How to create a successful online store

Thinking of creating an online store? Check out the guide on starting online store. It’s a great way to make extra money or eventually set up your own business. But the beginnings can be intimidating, and the hardest part is knowing where to start. Well, we have some advice for you!

The good news is that it doesn’t take much investment or technical knowledge to create your own online store. Just learn how to manage our editor. I can assure you it is incredibly easy.

But before it even comes to building an actual website, consider these tips:

First, what are you going to sell?

Standing out in a crowded market bursting with thousands of products takes a bit of an effort, right? Try making an analysis of products to sell in Google Trends. Or se the list of popular products we already created.

• Choose an attractive design. It doesn’t matter what you sell if you’re selling it on a website with a wrongly chosen design. First impressions are really important and the appearance must be always taken into account. With Webnode, you won’t need to hire a designer. Our templates come with clean and intuitive designs and are all ready for you to start selling. Make sure to use high-quality photos of your products and avoid unnecessary distractions. Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words.
• Take care of your customers. Resolving doubts, both before and during the purchase, can turn those dubious visitors into potential customers. Add a live chat to your online store with Smartsupp and provide immediate support whenever your customers need it.
• Things that build trust. It’s very important that your visitors know who you are. That’s what the “About us” section is for. Briefly explain your story and always keep the contact details (phone, email, address, etc.) clearly visible so that the future buyers know where to find you.

Have you heard the phrase “If you are not satisfied, we will refund your money”? It definitely inspires extra confidence among customers. Allow them to return a product if they change their mind or just because it’s not what they were looking for. The more flexibility you offer, the better.

• Take advantage of AI marketing tools. Connect your website to different social networks and build relationships with new clients.

Google Analytics tools will help you track which social channels are used the most to focus on those platforms. Did you know that we have a video tutorial on Google Analytics? Take a look at how easy it is to set up.

Email also provides a great opportunity for reaching your customers. Let’s start with the basics here – collect email addresses and build your client base. Make sure your customers really want to receive your newsletters. Webnode makes it easy. All our templates have a built-in checkbox for buyers to indicate whether they wish to accept marketing emails. Not all of them will give their consent, but your list of contacts will surely grow over time.

Then you can identify their interests and create specific messages focused on their needs. Catering to their tastes encourages sales, boosts revenues and can turn your email into a powerful business tool.

• The secret is in the Blog. Blogs are useful for driving traffic to your online store. Use keywords in your posts and gradually, you’ll get a better position in search results. Don’t forget to take care of your blog and regularly update it with fresh and original content.

Google Analytics will also provide accurate data on how many visits you receive from your blog posts. Old posts with a high number of visits might be a great source of inspiration for future articles.

• Offer different payment and shipping methods. Become a PayPal business account holder to accept credit and debit card payments. Your customers won’t need PayPal accounts to pay for their orders and can be sure their money will be safe. You can also offer other methods such as bank transfer or cash.

Add different shipping methods as well and offer your customers more options (DHL, FedEx, UPS, etc.). With order tracking, your clients can keep an eye on their deliveries at all times.

Have you considered offering free shipping? Additional shipping cost can cause potential customers to back out of the purchase. On the other hand, using the word “Free” proves to be very attractive. Expect a higher initial investment on your side, but you should soon notice positive results. Offering free shipping can not only attract more customers but also enhance route planning by streamlining delivery logistics and potentially reducing overall costs.

• Watch your competitors. There are many websites offering similar products. To succeed, you have to keep track of the market and your competitors. Understanding their behavior can determine what needs to be changed in your online store to retain customers or attract new ones.
• Offer discounts and watch the sales increase. It’s always enticing to see discounted products. Offering your clients different incentives to encourage sales is definitely a good approach.
• Improve your SEO and visibility in search engines. Google Search Console and our own SEO tools can give your website a boost and improve its position in search results. Better position will bring in more visitors.

Connecting to platforms like Google Shopping, eBay E-Commerce or creating a catalog on Facebook will also significantly improve your visibility on the internet.

Apply these tips, set up your online store, find out what visitors think about it and find ways how to improve it. The better you know your target market and your clients, the more advantages you will have over your competitors.

Create an online store