How to set up an e-shop step by step

In this article, you will learn how to set up an e-shop and, more importantly, learn how to drive traffic and generate revenue. You are probably reading this article because you are looking for some software or applications that will help you start an e-shop or instructions for setting up an e-shop. Finding the right software is relatively easy. E.g. Shopify, suggestions are listed below. But making the e-shop make money is one of the more complex areas. This article will focus on both areas - how to create an e-shop and attract visitors and thus sales. Before we get to this issue, let's look at how to choose products for sale.

1. Choose the right product to sell

Choosing the right product to sell is absolutely essential to the success of your online business. However, the term "correct" does not mean quality, but the uniqueness of your product.

This is because when you start an online store, you compete with a large number of popular sites that sell everything under the sun. For example, think about Amazon and Ebay to get an idea.

In general, if you sell things that are already available on this site, you will experience a difficult period. To start a successful online business, you need to find your segment. Identify it or directly create a product that is not sold by every merchant on the Internet. At the same time, choose a product that is supposed to sustain your online business.

For example, instead of selling a guitar that is commonly available on Amazon, you might consider selling an instrument that is difficult to find online and in which you know there is a great demand for it. Segment search usually involves keyword research. Let's take a look.

2. Find your segment using keyword research

You will need to do some research to find your segment.

The easiest way to identify a segment:

1) Use the Keyword Tool (Moz Keyword Explorer, SERP) to find the segment

2) Conduct an online survey to find out what kind of competition is operating in these markets

Keyword search tools

The Keyword Tool can help you determine how many searches for different keywords have occurred each month. For example, you might find that the word "buy guitar" was searched 206,000 times a month. The word "buy a ukulele" only 1,600 times a month.

Based on these findings, you may begin to think that there is a much larger market for guitars. You say, I'm going to sell guitars. But stop here and start thinking about the number of guitar stores you will be competing with.

The numbers the keyword search engine tells us tell us that ukulele is a much more appropriate specific product with enough people interested in buying it. Almost 20,000 a year worldwide. Which is enough people to keep the ukulele-focused online business running.

The question is whether there are already many retailers who sell this product on the market. This could make the situation more difficult for you.

To find out, you need to focus on "keyword difficulty." The score given by the Keyword Tool. The higher a keyword's difficulty score, the more difficult it will be to rank for finding the name of that product.

It's also a good idea to do a Google search to find out how many online stores specialize in ukulele sales. If you find that there are many popular online ukulele stores, you should start thinking about selling another product. But if you only find one or two stores, you can start thinking about starting a business with this specific product.

This is a very basic case, you can go much further. During research, you may find that there are many sellers of ukuleles, but there are not many sellers who focus on soprano ukuleles.

The trick is usually to find products for which there is strong demand. But with a relatively small number of online stores selling them (ideally none at all).

3. Acquisition of stocks

There are two main options available to you when it comes to stockpiling. Purchase from a supplier and their resale or dropshipping.

The advantage of the first variant - buying from a supplier you know is that you can check the quality of stocks. Ensure that goods are produced ethically and build a good relationship with the supplier.

The downside is that you will need some cash to invest in buying stocks. If you make it yourself, you will have to invest in production. If you make your own products, you are actually a supplier.

The second option is dropship. Dropshipping is a method where you do not keep in stock what you are selling. You place an order that you send to the supplier and he delivers the goods to the customer. In this case, you act as an intermediary.

The main advantage of this method is that no pre-investment is required. The downside is that dropshipping is a relatively competitive area. You can end up selling products that are sold by many competing merchants. In addition, there may be some ethical concerns. Not all dropshipping suppliers have the best records of how their goods are made.

Most major e-commerce platforms offer add-ons / integrations that allow you to search for and offer goods from a wide range of suppliers. Popular apps include Oberlo for Shopify and Alibaba for Bigcommerce.

4. How to create an e-shop

Once you've identified the segment and the right product and know where to get inventory, it's time to think about how to set up an e-shop. You can hire an agency or an expert to design your online store. If you choose this method, make sure that a solution is implemented that allows you to manage the e-shop without their help after the online store is up and running.

