If you want to have an online store, understanding ecommerce website development will be useful in knowing how to create a website for your business and sell products through it. Knowing computer coding is necessary to build web pages from scratch.
However, nowadays, you can find software solutions such as website builders that allow you to develop and personalize your website as you wish, for example, by using pre-built templates or even artificial intelligence.
They also allow you to activate the selling function, enable payments, set up the shipping process, and connect with third-party software, like CRMs.
What Is Ecommerce Website Development?
Ecommerce website development refers to the process of creating a website to sell products and services. It includes planning, choosing a domain, designing the page layouts, developing a user-friendly and responsive interface, creating content, making sure the website is functioning without any errors, adding the product catalog, and setting up payment gateways, for example.
How to Develop an Ecommerce Website
1. Define Your Website's Goal
The first step in ecommerce website development is defining the website's purpose and how you intend to reach your goals. For example, what are you going to sell on your online store? How are you going to showcase the products?
Once you know what you aim to achieve, you can make an assertive plan for the website structure, design, sections, and content. Create a draft of your website, and write down the main message you wish to transmit.
What aspects of your brand do you want to highlight on the website? How do you want your company to be perceived? Break down your brand into separate elements, and it will help you to visualize how to put them on the website.
2. List the Pages You Want to Put on Your Website
Listing what pages will be on your ecommerce website will help you understand how to structure it. When it comes to an online store, you need to create a page for each product, and for different product categories, for instance. Besides the home page, which is required regardless of the type of website you are building.
You may also consider adding an "about us" page to present your brands and tell your company's mission and values, a blog section to provide content that will attract your target audience, and a "contact us" page as well.
3. Choose a Domain Name
One of the most important things, when you make a website, is to think about how your page is going to be found by your target audience. Choosing a domain name that is short and easy to remember will simplify things.
You can use your brand's name, for example. Try to avoid using special characters or words that are hard to spell, and opt for a suffix like ".com". It adds more credibility to your website.
4. Select a Website Builder
If you don't have experience with computer coding and don't want to hire a team for that, using a website builder allows you to develop an ecommerce website without being an expert in this area. You will find several website builder solutions for online stores, and analyze not only the price but also the features they offer and how they suit your business.
5. Create or Pick a Website Template
You can create a website template or choose a pre-built one, then personalize it to match your brand's identity. Remember to use a template that is mobile-friendly, ensuring users will enjoy your website the same way whether accessing it from a desktop computer or a mobile device.
6. Customize the Website
When users access your website, they must be able to identify that the page is related to your brand right away. That's why the template has to be aligned with your company’s visual identity, add the logo, and use the same colors from other design pieces you have.
If you haven't created a brand manual with a visual identity, that is an opportunity to start. Think of a logo that translates your business proposal and its values, and that promotes identification with your potential customers. You will be able to use it on your website, on your social media pages, emails, and others.
7. Install Plugins and Apps to Enhance Your Website’s Features
Plugins are features that you will attach to your website to make the user experience even better. You will find multiple types of them with different functions, such as plugins for adding payment gateways, sharing content on social media, website privacy and security, and much more.
8. Develop the Content
It's essential to provide high-quality content to attract visitors to your website and make them want to navigate through your pages. Knowing your target audience will help you define what type of content is interesting to them.
Pay close attention to the content on the products page. Publish high-quality product photos and write detailed product descriptions, so the customer can know exactly what they are buying, which will avoid having a high return rate.
Your customers can help you create the content as well, for instance, by enabling them to rate the products and leave comments.
9. Implement SEO Best Practices
It's important to consider search engine optimization (SEO) best practices from the moment you start planning your website, because they are going to help you get more visibility for your pages and products.
Search engines like Google rank pages according to their relevance to specific keywords, so when people look for a term, the most relevant pages appear on the first page. If your pages are considered relevant, when someone searches for a keyword related to them, you can appear in the first results, increasing the organic traffic of the website and also the sales.
Here are some practices that you can apply to appear on the first search results page:
- Research keywords that are relevant to your target audience.
- Develop high-quality content using these keywords.
- Customize URLs with the keywords.
- Add alt text to images.
- Use a responsive design.
- Customize page titles.
- Provide a good user experience.
- Make sure your pages load fast.
10. Review and Publish
Before launching your ecommerce website, go through every page to review the details. Check if the texts are written correctly, if the buttons and other features are also functioning properly, and if there isn't any element misplaced. Navigate through the website as if you were one of your customers, and make sure it provides an amazing user experience. After that, you are ready to press publish and go live.
Types of ecommerce websites
As several business models with target audiences differ from one another, the existence of various kinds of e-commerce websites is a natural phenomenon. It helps to guide you when building your ecommerce and defining which features to add. Take a look at it:
- B2B: Business-to-business e-commerce, as the name suggests, is companies that sell products or services to other companies to meet demands. For example, a store that specializes in selling software designed for business solutions, or raw material suppliers.
