of customization. However, it does mean you have to set up your own hosting and security measures.

Logos and Web Design

Although it’s not in everyone’s budget, utilizing an eCommerce design agency is an excellent way to ensure that everything from your logo to your web design is on brand and customized exactly to your preference. One web development company that does this is 1 Digital Agency, who is a team of people experienced in developing eCommerce platforms, including OpenCart and Shopify. They can design and develop a personal brand for you that covers your logo and newsletter design, to implementing a coherent and on-brand look for your website.

If this isn’t quite in your budget, there are ways to work around it rather than attempting a DIY project. You can purchase additional templates outside of the ones specifically available on your eCommerce platform from resources like ThemeForest, where you can even find ones designed specifically for the eCommerce platform that you use. For logos, you can look at freelancing websites to find a freelance graphic designer to pay for a one-time project to create your logo.

Take what you’ve learned in this article and get ready to launch your own eCommerce website. With these three basic steps, you are equipped with the advice and information you need to make your way in the eCommerce industry. Looking for a professional advice for launching an eCommerce website? Send a message to info@geniusecommerce.com and we will connect you with a professional!

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The Comprehensive Guide To Setting Up An eCommerce Store

Learn How To Set Up an eCommerce Store That Will Generate Profit

Online shopping is a booming market, so it’s no surprise that entrepreneurs are turning to selling online through an eCommerce store as a way of making money and earning a living. If you are looking to take advantage of the opportunities the internet can give you, but you aren’t sure where to begin or how to start making money, then you are in the right place.

Setting Up Your eCommerce Store

The primary step to setting up an eCommerce store is to pick a produce to sell. You can either approach this decision by choosing something that is important to you, or you can take something that is already on the market and find ways to improve it. If you are new at eCommerce, it can be helpful to take the second option because it is less of a risk.

Although the product you chose may not necessarily be something that’s important to you, choose something that you don’t have to do a lot of outside research to learn about it. Again, if you are new to eCommerce you should generally choose low-risk options and fit into a market that you already know about is certainly a lower risk. A resource that’s incredibly easy to access and to view existing products all at once is Amazon. You can start by looking at the best-selling and highest rated in the market and see what improvements can be made.

The next step to figure out is how you are going to source your products. An excellent resource for this is Alibaba.com. All you have to do is input a keyword or a group of keywords into the website, and you can view a list of suppliers the offer variations on the product you’re hoping to sell. Not every company that you view will be able to meet all of your demands or will fit what you’re hoping for your business. The best advice to follow is to contact several different suppliers; figure out what you feel is essential for your product and what policies and services you’ll need from your supplier and find out how each potential supplier matches up.

Now it’s time to set up your eCommerce store. A lot of merchants choose to sell their products solely on Amazon, but you can also choose an eCommerce platform to help set up your own website where you can sell your products. If you still like the advantage of how many people Amazon reaches, keep in mind that several different eCommerce platforms provide integration with Amazon so that your products can be sold on your eCommerce store and Amazon at the same time.

An eCommerce platform is an incredible resource; the software used for these platforms have dramatically improved as the online shopping industry has completely taken off. Many of these platforms are specifically designed for the average entrepreneur to be able to figure out and design their own website. For more complex or customized designs, web development companies like 1 Digital Agency are a great professional resource to turn to if you want to make sure that your website is innovative and uniquely designed.

Strategies To Generate Sales

The best way to generate sales? Drive traffic to your website. When setting out on this goal, determine who you want to be driving toward your website. Think about the market that you are occupying, and figure out who is most likely going to need or want your product. This can greatly vary how you drive traffic to your eCommerce store. Take millennials, for example. If you are targeting this age group, that means everything mobile and social media needs to have extra attention paid to it. Because of the dramatic increase in smartphone use (which is the phone of choice by millennials), you need to make your website responsive to mobile use. And you need to concentrate your marketing efforts on social media; rather than making a commercial, consider using Facebook or Twitter ads.

Another sale generating tip is to consistently re-target your audience. This means re-introducing your product to visitors to your website that didn’t purchase anything. This is where Facebook ads can come in handy because if a visitor (but non-customer) consistently sees your product advertised after originally choosing not to buy it, they become much more likely to purchase. Another great way to continue to generate sales is to target cart abandonment. This is when a visitor added something to their shopping cart but decided not to buy it and leave the website. A great way to target those visitors is by sending emails reminding them that they left products in their shopping cart. You can further encourage them to make a purchase by offering them a promotional sale or discount if they choose to come back and buy your product.

Now that you know the basics of setting up an eCommerce store, and a solid foundation of tips for generating sales, take the leap for yourself! Build your own eCommerce store and watch success come your way. Did you find this article helpful? Leave us a note in the comments or share to your social media!

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