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The Ideal workflow for eCommerce Development

Online business is booming and eCommerce is the way to go for any growing business. You have a product you want to sell or a great business idea. Building an eCommerce website will strengthen the reputation of your business, help you expand your brand nationally and internationally, and expand your professional network.

Planning

To ensure the success of an eCommerce website, you must start by making a sound strategy and plan. First of all, you must decide on a product that you are going to sell. Study the market demands and trends to determine which product will be ideal for your business. Anticipate your greatest needs and challenges as your business grows. Plan how you are going to handle the shipping of your products.

Figure out the options you will need for the growth of your business. Make multiple plans for the progress of your business and execute them when required. Promote your website on all digital channels to divert audience to your eCommerce store. Develop a cost-effective solution and streamline the buying and payment process. Plan ahead and try to make the best long-term decisions for the future growth of your business.

Choose the domain name and hosting

It is important to choose a perfect domain which resonates with your business idea. Take your time in choosing the domain name as it can not be changed in the future. You need to come up with a domain name that is easy and unique. Keep the domain name short so that customer who visits your online store can easily remember the website name.

Your next step is to look out for web hosting options and service providers that will offer the server space for your domain. It is important to select a server that can be scaled to your requirements. Pick a provider who promises you a good connectivity speed so that it does not drain your customers’ time and patience with a slow-loading website. You can check out the dedicated hosting option to that of a shared hosting option and pick the one that suits your requirements.

Choose the right platform

Another important step will be selecting the right eCommerce platform for your business. There are a lot of different options available in the market to choose from to build an eCommerce store. You might want to choose a platform that is flexible and easy to use. Some of the most popular eCommerce platforms in the industry are Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and Opencart.  Before choosing any platform you must get a thorough understanding of the advantages and limitations of each platform. Because these eCommerce platforms will play a crucial role in determining the success of your business.

Get the design layout

Now the next step in building an eCommerce site is to design your store. It’s all about providing an aesthetic appeal to your e-commerce website. You must prepare a website layout and logo concept for your eCommerce store. First, have a clear layout of the website that you want it to look like. Select a theme that represents your brand and allows you to showcase your products in the best way possible. After installing the theme, you can add different pages and content that you would require in the online store. Create product categories that will help customers to easily find the things they are looking for. Try to understand your ideal customer and design your website with their preferences in mind.  

Other important aspects to consider while designing your online store are putting a logo which will represent your brand and help in recognition, providing high-quality product images, complete product details, maybe a short video about the product and simple payment methods. Built your website in a way that’s easy to navigate for the customers.

Check full functionality

To run an eCommerce business it is important to include important features and functionalities that are necessary and will be responsible for the smooth functioning of the website. The success of any eCommerce website depends on the feature you offer to the customers.

Some of the most important features that every eCOmmerce website must include are:

  • Shopping Cart
  • Content Management System
  • An integrated blog section
  • Payment Gateway Integration
  • Order Management
  • Scalable infrastructure
  • Mobile Compatibility
  • Logistics Integration
  • Reports and analytics

Spend some time double-checking every page on your site for typos, broken links, missing functionality or other things that don’t work. You’ll also want to run through a few sample purchases to make sure the checkout process works smoothly as well.

eCommerce Website Maintenance

Website maintenance is very important for any website irrespective of any business and industry. It includes maintenance of existing or a functioning website to be secured and other features to be working properly. The main aim is to make sure website performance is driving results. Some essential website maintenance tips are as follows:

  • Fix urgent issues and critical bugs fast.
  • Update product inventory to keep your site current.
  • Keep your website load speed under check. A website which takes time to load will drive customers away. So, optimize your website to provide your end users with the best user experience.
  • Update content, replace outdated content with fresh and trending things. Give your customers something new to consume.
  • Do A/B testing on problematic pages and search results.
  • Use credible scanning tools in order to check your website for any security issues.
  • Check the overall SEO health of your website, keep yourselves updated with the latest developments, keep on figuring out what’s missing and what is more than can be done.

It’s important to keep in mind that development and maintenance are two totally different types of work. Maintaining a website takes as much work as developing it in the first place. With all these website maintenance measures in place, your website will run smoothly.