- B2C: Business-to-consumer e-commerce is the stores that sell directly to the final consumer, for example, a shoe store, or a clothing one. Such as when you purchase a new smartphone at the Apple Store.
- C2C: Consumer-to-consumer e-commerce is the kind of sales transactions that happen between consumers, as the name suggests. A simple example is a sales garage, but in this case, it happens online. There are platforms already specialized in allowing people to sell their used items on the internet, like Decluttr.
- C2B: Consumer-to-business ecommerce is when the sales transaction happens from the consumer to a company. We can see that when brands pay for someone to show their products on their social media page.
10 Best Ecommerce Website Builders
1. Wix
Wix provides an Industry-leading ecommerce website builder, which has several features that allow you to have a completely personalized store to offer a great customer experience. You can choose a pre-built template and customize the design to add your brand's visual identity.
If you don't have a logo or name for your company yet, you can count on Wix's logo maker and name generator tools to help you with that. It's possible to have an online store with up to 50.000 products using Wix.
The platform also has its payment gateway, Wix Payments, but it's possible to choose from a network of payment providers and methods as well. Use the tax automation feature and custom shipping rules to facilitate your work. If you wish to sell on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay, Wix gives you the option to connect your account to them and manage everything using a single dashboard.
Key features:
- More than 500 free online store templates
- Website editor
- Logo maker
- Name generator
- Wix Payments
- Tax automation
- Sell on marketplaces
- Store subscriptions
2. SITE123
Ecommerce website development - SITE123
Multiple website templates to choose from, responsive design, intuitive website editor, and features developed to enable you to sell online worldwide: those are just a few of the benefits SITE 123 offers.
You will have your store all set and running with just a few steps. Upload products, set taxes, shipping, and payment methods, and you are ready to start. Your ecommerce site will be stored on a content distribution network (CDN) with servers spread around the world, which helps to have a faster load time for your pages.
At the SITE123 dashboard, you can manage orders, using an automated or manual inventory, select the currencies accepted, and create coupons to offer special discounts for your clients. You are also going to count on SSL certificates to ensure your website is secure.
Key features:
- Website editor
- Pre-built templates
- SEO tools
- SSL certificate
- Inventory management tools
- Mobile-friendly design
- Custom domain
- 24/7 customer support
3. WooCommerce
Ecommerce website development - WooCommerce
WooCommerce is a customizable ecommerce platform built on WordPress. If you already use WordPress to manage your website, you can easily integrate WooCommerce with it. Use the WordPress website editor to develop the pages, choose from its extensive options of professional templates, and customize them to add your brand's visual identity.
You can have a website with multiple sections, including the online store and a blog, for instance. After setting up your website, it's time to configure the ecommerce. Install the WooCommerce plugin, and, after it, add the products, define shipping and payment options.
Key features:
- Integrated with WordPress
- Customizable themes
- Install extensions
- Secure payments
- Configurable shipping options
- Run your store from anywhere
4. Bluehost
With Bluehost, you can build a personalized website using AI tools that simplify the whole process. You can change the colors, add pictures, texts, graphic elements, and much more.
To ensure the quality of your website, Bluehost provides automated security updates, data backup protection, and 24/7 customer support. If you encounter any issues, you can rely on specialized assistance.
You can install multiple plugins on the website, too. To help you increase organic traffic, the platform provides SEO tools, and you can check the performance of the pages with the analytics dashboard.
Highlighted features:
- Free domain
- Free SSL
- Free CDN
- Pre-built templates
- Insightful analytics
- Automated security updates
- Backup data protection
- 24/7 support
- SEO tools
- Powerful plugins
5. Webnode
Ecommerce website development - Webnode
You can use the Webnode website editor to develop each page of your website from a pre-built template, and customize your online store as you need. It isn't necessary to install any software to manage your website and online store; it's possible to do everything at the Webnode dashboard, and even edit or create content on your tablet or mobile phone.
Get a new domain or use an existing one, and count on reliable hosting that allows you to expand the bandwidth and get more space as your ecommerce site grows. The backup feature makes your website even safer since it gives you the opportunity to save previous versions of it and restore them in case of any problem.
The built-in SEO tools provided help to optimize your pages for search engines and gain more visibility. Setting up the store is simple; you can add products and make them available within a few minutes. You will be notified about every order made, and it's possible to offer different payment and shipping options.