This means that they must give you access to a content management system (CMS) that allows you to easily edit pages and add / remove products. Once the online store is up and running, you won't have to pay the developer or webmaster to perform these actions every time. If you don't have enough time or don't get along with computers, it may make sense to hire an expert to do the work for you.

Shopify theme sample

Another option is to use software to create an online store so that you can create your own store. It's a much cheaper option, but you'll have to tread it carefully.

There are many solutions to choose from for online stores, popular ones include Shopify, Bigcommerce or Squarespace. Of those tested so far, Shopify and Bigcommerce have been found to be the easiest for users and do not require much knowledge of building websites. This is definitely the most user-friendly solution.

Squarespace is also simple software, but it lacks some of the more advanced features for online stores. These features are offered by Shopify and Bigcommerce. The good news is that all of these solutions usually offer a 14-day free trial and support.

Free trial of online store software:

• Shopify
• Bigcommerce
• Squarespace

If you already have a website (for example in WordPress) and you want to add an online store to it, tools like EcWid will be useful. It will allow you to connect the widget to your website (or anywhere else where you can embed some HTML code, such as a Facebook page or blog) and users will be able to see a working online store in this place.

5. Optimize your site for search

Once you've found your niche market and designed an online store, you'll need to focus on optimizing it for search. SEO is absolutely essential for the success of any online business project.

You can use the keyword search tools again to find out what kind of searches are being performed for your product type. Make sure your website contains all of these keywords in all the right places - page titles, product descriptions, headings, metadata, and URLs. Most of the above solutions, especially Shopify, Bigcommerce and also Volusion give you a lot of control over SEO.

6. Blog

A very important part of attracting visitors to an online store is regular blogging about topics related to what you are selling. For example, on your ukulele site, you could blog about game techniques or your favorite type of ukulele strings. And also about the fact that in "Some like it hot" Marylin Monroe plays the ukulele on the train.

This type of activity is basically known as "Inbound marketing". If you don't get involved, you potentially lose a lot of sales.

By creating high quality blog posts that contain enough keywords related to your business, you will do two things:

1) Maximize the likelihood that your site will appear in relevant search results

2) You will show that you are an authority in the field of business. Potential customers will have more confidence in ukulele sellers who have a passion and understanding for things that relate to the ukulele

It is worth showing the main reason why there is satisfaction with Shopify and Bigcommerce solutions for creating online stores. Both products offer a blogging feature, which is very important for gaining customers for business.

7. Online advertising

If you have a budget, it's worth investing in online advertising. It will help you promote the products of your online store. Google Adwords and Facebook ads are a good starting point.

Google Adwords

Using Google AdWords involves identifying (and paying for) relevant search phrases that will trigger ads for your store / products.

In our experience, Adwords campaigns generally work well when you're selling more expensive products. You spend $ 1,500 on advertising costs to create a single sale. For example, you sell a television worth $ 25,000. In this case, such an investment will pay off. But if you spend $ 1,500 on an ad to sell a $ 300 CD, you'll need to choose a different approach.

It's a matter of looking at your limits and what different keyword strategies you'll try to ensure your ad doesn't accrue much. Google Adwords can help you sell a lot of products.

Ads on Facebook

Advertising on Facebook works on a different principle than Google Adwords. Here, the ads are displayed to people who have informed Facebook about what interests them.

With Facebook advertising, you can advertise, for example, Beatles T-shirts for people who like the Beatles, VW keychains for people who drive Volkswagen, and so on.

Facebook ads are very powerful and allow you to reach a huge number of people. It's worth understanding how they work before you spend money on them.

8. Buy an existing online store

If it seems to you that setting up your own online store is too difficult, you have the opportunity to buy an online store that is already making a profit. It's much easier than you think. This is thanks to services such as the Exchange Marketplace from Shopify or Empire Flippers. It allows you to browse online stores that have been researched by experts before being put up for sale.

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