Key features:
- User-friendly website builder
- Predesigned pages
- Reliable hosting
- Website backup
- SEO tools
- Edit on any device
- HTTPS for safe browsing
- Intuitive store management
- Store statistics
- Import products in bulk
6. Shoplazza
Ecommerce website development - Shoplazza
Are you looking for an easy-to-use ecommerce platform that enables you to quickly set up your online store? Shoplazza offers you multiple features, starting with pre-built templates that can be completely customized using the drag-and-drop editor.
With the inventory management system, you can use the platform to keep control of the stocks. You can offer as many products as you wish on your online store, and accept multiple currencies and different payment methods. Shoplazza even counts on more than 150 shipping partners to help you organize the delivery process.
Key features:
- Pre-built templates
- Drag-and-drop online store button
- Inventory management system
- Marketing tools
- SEO tools
- Staff accounts
- Multiple payment options
- Shipping partners
7. BigCommerce
Ecommerce website development - BigCommerce
BigCommerce offers versatile solutions to help you create an online store that fits your business and customers' needs. With the page builder visual editor, it's easy to edit each site page, using the drag-and-drop feature, and also by choosing a premade theme, which already has built-in CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.
To improve the experience at your store, you can create more than 70 native discounts and promotions, no scripting required, use Google Cloud Platform to have blazing-fast speed, custom product recommendations, and implement digital wallets. It's also possible to insert a search bar and enable refined search, so customers can quickly find what they want.
Enjoy the SEO tools, such as customizable URLs, to improve your website's visibility and rank better at search engines. If you have a WordPress site, you can connect it to BigCommerce. Another advantage is that you have the option to sell in multiple marketplaces and integrate them with your BigCommerce account to manage everything in a single dashboard.
Key features:
- Page builder visual editor
- Theme customization
- WordPress integration
- SEO tools
- Refined searching
- Cross-channel commerce
- B2B solutions
- Multi-currency
- Multi-language
- Global CDN
8. WordPress Ecommerce
Ecommerce website development - WordPress Ecommerce
WordPress Ecommerce allows you to have a completely personalized online store and still offers the best management tools. You can start taking payments in seconds by enabling the PayPal button, and easily set up debit and credit card payments.
You will be able to publish content and sell products using the same platform. WordPress also provides multiple plugins to enhance user experience, increase sales, and guarantee your website is safe. You will have the option to sell not only physical products but digital items as well.
Key features:
- WordPress themes
- Different types of plugins
- Google apps
- Sell physical and digital products
- Enable subscriptions
- Customization tools
- Easy-to-use website editor
9. Jumpseller
Ecommerce website development - Jumpseller
Jumpseller helps you create your store and manage it with an easy-to-use platform. Choose a pre-built template with a mobile-friendly design, and enjoy the customization features to have an online store that matches your business needs and brand visual identity.
It's possible to have versions of your website in multiple languages, so you can sell worldwide. To enhance customer experience, you can add the product filtering feature, which allows customers to insert filters when searching for a product, enabling them to quickly find what they want.
You also have the option to sell on Facebook, Instagram by integrating your Jumpseller account to the social media platforms and managing the inventory in a single dashboard. Increase traffic and boost sales by syncing your Jumpseller catalog with Google Merchant Center, helping Google's machine learning to show your products on relevant searches.
Key features:
- All-in-one ecommerce platform
- Pre-built templates
- Sync with social media
- Global shipping options
- Sell in multiple languages
- Create special promotions
- Refine product searches
10. Strikingly
Ecommerce website development - Strikingly
Strikingly allows you to choose the best pre-built template for your store, edit it, add products, and set shipping and payment options. You can create a new domain or use an existing one, develop a blog to provide valuable content for your target audience, and promote sales by creating coupon discounts.
It gives you the option to add live chat, sign-up forms, and turn visitors into superfans to promote engagement and encourage your clients to become loyal customers. All websites developed at Strikingly get HTTPS automatically, for free. Enjoy the analytics built in to analyze your website metrics.
Key features:
- Pre-built templates
- Custom domain
- Sign up and contact forms
- Analytics built-in
- HTTPS built-in
- 24/7 customer support
11. WiziShop
Ecommerce website development - WiziShop
WiziShop enables you to build an ecommerce site that is technically ready for SEO, which helps to get your pages to rank better in search engines like Google. You will have the flexibility to develop your website as you wish, starting by selecting a professionally designed pre-built template that suits your needs. Customize it to align with your brand's identity.
The ecommerce platform has all the tools you need not only to design the pages, but also to promote your online store and manage it. To enhance customer experience, you can include banners, customer reviews, abandoned cart follow-ups, and much more.
You will also count on Wizishop's CMS (Content Management System) to create a personalized sales funnel and develop marketing strategies as well. You can choose the payment system that suits your company best, set the delivery methods, create a domain name, and start selling.
Key features:
- Pre-built templates
- Responsive design
- SEO tools
- CMS
- Website hosting
- Analytical tools
- Email marketing
